Lowest Unique Bid Auctions with Signals 1,2, Andrea Gallice 1 Department of Economics and Statistics, University of Torino, Corso Unione Sovietica 218bis, 10134, Torino, Italy 2 Collegio Carlo Alberto, Via Real Collegio 30, 10024, Moncalieri, Italy. Abstract A lowest unique bid auction allocates a good to the agent who submits the lowest bid that is not matched by any other bid. This peculiar mechanism recently experi- enced a surge in popularity on the Internet. We study lowest unique bid auctions from a theoretical point of view and show that in equilibrium the mechanism is unprofitable for the seller unless there exist sizeable gains from trade. But we also show that it can become highly lucrative if some bidders are myopic. In this second case, we analyze the key role played by a number of private signals bidders receive about the current status of the bids they submitted. JEL Classification: D44, C72. Keywords: Lowest unique bid auctions; pay-per-bid auctions; signals. I would like to thank Luca Anderlini, Paolo Ghirardato, Harold Houba, Clemens König, Ignacio Monzon, Amnon Rapoport, Yaron Raviv, Eilon Solan and Dmitri Vinogradov for useful comments as well as seminar participants at the Collegio Carlo Alberto, University of Siena, SMYE conference (Is- tanbul), BEELab-LabSi workshop (Florence), SED Conference on Economic Design (Maastricht), SIE meeting (Rome) and the University of Cagliari for helpful discussion. I also acknowledge able research assistantship from Susanna Calimani. All errors are mine. Contacts:
[email protected]; telephone: +390116705287; fax: +390116705082. 1 1 Introduction A new wave of websites has been intriguing consumers on the Internet over the very last few years.