Score contribution per author:
α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count
Two popular selling methods--posted-price selling and auctions--are compared here in an independent private-values model. Without auctioning costs, auctioning is always optimal. When auctioning is costly, auctions are still preferable if the marginal-revenue curve is sufficiently steep. The global steepness of the marginal-revenue curve is found to coincide with the dispersion around the mean for a number of standard distributions. Finally, the prices of the monopoly seller and of the social optimum are compared. Copyright 1993 by American Economic Association.