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The Impact of Public Information on Bidding in Highway Procurement Auctions

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Author Info
Dakshina De Silva (Texas Tech University)
Timothy Dunne (University of Oklahoma)
Anuruddha Kankanamge (University of Oklahoma)
Georgia Kosmopoulou (University of Oklahoma)

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Abstract

A number of papers in the theoretical auction literature show that the release of information regarding the seller’s valuation of an item can cause bidders to bid more aggressively. This widely accepted result in auction theory remains largely untested in the empirical literature. Recent theoretical work has also shown that this effect can be more pronounced in auctions with larger common cost uncertainty. We examine the impact of a policy change by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation that led to the release of the state’s internal estimate of the costs to complete highway construction projects. We perform a differences-in-differences analysis comparing bidding in Texas, a state that had a uniform policy of revealing the same information all throughout the period of analysis, to bidding in Oklahoma. Our results show that, in comparison to Texas auctions, the average bid in Oklahoma fell after the change in engineers’ cost estimate (ECE) policy. This decline in bids was even larger for projects where the common uncertainty in costs is greater. Moreover, the within-auction standard deviation of bids fell after the change in ECE policy with the most significant decline observed again in projects with greater common cost uncertainty.

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Paper provided by EconWPA in its series Microeconomics with number 0511011.

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Length: 43 pages
Date of creation: 29 Nov 2005
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Handle: RePEc:wpa:wuwpmi:0511011

Note: Type of Document - pdf; pages: 43
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Related research
Keywords: Information Release; Procurement Auctions;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
L0 - Industrial Organization - - General
D44 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure and Pricing - - - Auctions
H57 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Procurement

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. De Silva, Dakshina G. & Jeitschko, Thomas D. & Kosmopoulou, Georgia, 2005. "Stochastic synergies in sequential auctions," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 23(3-4), pages 183-201, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Susan Athey & Jonathan Levin, 2001. "Information and Competition in U.S. Forest Service Timber Auctions," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 109(2), pages 375-417, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Paul R. Milgrom, 1985. "Auction Theory," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 779, Cowles Foundation, Yale University. [Downloadable!]
  4. Vincent Daniel R., 1995. "Bidding Off the Wall: Why Reserve Prices May Be Kept Secret," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 65(2), pages 575-584, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Eklof, Matias & Lunander, Anders, 2003. "Open outcry auctions with secret reserve prices: an empirical application to executive auctions of tenant owner's apartments in Sweden," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 114(2), pages 243-260, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Jofre-Bonet, Mireia & Pesendorfer, Martin, 2000. "Bidding behavior in a repeated procurement auction: A summary," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(4-6), pages 1006-1020, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Kagel, John H & Levin, Dan & Harstad, Ronald M, 1995. "Comparative Static Effects of Number of Bidders and Public Information on Behavior in Second-Price Common Value Auctions," International Journal of Game Theory, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 293-319.
  8. Kjell G. Nyborg & Kristian Rydqvist & Suresh M. Sundaresan, 2002. "Bidder Behavior in Multiunit Auctions: Evidence from Swedish Treasury Auctions," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 110(2), pages 394-424, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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    Other versions:
  11. Dakshina G. De Silva & Timothy Dunne & Georgia Kosmopoulou, 2003. "An Empirical Analysis of Entrant and Incumbent Bidding in Road Construction Auctions," Journal of Industrial Economics, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 51(3), pages 295-316, 09. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. 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)
  13. Patrick Bajari & Lixin Ye, 2003. "Deciding Between Competition and Collusion," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 85(4), pages 971-989, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  14. 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)
    Other versions:
  15. Porter, Robert H & Zona, J Douglas, 1993. "Detection of Bid Rigging in Procurement Auctions," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(3), pages 518-38, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  16. Campbell, Colin M. & Levin, Dan, 2000. "Can the Seller Benefit from an Insider in Common-Value Auctions?," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 91(1), pages 106-120, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  17. Koenker, Roger & Bassett, Gilbert, Jr, 1982. "Robust Tests for Heteroscedasticity Based on Regression Quantiles," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(1), pages 43-61, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  18. Harstad, Ronald M, 1990. "Alternative Common-Value Auction Procedures: Revenue Comparisons with Free Entry," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(2), pages 421-29, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  19. Moulton, Brent R, 1990. "An Illustration of a Pitfall in Estimating the Effects of Aggregate Variables on Micro Unit," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 72(2), pages 334-38, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  20. K. Goeree & Theo Offerman, 2002. "Efficiency in Auctions with Private and Common Values: An Experimental Study," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(3), pages 625-643, June. [Downloadable!]
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  21. 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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  22. 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)
  23. Hendricks, Kenneth & Porter, Robert H & Wilson, Charles A, 1994. "Auctions for Oil and Gas Leases with an Informed Bidder and a Random Reservation Price," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 62(6), pages 1415-44, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  24. Porter, Robert H, 1995. "The Role of Information in U.S. Offshore Oil and Gas Lease Auctions," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 63(1), pages 1-27, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. De Silva, Dakshina & Pagel, Beatrice & Peeters, Ronald, 2008. "Sequential versus Simultaneous Auctioning of Procurement Contracts with Common Value and Private Value Components," Research Memoranda 005, Maastricht : METEOR, Maastricht Research School of Economics of Technology and Organization. [Downloadable!]
  2. Marmer, Vadim & Shneyerov, Artyom & Xu, Pai, 2007. "What Model for Entry in First-Price Auctions? A Nonparametric Approach," Micro Theory Working Papers marmer-07-11-22-02-26-44, Microeconomics.ca Website, revised 22 Nov 2007. [Downloadable!]
  3. De Silva, Dakshina & Kosmopoulou, Georgia & Lamarche, Carlos, 2007. "The Effect of Information on the Bidding and Survival of Entrants in Procurement Auctions," MPRA Paper 5236, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Hiroshi Ohashi, 2009. "Effects of Transparency in Procurement Practices on Government Expenditure: A Case Study of Municipal Public Works," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer, vol. 34(3), pages 267-285, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  5. Dakshina G. De Silva & Anuruddha Kankanamge & Georgia Kosmopoulou, 2005. "The Impact Of Change In Auction Format On Bidding Behavior," Microeconomics 0512009, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
  6. Miguel Amaral & Stéphane Saussier & Anne Yvrande-Billon, 2006. "Does Competition for the Field Improve Cost Efficiency? Evidence from the London Bus Tendering Model," Working Papers 2006-14, Center for Network Industries and Infrastructure (CNI). [Downloadable!]
  7. Laure Athias & Antonio Nuñez, 2006. "Number of Bidders and the Winner’s Curse in Toll Road Concessions: An Empirical Analysis," Working Papers 2006-16, Center for Network Industries and Infrastructure (CNI). [Downloadable!]
  8. Athias, Laure & Nunez, Antonio, 2008. "The more the merrier? Number of bidders, information dispersion, renegotiation and winner’s curse in toll road concessions," MPRA Paper 10539, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
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