We study the existence of efficient, Bayesian incentive compatible allocation procedures in a general setting with interdependent valuations. Possible applications include multi-object auctions and the provision of public goods. We emphasize the role of multidimensional signals, and, in view of...

We study efficient, Bayes-Nash incentive compatible mechanisms in a social choice setting that allows for informational and allocative externalities. We show that such mechanisms exist only if a congruence condition relating private and social rates of information substitution is satisfied. If...

In our framework, when a buyer does not obtain the auctioned object, he is no longer indifferent about the identity of the winner (i.e., eyternal effects are present). Buyer i's preferences are characterized by an N-dimensional vector t^i = (t1^i, t2^i,..,tN^i). The coordinate ti^i can be...

We consider an auction with risk neutral agents having independent private valuations for several heterogenous objects. Most of the literature on revenue-maximizing auctions has focused on the sale of one good or on the sale of several identical units (thus yielding one-dimensional informational...

An indivisible good can be consumed by one of several agents. The consumption involves identity-dependent externalities to non-consumers. Resale markets for such goods are analyzed in various institutional settings where agents cannot commit to future actions. We address the following questions:...

We survey the recent European UMTS license auctions and compare their outcomes with the predictions of a simple model that emphasizes future market structure as a main determinant of valuations for licenses. Since the main goal of most spectrum allocation procedures is economic efficiency, and...

We study the possibility of efficient trade with informationally interdependent valuations. In a model based on the bilateral trade situation studied in Myerson and Satterthwaite (1983) efficient trade is only possible in trivial cases where the seller's valuation always exceeds the buyer's...

We study a contest with multiple (not necessarily equal) prizes. Contestants have private information about an ability parameter that affects their costs of bidding. The contestant with the highest bid wins the first prize, the contestant with the second-highest bid wins the second prize, and so...

We study experiments in an auction setting with interdependent valuation. Groups of three players receive private signals and then bid for a single, indivisible item. Valuations for the item differ within groups and depend asymmetrically on a bidder's own and other bidders' signals....

We study contests where several privately informed agents bid for a price. All bidders bear a cost of bidding that is an increasing function of their bids, and, moreover, bids may be capped. We show that, regardless of the number of bidders, if agents have linear or concave cost functions then...