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An Efficiency Rationale for Bundling of Public Goods

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Author Info
Hanming Fang (Cowles Foundation, Yale University)
Peter Norman (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

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Abstract

This paper studies the role of bundling in the efficient provision of excludable public goods. We show that bundling in the provision of unrelated public goods can enhance social welfare. With a large number of goods and agents, first best can be approximated with pure bundling. For a parametric class of problems with binary valuations, we characterize the optimal mechanism, and show that bundling alleviates the free riding problem in large economies and decreases the extent of use exclusions. Both results are related to the idea that bundling makes it possible to reduce the incidence of exclusions because the variance in the relevant valuations decreases.

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File URL: http://cowles.econ.yale.edu/P/cd/d14a/d1441.pdf
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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Cowles Foundation, Yale University in its series Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers with number 1441.

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Length: 52 pages
Date of creation: Oct 2003
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:cwl:cwldpp:1441

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Related research
Keywords: Public goods provision; Bundling; Exclusion;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Armstrong, Mark, 1996. "Multiproduct Nonlinear Pricing," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 64(1), pages 51-75, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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    Other versions:
  3. Carl Bergstrom & Ted Bergstrom, 2004. "The costs and benefits of library site licenses to academic journals," University of California at Santa Barbara, Economics Working Paper Series 2004A, Department of Economics, UC Santa Barbara. [Downloadable!]
  4. Jackson, Matthew O. & Sonnenschein, Hugo F., 2003. "The Linking of Collective Decisions and Efficiency," Working Papers 1159, California Institute of Technology, Division of the Humanities and Social Sciences. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Dana Jr. James D., 1993. "The Organization and Scope of Agents: Regulating Multiproduct Industries," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 59(2), pages 288-310, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Peter Norman, 2004. "Efficient Mechanisms for Public Goods with Use Exclusions," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 71(4), pages 1163-1188, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. Cremer, Jacques & McLean, Richard P, 1988. "Full Extraction of the Surplus in Bayesian and Dominant Strategy Auctions," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 56(6), pages 1247-57, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  12. Paul Milgrom & Robert Weber, 1981. "Distributional Strategies for Games with Incomplete Information," Discussion Papers 428R, Northwestern University, Center for Mathematical Studies in Economics and Management Science. [Downloadable!]
  13. Hanming Fang & Peter Norman, 2003. "An Efficiency Rationale for Bundling of Public Goods," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 1441, Cowles Foundation, Yale University. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  14. Myerson, Roger B. & Satterthwaite, Mark A., 1983. "Efficient mechanisms for bilateral trading," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 265-281, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  15. Mailath, George J & Postlewaite, Andrew, 1990. "Asymmetric Information Bargaining Problems with Many Agents," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 57(3), pages 351-67, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  17. Hellwig, Martin, 2003. "A Utilitarian Approach to the Provision and Pricing of Excludable Public Goods," Sonderforschungsbereich 504 Publications 03-36, Sonderforschungsbereich 504, Universität Mannheim & Sonderforschungsbereich 504, University of Mannheim. [Downloadable!]
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  18. Martin F. Hellwig, 2003. "Public-Good Provision with Many Participants," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 70(3), pages 589-614, 07. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  19. Yannis Bakos & Erik Brynjolfsson, 1997. "Bundling Information Goods: Pricing, Profits and Efficiency," Working Paper Series 199, MIT Center for Coordination Science. [Downloadable!]
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Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Fang, Hanming & Norman, Peter, 2004. "An Efficiency Rationale for Bundling of Public Goods," Micro Theory Working Papers norman-04-11-21-09-39-13, Microeconomics.ca Website, revised 08 Feb 2005. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Hanming Fang & Peter Norman, 2008. "Optimal Provision of Multiple Excludable Public Goods," NBER Working Papers 13797, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Hellwig, Martin, 2004. "Optimal Income Taxation, Public-Goods Provision," Sonderforschungsbereich 504 Publications 04-42, Sonderforschungsbereich 504, Universität Mannheim & Sonderforschungsbereich 504, University of Mannheim. [Downloadable!]
  4. Hanming Fang & Peter Norman, 2003. "To Bundle or Not to Bundle," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 1440, Cowles Foundation, Yale University. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Suman Ghosh & Alexander Karaivanov & Mandar Oak, 2005. "A Case for Bundling Public Goods Contributions?," Working Papers 05005, Department of Economics, College of Business, Florida Atlantic University. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  6. Hitoshi Matsushima & Koichi Miyazaki & Nobuyuki Yagi, 2006. "Role of Linking Mechanisms in Multitask Agency with Hidden Information," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-401, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo. [Downloadable!]
  7. Martin Hellwig, 2004. "Optimal Income Taxation, Public-Goods Provision and Public-Sector Pricing: A Contribution to the Foundations of Public Economics," Working Paper Series of the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods 2004_14, Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods. [Downloadable!]
  8. Hanming Fang & Peter Norman, 2005. "Overcoming Participation Constraints," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 1511R, Cowles Foundation, Yale University, revised Apr 2006. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  9. repec:att:wimass:1920318 is not listed on IDEAS
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