Managing Strategic Buyers

S-Tier
Journal: Journal of Political Economy
Year: 2011
Volume: 119
Issue: 3
Pages: 379 - 425

Authors (2)

Johannes Hörner (not in RePEc) Larry Samuelson (not in RePEc)

Score contribution per author:

4.022 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

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

Abstract

We consider the problem of a monopolist who must sell her inventory before some deadline, facing buyers with independent private values. The seller faces a basic trade-off between imperfect price discrimination and maintaining an effective reserve price. When there is only one unit and only a few buyers, the seller essentially posts unacceptable prices up to the very end, at which point prices collapse in a series of jumps to a "reserve price" exceeding marginal cost. When there are many buyers, the seller abandons this reserve price in order to more effectively screen buyers, with prices decreasing continuously over time.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:ucp:jpolec:doi:10.1086/660902
Journal Field
General
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-02-02