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The Effect of Initial Endowments in Experimental Auctions

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  • Jay R. Corrigan
  • Matthew C. Rousu

Abstract

We report the results of an experiment designed to test whether initial endowments affect value estimates elicited from experimental auctions. Comparing bids for one unit of a good, two units of a good, and a second unit of a good when endowed with the first unit, we find that willingness to pay for the second unit of a good is, on average, as much as 75% higher when endowed with the first unit. We go on to advance two theories that could potentially reconcile our results with neoclassical consumer theory.

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File URL: http://economics.kenyon.edu/corrigan/publications/Initial%20Endowments.pdf
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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by Kenyon College, Department of Economics in its series Working Papers with number 0601.

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Date of creation: May 2006
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Handle: RePEc:ken:wpaper:0601

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Web page: http://economics.kenyon.edu/
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Related research

Keywords: Endowment Effect; Experimental Auctions; Reciprocity; Top-Dog Effect;

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References

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Citations

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Cited by:
  1. Colson, Gregory & Rousu, Matthew C. & Huffman, Wallace E., 2008. "Consumers' Willingness to Pay for New Genetically Modified Food Products: Evidence from Experimental Auctions of Intragenic and Transgenic Foods," 2008 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2008, Orlando, Florida 6407, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
  2. Jay R. Corrigan & Matthew C. Rousu, 2006. "Posted Prices and Bid Affiliation: Evidence from Experimental Auctions," Working Papers 0602, Kenyon College, Department of Economics.
  3. Remoundou, Kyriaki & Drichoutis, Andreas & Koundouri, Phoebe, 2010. "Warm glow in charitable auctions: Are the WEIRDos driving the results?," MPRA Paper 25553, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  4. Colson, Gregory & Huffman, Wallace E. & Rousu, Matthew C., 2009. "Demand Curve Effects in Experimental Auctions: The Effect of Quantity Already Owned," 2009 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, 2009, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 49551, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
  5. Rousu, Matthew C. & Monchuk, Daniel C. & Shogren, Jason F. & Kosa, Katherine M., 2005. "Consumer Willingness to Pay for "Second-Generation" Genetically Engineered Products and the Role of Marketing Information," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 37(03), December.
  6. Teisl, Mario F. & Roe, Brian E., 2010. "Consumer willingness-to-pay to reduce the probability of retail foodborne pathogen contamination," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(6), pages 521-530, December.
  7. Matthew Rousu & Jay Corrigan, 2008. "Estimating the value consumers derive from product labeling," Framed Field Experiments 00192, The Field Experiments Website.
  8. Rousu, Matthew C. & Nonnemaker, James & Farrelly, Matthew, 2011. "Choosing a Cigarette Brand: Determining the Value of Countermarketing Information to Smokers Using Field Auctions," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 43(04), November.
  9. Han, Doo Bong & Nayga, Rodolfo M., Jr. & Lee, Ji Yong & Yoon, Jong Min, 2012. "Assessing Korean Consumers’ Valuation for Domestic and Imported Rice: Importance of Country of Origin and Food Miles Information," 2012 Annual Meeting, February 4-7, 2012, Birmingham, Alabama 119817, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
  10. Colson, Gregory & Huffman, Wallace E. & Rousu, Matthew C., 2011. "Improving the Nutrient Content of Food through Genetic Modification: Evidence from Experimental Auctions on Consumer Acceptance," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 36(2), August.
  11. Morawetz, Ulrich B. & De Groote, Hugo & Kimenju, Simon Chege, 2011. "Improving the Use of Experimental Auctions in Africa: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 36(2), August.
  12. Gracia, Azucena & de Magistris, Tiziana & Nayga, Rodolfo M., Jr., 2011. "Willingness to pay for a local food label for lamb meat in Spain," 2011 International Congress, August 30-September 2, 2011, Zurich, Switzerland 114607, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
  13. Rousu, Matthew C. & Beach, Robert H. & Corrigan, Jay R., 2005. "Demand Curve Shifts in Multi-Unit Auctions: Evidence from a Laboratory Experiment," 2005 Annual meeting, July 24-27, Providence, RI 19513, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
  14. Jay Corrigan, 2005. "Is the Experimental Auction a Dynamic Market?," Environmental & Resource Economics, European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 31(1), pages 35-45, 05.
  15. Gracia, Azucena & Loureiro, Maria L. & Nayga, Rodolfo M., Jr., 2009. "Valuing Animal Welfare Labels with Experimental Auctions: What do we learn from Consumers?," 2009 Conference, August 16-22, 2009, Beijing, China 51918, International Association of Agricultural Economists.

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