Auction Comparisons

http://www.beyonddiscovery.org/content/view.page.asp?I=3685

This article discusses the pros and cons of four different types of auctions. It also mentions how "ideal" behavior makes certain assumptions about people's thought process and what they allow to influence them. It discussed Vickrey's auction and how in theory all auctions bring in the same revenue but the second price auction was the easiest to understand strategically. The main advantage of a second price auction is that there's no need to think through the aspect of "shading" your bid. Instead everyone bids their value and the person with the highest value wins (as discussed in class), the winner has no incentive to not bid their value especially because they still will not have to pay the full price. The article provides an interesting look at Vickrey's research.