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Intermediary Search for Suppliers in Procurement Auctions

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  • Honda, Jun

Abstract

In many procurement auctions, entrants determine whether to participate in auctions accounting for their roles of intermediaries who search for the best (or the cheapest) input suppliers. We build on a procurement auction model with entry, combining with intermediary search for suppliers. The novel feature is that costs of bidders are endogenously determined by suppliers who strategically charge input prices. We show the existence of an equilibrium with price dispersion for inputs, generating cost heterogeneity among bidders. Interestingly, the procurement cost may rise as the number of potential bidders increases. (author's abstract)

Suggested Citation

  • Honda, Jun, 2015. "Intermediary Search for Suppliers in Procurement Auctions," Department of Economics Working Paper Series 203, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    • Handle: RePEc:wiw:wus005:4628
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    File URL: https://epub.wu.ac.at/4628/
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    Cited by:

    1. Janssen, Maarten & Atayev, Atabek, 2019. "Information Acquisition and Diffusion in Markets," CEPR Discussion Papers 14036, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    2. Atabek Atayev & Maarten Janssen, 2021. "Information Acquisition and Diffusion in Markets," Papers 2109.15288, arXiv.org.
    3. Atayev, Atabek & Janssen, Maarten C. W., 2021. "Information acquisition and diffusion in markets," ZEW Discussion Papers 21-091, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Information Frictions; Search; Procurement; Auction; Vertical Relations; Entry Deterrence; Price Dispersion;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
    • D44 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Auctions
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets

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