Auctions with imperfect commitment when the reserve may signal the auctioneer's type

Jun, Byoung Heon und Wolfstetter, Elmar G. (18. Juni 2013): Auctions with imperfect commitment when the reserve may signal the auctioneer's type. SFB/TR 15 Discussion Paper No. 403

Abstract

If bidders are uncertain whether the auctioneer sticks to the announced reserve, some bidders respond by not bidding, speculating that the auctioneer may revoke the reserve. However, the reserve inadvertently signals the auctioneer's type, which drives a unique separating and a multitude of pooling equilibria. If one eliminates belief systems that violate the "intuitive criterion", one obtains a unique equilibrium reserve price equal to the seller's own valuation. Paradoxically, even if bidders initially believe that the auctioneer is bound by his reserve almost with certainty, commitment has no value.

• Dokumententyp: Paper
• Publikationsform: Preprint
• Keywords: Auctions, signalling, mechanism design
• Fakultät: Sonderforschungsbereiche > Discussion Paper Series of SFB/TR 15 Governance and the Efficiency of Economic Systems ; Sonderforschungsbereiche > Discussion Paper Series of SFB/TR 15 Governance and the Efficiency of Economic Systems > A7 - Auktionen, Anreizprobleme und Wettbewerb
• Themengebiete: 300 Sozialwissenschaften > 330 Wirtschaft
• JEL Classification: D21, D43, D44, D45
• Sprache: Englisch