Optimal mechanism design with resale via bargaining

A-Tier
Journal: Journal of Economic Theory
Year: 2013
Volume: 148
Issue: 5
Pages: 2096-2123

Authors (2)

Score contribution per author:

2.011 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

In this paper, we examine the optimal mechanism design of selling an indivisible object to one regular buyer and one publicly known buyer, where inter-buyer resale cannot be prohibited. The resale market is modeled as a stochastic ultimatum bargaining game between the two buyers. We fully characterize an optimal mechanism under general conditions. Surprisingly, in this optimal mechanism, the seller never allocates the object to the regular buyer regardless of his bargaining power in the resale market. The seller sells only to the publicly known buyer, and reveals no additional information to the resale market. The possibility of resale causes the seller to sometimes hold back the object, which under our setup is never optimal if resale is prohibited. We find that the sellerʼs revenue is increasing in the publicly known buyerʼs bargaining power in the resale market. When the publicly known buyer has full bargaining power, Myersonʼs optimal revenue is achieved; when the publicly known buyer has no bargaining power, a conditionally efficient mechanism prevails.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:eee:jetheo:v:148:y:2013:i:5:p:2096-2123
Journal Field
Theory
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-29