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How auctions work, in theory and practice, with clear explanations and real-world examples that range from government procurement to eBay.
Although it is among the oldest of market institutions, the auction is ubiquitous in today's economy, used for everything from government procurement to selling advertising on the Internet to course assignment at MIT's Sloan School. And yet beyond the small number of economists who specialize in the subject, few people understand how auctions really work. This concise, accessible, and engaging book explains both the theory and the practice of auctions. It describes the main auction formats and pricing rules, develops a simple model to explain bidder behavior, and provides a range of real-world examples.
The authors explain what constitutes an auction and how auctions can be modeled as games of asymmetric information—that is, games in which some players know something that other players do not. They characterize behavior in these strategic situations and maintain a focus on the real world by illustrating their discussions with examples that include not just auctions held by eBay and Sotheby's, but those used by Google, the U.S. Treasury, TaskRabbit, and charities. Readers will begin to understand how economists model auctions and how the rules of the auction shape bidder incentives. They will appreciate the role auctions play in our modern economy and understand why these selling mechanisms are so resilient.
Although it is among the oldest of market institutions, the auction is ubiquitous in today's economy, used for everything from government procurement to selling advertising on the Internet to course assignment at MIT's Sloan School. And yet beyond the small number of economists who specialize in the subject, few people understand how auctions really work. This concise, accessible, and engaging book explains both the theory and the practice of auctions. It describes the main auction formats and pricing rules, develops a simple model to explain bidder behavior, and provides a range of real-world examples.
The authors explain what constitutes an auction and how auctions can be modeled as games of asymmetric information—that is, games in which some players know something that other players do not. They characterize behavior in these strategic situations and maintain a focus on the real world by illustrating their discussions with examples that include not just auctions held by eBay and Sotheby's, but those used by Google, the U.S. Treasury, TaskRabbit, and charities. Readers will begin to understand how economists model auctions and how the rules of the auction shape bidder incentives. They will appreciate the role auctions play in our modern economy and understand why these selling mechanisms are so resilient.
266 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 13, 2016
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About the author
Timothy P. Hubbard
1 bookTimothy P. Hubbard is Assistant Professor of Economics at Colby College.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 28, 2019
Not bad, but don't expect to get a working knowledge of this subject matter from this book, especially since all figures from an appended pdf are missing. As one would suspect from the imprint, the book is written from an economics perspective, so its primarily to do w/ auction theory, with some applications in digital ads auctions brief historical survey of auctions on the sale of spectrum etc.
Defines English, Dutch, Vickrey auctions well enough, then motivates the need for other types like sealed bids, 2nd price, and mean-price auctions. The setup is highly definitional in the formal sense and really reminded me of how a textbook would explain Game Theory formalism, especially whether the information is or is not manifest to all auctioneers, the rules of the game, starting points etc., effectively auctions are games, so it makes sense for the authors to frame the material in this way. Be prepared to know what efficiency and Bayesian-Nash equilibrium are in this book, cause both are poorly defined but mentioned casually throughout the text. Having "Little Osborne" textbook on Game Theory may be helpful here.
If the book was much expanded, included charts, and was more thorough with its explanations, it'd be a good book.it's probably more useful for someone who went through the material more deeply once, and wants a quick review of fundamental concepts for whatever reason.
Defines English, Dutch, Vickrey auctions well enough, then motivates the need for other types like sealed bids, 2nd price, and mean-price auctions. The setup is highly definitional in the formal sense and really reminded me of how a textbook would explain Game Theory formalism, especially whether the information is or is not manifest to all auctioneers, the rules of the game, starting points etc., effectively auctions are games, so it makes sense for the authors to frame the material in this way. Be prepared to know what efficiency and Bayesian-Nash equilibrium are in this book, cause both are poorly defined but mentioned casually throughout the text. Having "Little Osborne" textbook on Game Theory may be helpful here.
If the book was much expanded, included charts, and was more thorough with its explanations, it'd be a good book.it's probably more useful for someone who went through the material more deeply once, and wants a quick review of fundamental concepts for whatever reason.
December 8, 2019
A concise, well-written introduction to auctions. Authors provide easy-to-understand examples and avoid almost all math to make the book accessible. I was surprised by how wide-spread the impact of auctions in our daily lives can be.
March 16, 2023
3.5
موضوع از این قراره که ژانویهی امسال یه شکایت نسبتا هنگفتی از گوگل شده و دلیل اصلیشتخلف گوگل تو اصول مزایدهی روی تبلیغات بوده.
آکشن ،که لغت بهتریه تا مزایده چون الزاما تو بعضی حالتا *زیاد شدن* رخ نمیده، یکی از زیرشاخههای مشترک بین اقتصاد و نظریهی بازیهاست.
صرفا دنبال این بودم که علمم رو تو این زیرشاخه بالاتر ببرم و با حالت های مختلف آکشن و تخلف هایی که ممکنه توش رخ بده آشنا بشم تا بتونم بهتر قضیه زو درک کنم، و این کتاب رو پیدا کردم که ضمن ساده بودن و کوتاه بودن آدیوبوک مناسبیم داشت و تونستم بهتر کل کانسپت آکشنها رو درک کنم.
موضوع از این قراره که ژانویهی امسال یه شکایت نسبتا هنگفتی از گوگل شده و دلیل اصلیشتخلف گوگل تو اصول مزایدهی روی تبلیغات بوده.
آکشن ،که لغت بهتریه تا مزایده چون الزاما تو بعضی حالتا *زیاد شدن* رخ نمیده، یکی از زیرشاخههای مشترک بین اقتصاد و نظریهی بازیهاست.
صرفا دنبال این بودم که علمم رو تو این زیرشاخه بالاتر ببرم و با حالت های مختلف آکشن و تخلف هایی که ممکنه توش رخ بده آشنا بشم تا بتونم بهتر قضیه زو درک کنم، و این کتاب رو پیدا کردم که ضمن ساده بودن و کوتاه بودن آدیوبوک مناسبیم داشت و تونستم بهتر کل کانسپت آکشنها رو درک کنم.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews