What Really Matters in Auction Design.

Journal article

The most important issues in auction design are the traditional concerns of competition policy--preventing collusive, predatory, and entry-deterring behavior. Ascending and uniform-price auctions are particularly vulnerable to these problems. The Anglo-Dutch auction--a hybrid of the sealed-bid and ascending auctions--may perform better. Effective antitrust is also critical. Notable fiascoes in auctioning mobile-phone licenses, television franchises, companies, electricity, etc., and especially the European "third-generation" (UMTS) spectrum auctions, show that everything depends on the details of the context. Auction design is not "one size fits all."

Authors: Klemperer, P

• Journal: Journal of Economic Perspectives
• Volume: 16
• Publication date: 2002-01-01
• ISSN: 0895-3309
• Language: English