Bidder Asymmetry Research Articles

Bidder asymmetries in procurement auctions: Efficiency vs. information – Evidence from railway passenger services

We estimate a structural model of procurement auctions with private and common value components and asymmetric bidders using detailed contract-level data on the German market for railway passenger services. Exploiting exogenous variation in the procurement design, we disentangle the asymmetries in private costs from asymmetries in information about the common value. While each asymmetry can rationalize a firm’s dominance, understanding its source is crucial for evaluating the auction design as welfare and revenue implications depend on the source of dominance. Our results indicate that the incumbent is slightly more cost-efficient and has substantially more precise information about the common value component. If the bidders’ strategic response to the common value asymmetry were eliminated, the average probability of selecting the efficient firm would increase by 43%-points.

Procurements with Bidder Asymmetry in Cost and Risk-Aversion

ABSTRACT We propose an empirical method to analyze data from first-price procurements where bidders are asymmetric in their risk-aversion (CRRA) coefficients and distributions of private costs. Our Bayesian approach evaluates the likelihood by solving type-symmetric equilibria using the boundary-value method and integrates out unobserved heterogeneity through data augmentation. We study a new dataset from Russian government procurements focusing on the category of printing papers. We find that there is no unobserved heterogeneity (presumably because the job is routine), but bidders are highly asymmetric in their cost and risk-aversion. Our counterfactual study shows that choosing a type-specific cost-minimizing reserve price marginally reduces the procurement cost; however, inviting one more bidder substantially reduces the cost, by at least 5.5%. Furthermore, incorrectly imposing risk-neutrality would severely mislead inference and policy recommendations, but the bias from imposing homogeneity in risk-aversion is small.

Strategic Overbidding in Dynamic Auctions: Structural Estimation of Value of Synergy

In this study, we formulate and estimate a dynamic procurement auction game where bidder asymmetry due to synergy is endogenous. The seller sells multiple goods via a sequence of first‐price auctions. While bidders are ex‐ante symmetric, the first‐period winner has a valuation advantage as a result of such synergy in the second‐period bidding game and becomes a strong bidder. This endogenous synergy creation leads to overbidding in the first‐period auction relative to a static bidding game. We characterize the equilibrium in terms of the observed bid distribution and suggest a two‐step estimation procedure. We apply our method to data on OCS oil‐tract auctions. We find that the federal government recovers 52% of the “strong” buyers’ willingness to pay in the second period. Bidders perceive the value of synergy to be about 5% of their first period’s informational rent. Counterfactual experiments show that government revenue could have increased by about 27% under alternative selling mechanisms.

Prior-free multi-unit auctions with ordered bidders

Prior-free auctions are robust auctions that assume no distribution over bidders' valuations and provide worst-case (input-by-input) approximation guarantees. In contrast to previous work on this topic, we pursue good prior-free auctions with non-identical bidders.Prior-free auctions can approximate meaningful benchmarks for non-identical bidders only when sufficient qualitative information about the bidder asymmetry is publicly known. We consider digital goods auctions where there is a total ordering of the bidders that is known to the seller, where earlier bidders are in some sense thought to have higher valuations. We use the framework of Hartline and Roughgarden (STOC'08) to define an appropriate revenue benchmark: the maximum revenue that can be obtained from a bid vector using prices that are nonincreasing in the bidder ordering and bounded above by the second-highest bid. This monotone-price benchmark is always as large as the well-known fixed-price benchmark F(2), so designing prior-free auctions with good approximation guarantees is only harder. By design, an auction that approximates the monotone-price benchmark satisfies a very strong guarantee: it is, in particular, simultaneously near-optimal for essentially every Bayesian environment in which bidders' valuation distributions have nonincreasing monopoly prices, or in which the distribution of each bidder stochastically dominates that of the next. Even when there is no distribution over bidders' valuations, such an auction still provides a quantifiable input-by-input performance guarantee.In this paper, we design a simple O(1)-competitive prior-free auction for digital goods with ordered bidders. We also extend the monotone-price benchmark and our O(1)-competitive prior-free auction to multi-unit settings with limited supply.

Affirmative action subcontracting regulations in dynamic procurement auctions

I study affirmative action subcontracting regulations in a model where governments use auctions to repeatedly procure goods and services at the lowest possible price. Through using disadvantaged subcontractors, prime contractors build relationships over time, resulting in lower subcontracting costs in future periods. I find that regulation in the form of a minimum subcontracting requirement expands bidder asymmetries, favoring prime contractors with stronger relationships over those with weaker ones. Simulations show that the manner in which relationships evolve determines not only the utilization of disadvantaged subcontractors but also the procurement costs attained under affirmative action.

Procurements with Bidder Asymmetry in Cost and Risk-Aversion

We propose an empirical method to analyze data from first-price procurements where bidders are asymmetric in their risk-aversion (CRRA) coefficients and distributions of private costs. Our Bayesian approach evaluates the likelihood by solving type-symmetric equilibria using the boundary-value method and integrates out unobserved heterogeneity through data augmentation. We study a new dataset from Russian government procurements focusing on the category of printing papers. We find that there is no unobserved heterogeneity (presumably because the job is routine), but bidders are highly asymmetric in their cost and risk-aversion. Our counterfactual study shows that choosing a type-specific cost-minimizing reserve price marginally reduces the procurement cost; however, inviting one more bidder substantially reduces the cost, by at least 5.5%. Furthermore, incorrectly imposing risk-neutrality would severely mislead inference and policy recommendations, but the bias from imposing homogeneity in risk-aversion is small.

Ascending auctions with bidder asymmetries

We present a partial identification approach for ascending auctions with bidder asymmetries, where bidders' asymmetric types may be unobservable to the econometrician. Our approach yields sharp bounds and builds on and generalizes other recent bounds approaches for correlated private values ascending auctions. When bidder identities are observable, our approach yields tighter bounds than previous approaches that ignore asymmetry, demonstrating that bidder asymmetries can function as an aid rather than a hindrance to identification. We present a nonparametric estimation and inference approach relying on our identification argument and apply it to data from U.S. timber auctions, finding that bounds on optimal reserve prices and other objects of interest are noticeably tighter when exploiting bidder asymmetries. Ascending auction partial identification correlated values asymmetries C10 D44 L10

Descending Price Coordinates Approximately Efficient Search

Investigating potential purchases is often a substantial investment under uncertainty. Standard market designs, such as simultaneous or English auctions,compound this with uncertainty about the price a bidder will have to pay in order to win. As a result they tend to confuse the process of search both by leading to wasteful information acquisition on goods that have already found a good purchaser and by discouraging needed investigations of objects, potentially eliminating all gains from trade. In contrast, we show that the Dutch auction preserves all of its properties from a standard setting without information costs because it guarantees, at the time of information acquisition, a price at which the good can be purchased. Calibrations to start-up acquisition and timber auctions suggest that in practice the social losses through poor search coordination in standard formats are an order of magnitude or two larger than the (negligible) inefficiencies arising from ex-ante bidder asymmetries.

Bidder contests in international mergers and acquisitions: The impact of toeholds, preemptive bidding, and termination fees

For international mergers and acquisitions we analyze the effectiveness of different bidder strategies, first in preventing bidder competition, and second in increasing the likelihood of success. We provide robust empirical evidence of the effectiveness of toeholds and termination fees in reducing the likelihood of competition and, if a contest occurs, increasing the probability of success, especially after controlling for bidder asymmetries. The effects of termination fees vary over time and legal origin. Overall, there is hardly any evidence that high initial offers can prevent contests. However, competition is preempted in civil law countries with a high initial premium. A higher percentage of cash payment also increases the probability of success in bidder contest. Moreover, latent competition is generally not sufficient to curb the influence of observable bidder competition on target and bidder wealth. Finally, serial acquirers are more likely to prevent bidder contests and experienced and reputably advised bidders are more successful in deal completion. Overall, we offer novel evidence for the success of different bidding strategies in international mergers and acquisitions.

Optimal Ring Size at First-Price Auctions

This paper studies the optimal-ring-size problem in a first-price auction environment, where a collusive ring center can endogenously choose the number of its members. The key finding is that, contrary to the results for second-price auctions, the optimal ring at first-price auctions is generally not all-inclusive, especially when the number of bidders is large. Outsiders can free-ride the ring's suppressed competition and earn higher payoffs than by being a ring member; hence they choose not to participate in collusion. As a partial ring creates bidder asymmetry at first-price auctions, the overall allocation will be inefficient, which provides a basis for laws that outlaw collusion in auctions.

Asymmetry and revenue in second-price auctions: a majorization approach

Bidder asymmetries are common in certain auctions where heterogeneous bidders coexist. In this paper, we employ the tool of majorization to study the effect of bidder asymmetry on revenue in second-price auctions. As a preorder on vectors of real components, the majorization is used to rank the asymmetry of bid distributions from different auctions. Our analysis indicates that bidders’ asymmetries may raise revenue under certain classes of value distributions (e.g., proportional reversed hazard rate models) and may not in others (e.g., proportional hazard rate models). These results are further validated through supportive evidence that is based on simulated three-bidder auctions. The use of majorization allows us to extend and strengthen the results obtained in the existing literature under more general conditions. This study adds to the literature a useful analytical technique for future research on asymmetric auctions.

Replacing Sample Trimming with Boundary Correction in Nonparametric Estimation of First‐Price Auctions

SummaryTwo‐step nonparametric estimators have become standard in empirical auctions. A drawback concerns boundary effects which cause inconsistencies near the endpoints of the support and bias in finite samples. To cope, sample trimming is typically used, which leads to non‐random data loss. Monte Carlo experiments show this leads to poor performance near the support boundaries and on the interior due to bandwidth selection issues. We propose a modification that employs boundary correction techniques, and we demonstrate substantial improvement in finite‐sample performance. We implement the new estimator using oil lease auctions data and find that trimming masks a substantial degree of bidder asymmetry and inefficiency in allocations. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

MULTIUNIT AUCTIONS

AbstractWe survey experimental research on multiunit auctions with an emphasis on topics that may be of a unifying interest to experimental, as well as theoretical and empirical economists. Topics include static and dynamic multiunit auctions; combinatorial auctions and efficient auction design; simultaneous and sequential auctions; bidder asymmetry and endogenous entry, and collusion in auctions. We also discuss behavioral regularities observed in multiunit auction experiments.

The Deal Process, Asymmetric Bidders and Target Premia

While half of all acquisition targets are sold in negotiated deals with only one buyer rather than by auction, the wealth effects for target shareholders are surprisingly similar in both auctions and negotiations. This begs the following questions: why do companies frequently avoid auctions and instead negotiate with just one buyer, and how can targets achieve comparable premia in negotiations? Drawing on Fishman's (1988) model of preemptive bidding and Povel and Singh's (2006) model of asymmetric bidders, I hypothesize that the sales procedure (i.e., auction, or negotiation) is most likely determined by the party that initiates the deal. When an acquirer initiates a deal, it prefers a negotiated deal and hence agrees to pay a high premium to preempt the target and other potential bidders from running an auction. I document detailed information on the private bargaining process for 598 deals. I find that most negotiation deals are in fact initiated by the acquirers and that most of the target-initiated deals use an auction, which indicates that targets are using an auction as a mechanism to discover the highest bidder. Moreover, I provide evidence that the targets receive higher excess returns in the deals initiated by the acquirers than in the deals initiated by the targets. I also provide further evidence of preemptive bidding and bidder asymmetry by studying the indicative bids and the business relations between the targets and the acquirers. Hence, target firms are willing to forgo the potential benefits of an auction and agree to a negotiated deal because they are already facing a bidder with a high valuation and are able to get a high price.

Bidder Asymmetry in Infrastructure Procurement: Are There any Fringe Bidders?

Asymmetric auctions are among the most rapidly growing areas in the auction literature. The potential benefits from improved auction efficiency are expected to be enormous in public procurement auctions related to official development projects. Entrant bidders are considered a key to enhance competition in an auction and break potential collusive arrangements among incumbent bidders. Asymmetric auction theory predicts that weak (fringe) bidders would bid more aggressively when they are faced with a strong (incumbent) opponent. Using official development assistance procurement data, this paper finds that in the major infrastructure sectors, entrants submitted systematically aggressive bids in the presence of an incumbent bidder. The findings also show that a high concentration of incumbents in an auction would harm auction efficiency, raising procurement costs. The results suggest that auctioneers should encourage fringe bidders to actively participate in the bidding process while maintaining the quality of the projects. This is conducive to enhancing competitive circumstances in public procurements and improving allocative efficiency.

Using bidder asymmetry to increase seller revenue

We construct the optimal selling mechanism in a pure common value environment with two bidders that are not equally well informed. With an optimal mechanism, the seller benefits from bidder asymmetry: her expected revenue increases if the bidder asymmetry increases.

Using bidder asymmetry to increase seller revenue

We construct the optimal selling mechanism in a pure common value environment with two bidders that are not equally well informed. With an optimal mechanism, the seller benefits from bidder asymmetry: her expected revenue increases if the bidder asymmetry increases.

Using Bidder Asymmetry to Increase Seller Revenue

This paper considers bidding environments with pure common values, in which bidders are not equally well informed. We construct the optimal selling mechanism and ask how bidder asymmetry affects the seller's expected payoff. With an optimal mechanism, the seller benefits from bidder asymmetry: her expected revenue increases if the bidders are more asymmetrically informed.

Private information revelation in common-value auctions

When a seller has information that could help bidders to estimate asset value, a dictum of auction theory has been that all such information should be publicly announced to bidders. The possibility of privately revealing this information to one or more bidders is introduced. Seller in some circumstances may attain higher expected revenue through revealing his information privately. Examples show that the role of private revelation is more complex than simply generating bidder asymmetry.

Econometric models of asymmetric ascending auctions

We develop econometric models of ascending (English) auctions which allow for both bidder asymmetries as well as common and/or private value components in bidders’ underlying valuations. We show that the equilibrium inverse bid functions in each round of the auction are implicitly defined (pointwise) by a system of nonlinear equations, so that conditions for the existence and uniqueness of an increasing-strategy equilibrium are essentially identical to those which ensure a unique and increasing solution to the system of equations. We exploit the computational tractability of this characterization in order to develop an econometric model, thus extending the literature on structural estimation of auction models. Finally, an empirical example illustrates how equilibrium learning affects bidding during the course of the auction.