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Optimality of simple procurement auctions

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  • Birulin, Oleksii

Abstract

We consider procurement auctions for the projects where the cost of production is subject to ex-post shocks—cost overruns. The contractor may default due to these overruns, which affects the buyer’s expected cost. Here the lowest-bid auction emerges as the procurement mechanism that: (i) minimizes the expected transfers to the contractors, and (ii) requires the lowest surety bond to achieve a given probability of default. Since surety bonds are costly to post, the above makes a combination of the lowest-bid auction with the surety bond the optimal, i.e., the expected cost minimizing procurement mechanism in a wide range of parameters.

Suggested Citation

  • Birulin, Oleksii, 2020. "Optimality of simple procurement auctions," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:indorg:v:70:y:2020:i:c:s0167718720300321
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ijindorg.2020.102610
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Oleksii Birulin & Sergei Izmalkov, 2022. "On advance payments in tenders with budget constrained contractors," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 53(4), pages 733-762, December.
    2. Leonardo M. Giuffrida & Gabriele Rovigatti, 2022. "Supplier selection and contract enforcement: Evidence from performance bonding," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(4), pages 980-1019, November.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Procurement tenders; Cost overruns; Surety bonds; Optimal auctions;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
    • D44 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Auctions
    • H57 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Procurement

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