Why Do Sellers (Usually) Prefer Auctions?

Why Sellers Should Prefer Sequential Mechanisms

Should Sellers Prefer Auctions? A Laboratory Comparison of Auctions and Sequential Mechanisms

When bidders incur a cost to learn their valuations, bidder entry can impact auction performance. Two common selling mechanisms in this environment are an English auction, and a sequential bidding process. Bulow and Klemperer (2009) show, theoretically, that sellers should prefer the auction, because it generates higher expected revenues, while bidders should prefer the sequential mechanism, be...

Why do People Prefer Historically Intended Functions?

When presented with a hammer that is being used as a paperweight, most people judge that its proper function is to pound nails in place rather than to hold down pieces of paper. The bias to assign proper function based on historically intended function rather than on manifest or current function, can be explained as a memory effect (we have learned that hammers are used to pound nails), as abdu...

Why do Varroa mites prefer nurse bees?

The Varroa mite, Varroa destructor, is an acarine ecto-parasite on Apis mellifera. It is the worst pest of Apis mellifera, yet its reproductive biology on the host is not well understood. In particular, the significance of the phoretic stage, when mites feed on adult bees for a few days, is not clear. In addition, it is not clear whether the preference of mites for nurses observed in the labora...

When Should Sellers Use Auctions?

When it is costly to participate in the sale of an asset, potential buyers typically submit offers either simultaneously, as in an auction, or sequentially, so that later potential entrants may observe previous bids. We show in an IPV setting that when the entry process is selective, so that buyers with higher values are more likely to enter, both sellers and buyers generally prefer the sequent...