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Joint Bidding in Common Value Auctions: Theory and Evidence

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Author Info
Vlad Mares (Olin School of Business)
Mikhael Shor (Owen Graduate School of Management, Vanderbilt University)

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Abstract

We examine theoretically and experimentally two countervailing effects of collusion and symmetric mergers among bidders. On one hand, the pooling of information within bidding rings increases the precision of competing estimates. We demonstrate that, in average value auctions, this leads to more aggressive bidding. On the other hand, since collusion decreases the number of active bidders, competition is lessened, reducing the price paid at auction. We demonstrate that the reduction in competition dominates the informational effects, resulting in lower prices. We examine these hypothesized e®ects experimentally by conducting a series of auctions with constant informational content but a varying number of bidders among whom this information is distributed. The experimental results are consistent with our theoretical predictions for different value and auction mechanism specifications.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by EconWPA in its series Game Theory and Information with number 0305001.

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Length: 29 pages
Date of creation: 12 May 2003
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:wpa:wuwpga:0305001

Note: Type of Document - Acrobat PDF; prepared on IBM PC - MikTeX; to print on PostScript; pages: 29 ; figures: included
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Web page: http://129.3.20.41

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Related research
Keywords: common value auctions; mergers; collusion; information;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
D44 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure and Pricing - - - Auctions
L41 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies - - - Monopolization; Horizontal Anticompetitive Practices
C92 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Group Behavior

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References listed on IDEAS
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  1. Dyer, Douglas & Kagel, John H & Levin, Dan, 1989. "A Comparison of Naive and Experienced Bidders in Common Value Offer Auctions: A Laboratory Analysis," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 99(394), pages 108-15, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. Kagel, John H & Levin, Dan, 1991. "The Winner's Curse and Public Information in Common Value Auctions: Reply," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 81(1), pages 362-69, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Hong, Han & Shum, Matthew, 2002. "Increasing Competition and the Winner's Curse: Evidence from Procurement," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 69(4), pages 871-98, October.
    Other versions:
  4. Hendricks, Kenneth & Porter, Robert H, 1992. "Joint Bidding in Federal OCS Auctions," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 82(2), pages 506-11, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Larry M. DeBrock & James L. Smith, 1983. "Joint Bidding, Information Pooling, and the Performance of Petroleum Lease Auctions," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 14(2), pages 395-404, Autumn. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Mailath, George J. & Zemsky, Peter, 1991. "Collusion in second price auctions with heterogeneous bidders," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 467-486, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Kagel, John H & Harstad, Ronald M & Levin, Dan, 1987. "Information Impact and Allocation Rules in Auctions with Affiliated Private Values: A Laboratory Study," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 55(6), pages 1275-1304, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Nicola Persico, 2000. "Information Acquisition in Auctions," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 68(1), pages 135-148, January.
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  9. Milgrom, Paul R & Weber, Robert J, 1982. "A Theory of Auctions and Competitive Bidding," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(5), pages 1089-1122, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  10. Bikhchandani, Sushil & Riley, John G., 1991. "Equilibria in open common value auctions," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 101-130, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Susan Athey & Jonathan Levin, 1998. "The Value of Information In Monotone Decision Problems," Working papers 98-24, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Department of Economics.
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  12. Keith Waehrer & Ronald M. Harstad & Michael H. Rothkopf, 1998. "Auction Form Preferences of Risk-Averse Bid Takers," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 29(1), pages 179-192, Spring. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Ronald Harstad, 2000. "Dominant Strategy Adoption and Bidders' Experience with Pricing Rules," Experimental Economics, Springer, vol. 3(3), pages 261-280, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Jacob K. Goeree & Theo Offerman, 2003. "Competitive Bidding in Auctions with Private and Common Values," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 113(489), pages 598-613, 07. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  15. Jeremy Bulow & Paul Klemperer, 2002. "Prices and the Winner's Curse," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 33(1), pages 1-21, Spring.
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  16. Schweizer, Urs & von Ungern-Sternberg, Thomas, 1983. "Sealed Bid Auctions and the Search for Better Information," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 50(197), pages 79-85, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  17. Klemperer, Paul, 1998. "Auctions with almost common values: The 'Wallet Game' and its applications," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 42(3-5), pages 757-769, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  18. McAfee, R Preston & McMillan, John, 1992. "Bidding Rings," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 82(3), pages 579-99, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
    • McAfee, R. Preston & McMillan, John., 1990. "Bidding Rings," Working Papers 726, California Institute of Technology, Division of the Humanities and Social Sciences. [Downloadable!]
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