189 research outputs found

    A Double-Sided Multiunit Combinatorial Auction for Substitutes: Theory and Algorithms

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    Combinatorial exchanges have existed for a long time in securities markets. In these auctions buyers and sellers can place orders on combinations, or bundles of different securities. These orders are conjunctive: they are matched only if the full bundle is available. On business-to-business (B2B) exchanges, buyers have the choice to receive the same product with different attributes; for instance the same product can be produced by different sellers. A buyer indicates his preference by submitting a disjunctive order, where he specifies how much of the product he wants, and how much he values each attribute. Only the goods with the best attributes and prices will be matched. This article considers a doubled-sided multi-unit combinatorial auction for substitutes, that is, a uniform price auction where buyers and sellers place both types of orders, conjunctive and disjunctive. We prove the existence of a linear price which is both competitive and surplus-maximizing when goods are perfectly divisible, and nearly so otherwise. We describe an algorithm to clear the market, which is particularly efficient when the number of traders is large.Combinatorial auction, economic equilibrium

    Market-Based Allocation with Indivisible Bids

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    Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73571/1/j.1937-5956.2007.tb00275.x.pd

    Allocating Uncertain and Unresponsive Resources

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    We identify an important class of economic problems that arise naturally in several applications: the allocation of multiple resources when there are uncertainties in demand or supply, unresponsive supplies (no inventories and fixed capacities), and significant demand indivisibilities (rigidities). Examples of such problems include scheduling job shops, airports or super-computers, zero-inventory planning, and the allocation and pricing of NASA's planned Space Station. We show that the two most common organizations used to deal with this problem, markets and administrative procedures, can perform at very low efficiencies (60-65percent efficiency in a seemingly robust example). Thus, there is a need to design new mechanisms that more efficiently allocate resources in these environments. We develop and analyze two that arise naturally from auctions used in the allocation of single dimensional goods. These new mechanisms involve computer assisted coordination made possible by the existence of networked computers. Both mechanisms significantly improve on the performance of both administrative and market procedures

    Liquidity in frictional asset markets

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    On November 14-15, 2008, the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland hosted a conference on “Liquidity in Frictional Asset Markets.” In this paper we review the literature on asset markets with trading frictions in both finance and monetary theory using a simple search-theoretic model, and we discuss the papers presented at the conference in the context of this literature. We will show the diversity of topics covered in this literature, e.g., the dynamics of housing and credit markets, the functioning of payment systems, optimal monetary policy and the cost of inflation, the role of banks, the effect of informational frictions on asset trading.Liquidity (Economics)

    The exposure problem and market design

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    This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from OUP via the DOI in this recordMarkets have an exposure problem when getting to the optimal allocationrequires a sequence of transactions which if started but not completed leavesat least one trader with losses. We use laboratory experiments to evaluatethe effect of the exposure problem on alternative market mechanisms. Thecontinuous double auction performs poorly: efficiency is only 20% when expo-sure is high and 55% when it is low. A package market effectively eliminatesthe exposure problem: in low and high exposure treatments efficiency is 82%and 89% respectively. Building on stability notions from matching theory weintroduce the concept of mechanism stability. A model of trade that com-bines mechanism stability with noisy best responses and imperfect foresightexplains the difference in market performance. Finally, decentralized bargai-ning with contingent contracts performs well with perfect information andcommunication but not in the more realistic case when traders’ preferencesare privately known.European Research Counci

    A Model of Money with Multilateral Matching, Second Version

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    We develop a model of monetary exchange that avoids several common criticisms of the recent microfoundations literature. First, rather than random matching, we assume that buyers know the location of all sellers, and hence the process of finding a partner is deterministic, although trade is still stochastic since the number of buyers visiting a given seller is random. Second, given multilateral matching, rather than bargaining, we assume that goods are allocated according to second-price auctions. Third, given this mechanism, we do not have to assume agents can observe each other’s money holdings or preferences, as is necessary for tractability with bargaining. A novel result is that homogeneous buyers hold different amounts of money, leading to equilibrium price dispersion. We find the closed-form solution for the distribution of money holdings. We characterize equilibrium and efficient monetary policy.Search Theory of Money, Budget Constrained Auctions, Friedman Rule

    Power Exchange Auction Trading Platform Design (Ontwerp van een veilingsysteem voor elektrische energiebeurzen).

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    Deze studie analyseert de door elektrische energiebeurzen georganiseerde veilingen in Europa. Beurzen zijn instituties die de groothandel in elektrische energie vergemakkelijken. De meeste beurzen organiseren aparte veilingen een dag voordat de levering plaatsvindt voor elk uur van de volgende dag. Generatoren, grootverbruikers, leveranciers en handelaars optimaliseren hun portfolios via deze handelsplatformen.Initieel organiseerden de meeste beurzen in Europa handel binnen nationale grenzen. In toenemende mate worden ze ook betrokken bij het organiseren van grensoverschrijdende handel. De veranderende context impliceert nieuwe uitdagingen maar hernieuwt ook de discussie over hoe vroegere uitdagingen werden aangepakt.Dit werk geeft inzicht in de problemen waarmee beurzen te kampen hebben. Het veilingsysteem is gemodelleerd als een optimalisatieprobleem met beperkingen en alternatieve oplossingen worden onderzocht. In zijn rol als veilingmeester, ontvangt de beurs door marktpartijen geĂŻntroduceerde orders en beslist dan welke orders te aanvaarden en aan welke prijzen de contracten worden afgerekend. Het nemen van deze beslissing is niet vanzelfsprekend door netwerkbeperkingen, order formaten (blokorders) en politieke beperkingen. De tekst is onderverdeeld in drie delen die respectievelijk deze themas bespreken.

    Participation Rights and Mechanism Design

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    This paper is concerned with the procedural aspects of collective choice and the impact of the parties' participation rights on the optimal mechanism. We find that the mechanism designer generally benefits from the selective engagement of the agents-the exclusion of some agent-types from the choice process. We show that optimization of mechanisms with voluntary participation involves two mutually dependent instruments: the scope of the agents' engagement, and the functional form of the social choice function. The benefits of selective engagement, as well as two optimization methodologies, are illustrated on principal-agent models. We find that the participation constraint is redundant and generally leads tot suboptimal mechanisms. Contrary to its general interpretation, this restriction does not reflect the voluntary aspect of the agents' participation. Rather, it gives them an additional entitlement: to force their involvement in the collective choice. We formulate a free-exit constraint that is devoid of incentives and fully accounts for the voluntary aspect of participation. It also leads to an equivalent representation of incentive-compatibility that explicates incentives and specifies the feasibility of a mechanism. Key words: Participation rights, voluntary participation, economics of information, incentives, incentive compatibility, principal-agent model.

    Allocating Uncertain and Unresponsive Resources

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    We identify an important class of economic problems that arise naturally in several applications: the allocation of multiple resources when there are uncertainties in demand or supply, unresponsive supplies (no inventories and fixed capacities), and significant demand indivisibilities (rigidities). Examples of such problems include scheduling job shops, airports or super-computers, zero-inventory planning, and the allocation and pricing of NASA's planned Space Station. We show that the two most common organizations used to deal with this problem, markets and administrative procedures, can perform at very low efficiencies (60-65percent efficiency in a seemingly robust example). Thus, there is a need to design new mechanisms that more efficiently allocate resources in these environments. We develop and analyze two that arise naturally from auctions used in the allocation of single dimensional goods. These new mechanisms involve computer assisted coordination made possible by the existence of networked computers. Both mechanisms significantly improve on the performance of both administrative and market procedures
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