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Inferring ascending auction participation from observed bidders

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  • Platt, Brennan C.

Abstract

Participation in internet auctions goes well beyond those who place a bid. Participants arrive in random order, and if the auction’s standing price has already exceeded a participant’s valuation, she will not bid. Even so, her unreported valuation is a relevant part of demand for the item, and in an alternate random order, her bid would have been registered. I provide a method to estimate the average number of participants from the average number of bidders per auction. This enables estimation of the distribution of participant valuations from either the distribution of closing prices or the distribution of all observed bids.

Suggested Citation

  • Platt, Brennan C., 2017. "Inferring ascending auction participation from observed bidders," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 65-88.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:indorg:v:54:y:2017:i:c:p:65-88
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ijindorg.2017.06.001
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Dominic Coey & Bradley J. Larsen & Brennan C. Platt, 2020. "Discounts and Deadlines in Consumer Search," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(12), pages 3748-3785, December.
    2. Joachim Freyberger & Bradley J. Larsen, 2022. "Identification in ascending auctions, with an application to digital rights management," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 13(2), pages 505-543, May.
    3. Matthew Backus & Gregory Lewis, 2016. "Dynamic Demand Estimation in Auction Markets," NBER Working Papers 22375, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Dominic Coey & Bradley J. Larsen & Kane Sweeney & Caio Waisman, 2021. "Scalable Optimal Online Auctions," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 40(4), pages 593-618, July.
    5. Cristián Hernández & Daniel Quint & Christopher Turansick, 2020. "Estimation in English auctions with unobserved heterogeneity," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 51(3), pages 868-904, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Unobserved auction participation; Estimation of number of bidders; Ascending auctions;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C73 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Stochastic and Dynamic Games; Evolutionary Games
    • D44 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Auctions
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness

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