Auctions
| Case: Hild, M., Dwidevy, A., and Raj, A., 2004, “The Biggest Auction Ever: 3G Licensing in Western Europe”, Darden Business Publishing
Discussion question: What are the alternatives to auctions? |
Textbook Reading: Chapter 3 (Intro and Section 3.3; pp. 65-67 and pp.83-89) and Chapter 12 (Section 12.4; pp. 434-437
In this lecture video Tim Roughgarden “provides a detailed case study of the 2016-2017 Federal Communications Commission incentive auction for repurposing wireless spectrum”. It demonstrates how economics, computer science and business can coincide to solve complete real world problems. For a short overview of the success of spectrum auctions, see here:
| Instructor resource: The Biggest Auction Ever: What Happened Next?, February 2019 + |
You can test you knowledge of this session with this quiz.
This video introduces two key concepts: the Coase theorem, and the transitional gains trap.
In the past I have used an assignment where I asked students to link together the concepts from the video with the 3G license auction. Here is a great example of their work:
Extra activity: The Dutch flower auction
| Learning Objectives: To consider how auctions compare to other allocation mechanisms. To understand different types of auction and apply them to real examples.
Cutting edge theory: Auctions are used in e-commerce Focus on diversity: An expert on applied auction formats, Susan Athey was the first female winner of the John Bates Clark medal. She has been an advisor to Microsoft and you can follow her on Twitter here. Spotlight on sustainability: How governments can use beauty contests to mitigate the environmental impact of infrastructure spending |