Optimal Auctions Revisited

Abstract

In symmetric privately known values oral auctions with costly entry for bidders, the seller can do no better than by committing (ex ante) to a reservation price and entry fees or subsidies which result in no fewer—and at most one more—bidders than a reservation price equal to the seller′s value would in the absence of entry fees or subsidies. Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers; D44, C72.