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Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis Vol. 48 No. 4 2013

Divisible Good Auctions with Asymmetric Information: An Experimental Examination

Emmanuel Morales-Camargo1; Orly Sade2; Charles Schnitzlein3; Jaime F. Zender4

1 The University of Texas at Arlington · 2 Hebrew University of Jerusalem · 3 University of Vermont · 4 University of Colorado Boulder

open access

Abstract

An experimental approach is used to compare bidding behavior and auction performance in uniform-price and discriminatory auctions when there is incomplete information concerning the common value of the auctioned good. In a symmetric information environment, the different auction formats provide the same average revenue. However, when information is asymmetric the discriminatory auction results in higher average revenue than the uniform-price auction. The volatility of revenue is higher in the uniform-price auctions in all treatments. The results, therefore, provide support for the use of the discriminatory format. Subject characteristics and measures of experience in recent auctions are found to be useful in explaining bidding behavior.

DOI
10.1017/s0022109013000409
Volume
48
Issue
4
Pages
1271-1300
Language
en
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex openalex crossref

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