{"id":452295,"date":"2026-09-15T16:35:06","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T14:35:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wifo.ac.at\/publication\/452295\/"},"modified":"2026-09-15T16:35:07","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T14:35:07","slug":"bidding-in-multi-unit-auctions-under-limited-information","status":"publish","type":"publication","link":"https:\/\/www.wifo.ac.at\/en\/publication\/452295\/","title":{"rendered":"Bidding in Multi-unit Auctions under Limited Information"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-452295","publication","type-publication","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"subtitle":"","text":"Multi-unit auctions frequently take place in environments with limited information, such as in new markets and under volatile macroeconomic conditions. We characterize optimal prior-free bids in such auctions; these bids minimize the maximal loss in expected utility resulting from uncertainty surrounding opponent behavior. We show that optimal bids are readily computable in this environment despite bidders having multi-dimensional private information. In the pay-as-bid auction the prior-free bid is unique; in the uniform-price auction the prior-free bid is unique if the bidder is allowed to determine the quantities for which they bid, as in many practical applications. We compare prior-free bids and auction outcomes across auction formats; while outcome comparisons are ambiguous, pay-as-bid auctions tend to generate greater revenue and welfare than uniform-price auctions when bidders' values are dispersed. We also compare outcomes in limited-information environments to outcomes in high-information environments, modeled as bidders playing Bayes-Nash equilibrium, and show that Bayes-Nash outcomes dominate prior-free outcomes when the auction is competitive.","onlinedate":"2025-05-01 02:00:00","lang":"English","publication_series":"","publication_date":"20250501","publication_date_year":"","publication_date_full":false,"publication_num_pages":"30","keywords":"[\"Multi-unit auction\",\"Strategic uncertainty\",\"Robustness\",\"Regret minimization\"]","jelcodes":"[\"D44\",\"D81\"]","related_publications":"[]","pdf":null,"zip":null,"link":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.jet.2025.106008","monthly_report":false,"monthly_report_main":false,"monthly_report_volume":"226","monthly_report_pages":"","monthly_report_pages_sort":"0","issue":"","journal":"Journal of Economic Theory","publisher":"","invisible":false,"external":true,"embargo_date":null,"types":[83083],"research_groups":[3655],"collaboration":"","persons":[425699,451870],"persons_data":"[{\"personId\":425699,\"personName\":\"Bernhard Kasberger\",\"organisationNames\":[]},{\"personId\":451870,\"personName\":\"Kyle Woodward\",\"organisationNames\":[]}]","clients":[],"subclients":[],"partners":[],"topics":[],"host_publication_title":"","host_publication_subtitle":"","place_of_publication":"","host_publication_editors":"[]","type_description":"","output_media":"","chapter":"","article_number":106008,"citations":"","scientific_assistance":"[]","scientific_review":"[]","version":"","release_date":null,"expiration_date":null,"surveyor":"","research_assistance":"","edv":"","additional_info_de":"","additional_info_en":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.3 (Yoast SEO v28.3) - 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