Optimal nondiscriminatory auctions with favoritism

In many auction settings, there is favoritism: the seller´s welfare depends positively on the utility of a subset of potential bidders. However, laws or regulations may not allow the seller to discriminate among bidders. We find the optimal nondiscriminatory auction in a private value, single-unit m...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Arozamena, Leandro Roberto, Shunda, Nicholas, Weinschelbaum, Federico
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2014
País:Argentina
Institución:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
Repositorio:CONICET Digital (CONICET)
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/35578
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/11336/35578
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Auctions
Favoritism
Nondiscriminatory Mechanisms
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/5.2
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/5
Descripción
Sumario:In many auction settings, there is favoritism: the seller´s welfare depends positively on the utility of a subset of potential bidders. However, laws or regulations may not allow the seller to discriminate among bidders. We find the optimal nondiscriminatory auction in a private value, single-unit model under favoritism. At the optimal auction there is a reserve price, or an entry fee, which is decreasing in the proportion of preferred bidders and in the intensity of the preference. Otherwise, the highest-valuation bidder wins. We show that, at least under some conditions, imposing a no-discrimination constraint raises expected seller revenue.