Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/86694 
Year of Publication: 
2008
Series/Report no.: 
Tinbergen Institute Discussion Paper No. 08-041/2
Publisher: 
Tinbergen Institute, Amsterdam and Rotterdam
Abstract: 
Internet auctions attract numerous agents, but only a few become active bidders. A major difficulty in the structural analysis of internet auctions is that the number of potential bidders is unknown. Under the independent private value paradigm (IPVP)the valuations of the active bidders form a specific record sequence. This record sequence implies that if the number n of potential bidders is large, the number of active bidders is approximately 2 log n, explaining the relative inactivity. Empirical evidence for the 2 log n rule is provided. This evidence can also be interpreted as a weak test of the IPVP.
Subjects: 
bids as records
number of active bidders
JEL: 
D44
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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