In 2000 and 2001, several European countries carried out auctions for third generation technologies or universal mobile … telephone services (UMTS) communication licenses. These "spectrum auctions" inaugurated yet another era in an industry that has … their spectacular but often puzzling outcomes, these spectrum auctions attracted enormous attention and invited new research …

Using a sample of 680 and 1,300 judicial and private auctions respectively, we analyze the effect on the wealth of … those the law is intended to protect of different regulations applicable to each type of auctions. We find that consistent … with a simple economic model, Courts assign judicial auctions in a discretional manner, and that the assigned auctioneers …