The current art in optimal combinatorial auctions is limited to handling the case of single units of multiple items, with each bidder bidding on exactly one bundle (single minded bidders). This paper extends the current art by proposing an optimal auction for procuring multiple units of multiple items when the bidders are single minded. The auction minimizes the cost of procurement while satisf...

In a Dutch auction, the price of an item decreases incrementally from the starting price at regular intervals. A bidder may buy the item at any time and stop the auction at the current price. This paper presents an optimal price decrement strategy in a Dutch auction, such that the expected revenue of the auction host is maximized. Properties of the optimal solution and a simple iterative soluti...

This paper presents a software bidding agent that inserts fake bids on the seller’s behalf to inflate an auction’s price. This behaviour is referred to as shill bidding. Shill bidding is strictly prohibited by online auctioneers, as it defrauds unsuspecting buyers by forcing them to pay more for the item. The malicious bidding agent was constructed to aid in developing shill detection technique...

Increasing popularity of online auctions and the associated frauds have drawn the attention of many researchers. It is found that most of the auction sites prefer English auction to other auction mechanisms. The ease of adopting multiple fake identities over the Internet nourishes shill bidding by fraudulent sellers in English auction. In this paper we derive an equilibrium bidding strategy to ...

This paper models continuous-time mass bidding markets, such as keyword auctions and market-based resource allocation systems, as a stochastic dynamic system that fluctuates around an average value under the influence of its users. The user’s objective to maximize his long-term average utility is formulated as a stochastic control problem. The optimal bidding strategy is calculated both analyti...

The bidding decision making problem is studied from a supplier’s viewpoint in a spot market environment. The decision-making problem is formulated as a Markov Decision Process a discrete stochastic optimization method All other suppliers are modeled by their bidding parameters with corresponding probabilities. A systematic method is developed to calculate transition probabilities and rewards. A...