Using Field Experiments to Test Equivalence between Auction Formats: Magic on the Internet
American Economic Review · 1999 · Volume 89 · Issue 5
Abstract
William Vickrey's predicted equivalences between first-price sealed-bid and Dutch auctions, and between second-price sealed-bid and English auctions, are tested using field experiments that auctioned off collectible trading cards over the Internet. The results indicate that the Dutch auction produces 30-percent higher revenues than the first-price auction format, a violation of the theoretical prediction and a reversal of previous laboratory results, and that the English and second-price formats produce roughly equivalent revenues.
Keywords
Auctions
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