I study auctions in which firms bid for licenses that reduce their marginal costs in a post-auction downstream market …. When there are three or more firms, I show that the Vickrey--Clarke--Groves (VCG) auction maximizes consumer surplus in … surplus is ambiguous. When the VCG auction does not maximize consumer surplus, I show that consumer surplus can be maximized …

trade at a fixed price before an auction. In the "Buy-It-Now" format, the seller offers a price prior to the auction …