In a set of novel lab experiments we show that the mere presence of an existing alliance at the onset of coalition formation may lead marketing managers to form economically suboptimal alliances. Study Set 1 considers alliance formation when a focal firm is already embedded in an existing...

In practice, the rules in most open English auctions require participants to raise bids by a sizeable, discrete amount. Furthermore, some bidders are typically more aggressive in seeking to become the “current bidder” during competitive bidding. Most auction theory, however, has assumed...