Raising rivals' cost in multi-unit auctions

Author(s)
Maarten Janssen, Vladimir Karamychev
Abstract

The objective many telecom regulators want to achieve when they decide to auction spectrum is that acquiring firms pay a market price (based on the opportunity cost principle). The simultaneous ascending auction may fail in this respect, as it provides bidders with an opportunity to engage in strategic demand reduction. This paper asks whether the combinatorial clock auction (CCA) fares better in this respect. We show that the answer to this question depends on the objectives bidders have. If bidders have only the slightest preference to raise rivals’ cost, they will use the opportunities the CCA provides them to engage in strategic demand expansion. This is even the case when the clock phase ends with excess demand.

Organisation(s)
Department of Economics
External organisation(s)
Erasmus University Rotterdam
Journal
International Journal of Industrial Organization
Volume
50
Pages
473–490
No. of pages
18
ISSN
0167-7187
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijindorg.2016.04.011
Publication date
05-2016
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
502013 Industrial economics, 502021 Microeconomics
Keywords
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Aerospace Engineering, Economics and Econometrics, Economics, Econometrics and Finance (miscellaneous), Industrial relations, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, Strategy and Management
Portal url
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/309137d2-c133-40ac-b2a0-f6bbc5cf598b