The culture of private negotiation leads parties to agreements below a price that anchors beginning bids and offers. Possible anchors are a list price or suggested retail price. The anchor may be endogenous, e.g., the average reported trade price from previous trading activity. An endogenous...

This laboratory study investigates the extent to which matching and inventory loss risks contribute to market power in private negotiation trading. Asymmetry in the number of buyers and sellers increases matching risk when exchange is bilateral. The risk of inventory loss can occur from advance...