Affiliation, equilibrium existence and the revenue ranking of auctions

We consider private value auctions where bidders’ types are dependent, a case usually treated by assuming affiliation. We show that affiliation is a restrictive assumption in three senses: topological, measure-theoretic and statistical (affiliation is a very restrictive characterization of positive dependence). We also show that affiliation’s main implications do not generalize for alternative definitions of positive dependence. From this, we propose new approaches to the problems of pure strategy equilibrium existence in first-price auctions (PSEE) and the characterization of the revenue ranking of auctions. For equilibrium existence, we slightly restrict the set of distributions considered, without loss of economic generality, and offer a complete characterization of PSEE. For revenue ranking, we obtain a characterization of the expected revenue differences between second and first price auctions with general dependence of types

Corrigendum to "existence of equilibrium in single and double private value actions"

This is a corrigendum to Theorem 15 of Jackson and Swinkels (2005) [Existence of Equilibrium in Single and Double Private Value Auctions, Econometrica, 73, 93-140], which proves the existence of equilibrium with positive probability of trade for private value auctions

Affiliation, Equilibrium Existence and Revenue Ranking of Auctions

Affiliation has been a prominent assumption in the study of economic models with statistical dependence. Despite its large number of applications, especially in auction theory, affiliation has limitations that are important to be aware of. This paper shows that affiliation is a restrictive condition and the intuition usually given for its adoption may be misleading. Also, other usual justifications for affiliation are not compelling. Moreover, some implications of affiliation — namely, equilibrium existence in first-price auctions and the revenue dominance of second-price auctions — do not generalize to other definitions of positive dependence. JEL Classification Numbers: C62, C72, D44, D82.affiliation, positive dependence, statistical dependence of types, conditional independence, de Finetti’s theorem, minimally informative random variable, auctions, pure strategy equilibrium, revenue ranking.

Equilibria Existence in Regular Discontinuous Games

Many conditions have been introduced to weaken the continuity re- quirements for equilibrium existence in games. We introduce a new con- dition, called regularity, that is simple and easy to verify. It is implied both by Reny's better-reply security and Simon and Zame's endogenous sharing rule method. Regularity implies that the limits of epsilon-equilibria are equilibria. Since this condition is weak, it is yet not enough to ensure pure strategy equilibrium existence, but we are able to identify extra conditions that, together with regularity, are sufficient for equilibrium existence. One is the marginal continuity property introduced by Prokopovych (2008), while the second is the well behavior of a sequence of approximating con- tinuous functions. In this way, we provide new equilibrium existence re- sults for discontinuous games under conditions that are simpler and easier to check than most of the available alternatives.

CORRIGENDUM TO "EXISTENCE OF EQUILIBRIUM IN SINGLE AND DOUBLE PRIVATE VALUE ACTIONS"

This is a corrigendum to Theorem 15 of Jackson and Swinkels (2005) [Existence of Equilibrium in Single and Double Private Value Auctions, Econometrica, 73, 93-140], which proves the existence of equilibrium with positive probability of trade for private value auctions.

Affiliation, equilibrium existence and the revenue ranking of auctions

We consider private value auctions where bidders’ types are dependent, a case usually treated by assuming affiliation. We show that affiliation is a restrictive assumption in three senses: topological, measure-theoretic and statistical (affiliation is a very restrictive characterization of positive dependence). We also show that affiliation’s main implications do not generalize for alternative definitions of positive dependence. From this, we propose new approaches to the problems of pure strategy equilibrium existence in first-price auctions (PSEE) and the characterization of the revenue ranking of auctions. For equilibrium existence, we slightly restrict the set of distributions considered, without loss of economic generality, and offer a complete characterization of PSEE. For revenue ranking, we obtain a characterization of the expected revenue differences between second and first price auctions with general dependence of types.

Pure strategy equilibria of single and double auctions with interdependent values

We prove the existence of monotonic pure strategy equilibrium for many types of asymmetric auctions with n bidders and unitary demands, interdependent values and independent types. The assumptions require monotonicity only in the own bidder's type. The payments can be a function of all bids. Thus, we provide a new equilibrium existence result for asymmetrical double auctions and a small number of bidders. The generality of our setting requires the use of special tie-breaking rules. We present a reasonable counterexample for interdependent values auctions that shows that sometimes all equilibria are trivial, that is, they have zero probability of trade. Nevertheless, we give sufficient conditions for non-trivial equilibrium existence

Ambiguity Aversion and Absence of Trade

What is the effect of ambiguity aversion on trade? Although in a Bewley's model ambiguity aversion always lead to less trade, in other models this is not always true. However, we show that if the endowments are unambiguous then more ambiguity aversion implies less trade, for a very general class of preferences. The reduction in trade caused by ambiguity aversion can be as severe as to lead to no-trade. In an economy with MEU decision makers, we show that if the aggregate endowment is unanimously unambiguous then every Pareto optima allocation is also unambiguous. We also characterize the situation in which every unanimously unambiguous allocation is Pareto optimal. Finally, we show how our results can be used to explain the home-bias effect. As a useful result for our methods, we also obtain an additivity theorem for CEU and MEU decision makers that does not require comonotonicity JEL Code: D51, D6, D8no-trade results, ambiguity aversion, Pareto optimality.

Economic growth, convergence and quality of human capital formation system

This paper’s goal is to make use of a human capital proxy that takes into account quantitative and qualitative aspects of this factor to measure with a higher level of accuracy the impact of human capital on countries’ income level and rate of growth. The empirical study will take place by means of a comparative analysis of Mankiw, Romer and Weil’s 1992 paper.human capital proxy, qualitative aspects of human capital

Tougher Educational Exam Leading to Worse Selection

This paper shows a somehow counterintuitive result: an increase in the exam diculty may reduce the average quality (productivity) of selected individuals. Since the exam does not verify all skills, when its standard rises, candidates with relatively low skills emphasized in the test and high skills demanded in the job may no longer qualify. Hence, an increase in the testing standard may be counterproductive. One implication is that policies should emphasize alignment between the skills tested and those required in the actual jobs.school standard, signaling model, cognitive skill, noncog- nitive skill