Collusion via signaling in open ascending auctions with multiple objects and complementarities

Collusive equilibria exist in open ascending auctions with multiple objects, if the number of bidders is sufficiently small relative to the number of objects, even with large complementarities in the buyers' utility functions. The bidders collude by dividing the objects among themselves, while keeping the prices low. Hence the complementarities are not realized

Aggregate Uncertainty in the Citizen-Candidate Model Yields Extremist Parties

We extend the 'citizen candidate' model of party formation to allow for aggregate uncertainty over the distribution of preferenecs in order to address free entry in some earlier research on electoral competition with aggregate uncertainty with a fixed number of parties. We discuss and characterize the equilibrium set in this framework and show that two-party equilibria have 'extremist' parties, i.e., the party winning under a left-wing (right-wing) distribution is to the left (right) of the median of that distribution.

Optimal secession rules

Should the constitution of a federation allow for peaceful secession? Constitutionally defined secession rules are optimal ex post if the federation breaks down. However, they may be suboptimal ex ante if the member countries receive a benefit from the perceived long-term stability of the federation and constitutionally defined secession rules increase the probability of a break-up. The optimal social contract trades off ex ante benefits and ex post losses, and it may avoid explicit secession rules. If transfers are costly, the trade off is present even if ex post renegotiation is allowed. Finally, we show that under asymmetric information it is more difficult to keep the federation together and that a secession war may occur. --

Understanding reverse mergers: a first approach

A reverse merger (RM) is a technique in which a private company is acquired by a shell or defunct public company via stock swap. As a result, the private company becomes public. The main difference between an IPO and a RM is that an IPO allows going public and also allows raising capital while the RM only allows going public. This paper addresses the following question: Why do some companies prefer a RM to an IPO? We construct a three-period model in which a company has uncertainty about the availability of a project and need to issue equity to finance it. The model predicts that under suitable conditions, a separating equilibrium exists in which a high-type firm will prefer IPO and a low-type firm will prefer RM. The empirical evidence supports these predictions. In addition, looking at the cost of RMs between 1990 and 2000 in the NYSE and NASDAQ and adding the cost of an additional SEO, we find evidence to support the idea that an IPO and a RM are equally costly

Short-termism as optimal experimentation policy

Models of managerial short-termism rely on a number of assumption, such as limited availability of capital, fixed compensation schemes and an additive impact of managerial ability on revenue. We discuss the role of these assumption in generating short-termism. We show that when managerial ability ha a multiplicative impact on revenue then the first best investment policy may require the implementation of short-term projects with negative NPV in order to generate information on managerial ability that can be exploited in later periods. We also show that, when the firm is free to design the compensation scheme, the first best is attained even if only short-term contracts are allowed. Short-termism is therefore the result of an optimal experimentation policy rather than the consequence of managerial misbehavior

Perfect bayseian implementation: one round of signaling is not enough

We show that there exists a social choice function that cannot be implemented in perfect Bayesian equilibrium if the mechanism has an equilibrium with one round of signaling. The social choice function can however be implemented in perfect Bayesian equilibrium, obviously with an equilibrium reaching the second stage

Unique implementation of action profiles: necessary and sufficient conditions

We study the general problem of a principal who desires to implement a given vector of actions and pay the agents according to a given compensation scheme. Previous work has provided mechanisms for implementation in various special cases. In this paper we fully characterize the set of action proflles and compensation schemes implementable in sub game perfect equilibrium, providing necessary and sufficient conditions for implementation