Auctions with Competing Sellers and Behavioral Bidders Manuscript Committee: Prof.Dr.Ir
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Auctions with competing sellers and behavioral bidders Manuscript committee: Prof.dr.ir. E.H. Bulte Prof.dr. W.H.J. Hassink Prof.dr. J. Hinloopen Dr. A.M. Onderstal Prof.dr. P.W. Schmitz ISBN 978-94-91870-21-7 Tjalling C. Koopmans dissertation series USE 035 Printed by Ridderprint, Ridderkerk c 2016 Joyce Delnoij This book was typeset using LATEX. Auctions with competing sellers and behavioral bidders Mededinging en gedragseconomie in veilingen (met een samenvatting in het Nederlands) Proefschrift ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Universiteit Utrecht op gezag van de rector magnificus, prof.dr. G.J. van der Zwaan, ingevolge het besluit van het college voor promoties in het openbaar te verdedigen op vrijdag 4 november 2016 des middags te 12.45 uur door Joyce Margarita Josephus Delnoij geboren op 7 februari 1989 te Heerlen Promotor: Prof.dr. S. Rosenkranz Copromotor: Dr. K.J.M. De Jaegher This research has been partially funded by Emesa. Voor mijn moeder Acknowledgements When I was eight years old, my mom, sister, aunt and I visited Utrecht by train. Just a few weeks before, I had learned about networks in school and thus knew that Utrecht was the main hub of the Dutch railway network. I remember that my teacher hardly explained anything about networks, but instead warned us about the dangers of Utrecht. According to him, it was extremely busy and crowded with pickpockets. Being a little girl from a small village in Limburg, this made a big impression on me. It may therefore not be surprising that I was a bit anxious when I first exited the train in Utrecht. I was looking around nervously and clutching my bag (which contained nothing of value, I was a little girl after all), while telling my fellow travelers to do the same. Luckily my aunt, who lived in Sittard and was therefore the expert on `big cities', calmed me down. The rest of the day was enjoyable, and I never again thought of Utrecht as scary or dangerous. Now, many years later, I completed my PhD research at Utrecht Uni- versity School of Economics (U.S.E.). Like my first arrival in Utrecht, the process of writing this dissertation was sometimes overwhelming. However, I look back on a journey that was exciting and filled with joy. This is in large part due to the fact that, just like that very first day in Utrecht, I have been surrounded by people who supported me, guided me through difficult times and, more generally, made the journey much more enjoyable. It is those people I would like to thank here. Without you, I would not have been able to complete the dissertation that is now in your hands. First and foremost, I would like to thank my supervisors, co-authors and doctoral parents, Stephanie Rosenkranz and Kris De Jaegher (also known as `Krissanie'). This dissertation would not have been written without your support and trust. I appreciate that you gave me this opportunity and am thankful for your guidance throughout my scientific endeavor. It is due to your encouragement and belief in me that I could bring my PhD research to a successful ending. Stephanie, I am grateful that you were such an involved and encouraging supervisor. I could always turn to you whenever I had questions, concerns vii viii Acknowledgements or just wanted to chat. You taught me to have confidence in my own ideas and to take things \one epsilon at a time". Next to this, you stimulated me to develop myself as a teacher. You are a true role model, not only in research and teaching but also in general. I admire your creativity in coming up with new ideas and the passion with which you do research. Thank you for inspiring me! Kris, you have been very involved in every part of this dissertation and I cannot imagine how I would have gotten here without your dedication and guidance. I still remember when we first discussed the PhD project back in 2010 and have fond memories of the times we visited Emesa together. When I started my PhD in 2012, I had no experience with theoretical work, and I immensely benefitted from your mathematical understanding and patience. Thank you for helping me every step of the way, for always being available, for meticulously reading every sentence of every chapter, and for passing down your love of commas. I really enjoy working together and I look forward to continuing our joint work in the future. Next, I would like to thank the members of the reading committee, Prof.dr.ir. Erwin Bulte, Prof.dr. Wolter Hassink, Prof.dr. Jeroen Hin- loopen, Dr. Sander Onderstal and Prof.dr. Patrick Schmitz, for carefully reading the manuscript and providing constructive comments. I am also grateful for financial support from the online auction company Emesa, and especially want to thank Marcel Beemsterboer for initiating this collabora- tion. My colleagues at U.S.E. provided a pleasant and stimulating environ- ment over the past few years. I am especially grateful for the support of my extended doctoral family, also known as the members of the chair of theo- retical microeconomics. I really enjoyed our chair lunches, dinners, reading group meetings and the research retreat. Special thanks go out to Bastian, who is always able to give an interesting, yet sometimes mysterious, per- spective on research and life in general, and to my doctoral sister Britta. Britta, if you would not have convinced me to talk to Kris in those very first weeks of the Research Master, I may not have written this disserta- tion. Thank you for being such an amazing conference, research, dancing and shopping companion. I hope we get to visit many more conferences together! I would also like to thank the U.S.E. PhDs for all the fun we had during our daily (long) lunches, PhDinners, PhDrinks and USE your peers. Although the office was cold, the environment was warm. Emre, thank you for being a great office mate as well as a wonderful tour guide through Istanbul. Thomas, thank you for being the gossip girl in our office and for sharing (many!) travel stories. The both of you were also the STATA people to turn to while writing the third chapter of this dissertation. Daan, ix Ian, Malka, Melody and Werner, I am happy that we got to share big parts of this journey together. I would also like to thank the fellow members of the LEG PhD council, who helped me get a much better understanding of university politics. Furthermore, organizing the PhD day was a great experience. Special thanks go out to Suzanne, Sara¨ı,Ioana and Lu. I am very happy that you went through the process of writing a dissertation and organizing a PhD defense before me, so that I could benefit from your experiences and follow your examples. I really enjoyed the countless dinners, drinks, pub quizes, jodeling, sauna and Paderborn visits. I would also like to thank you for stimulating my love of Abba and for allowing me to conquer and keep the microphone during karaoke. This brings me to my best friends at the office, Swantje and Krista. Swantje, I am happy you were my roommate and `work wife' throughout the course of my PhD. I really enjoyed our many talks, (murder mystery) dinners, going to Zumba and going (interior) shopping together. I am especially glad you were there for me in the last year of my PhD, and have great memories of our lovely office in Descartes. Thank you for proofreading most of my dissertation, for providing emotional support, and for working our s'ses off (of drs.) together. I miss sharing an office with my `work wife', but I am confident we will keep in touch for many more years to come. Krista, we started our research career together as `de meisjes van de Research Master', together with Sandra (hoi Sandra!). I am glad that we got to share this experience together, as this meant that there was always someone around who understood what I was going through. Swantje and Krista, it is great to have the two of you as my paranymphs! There were also people outside of university who supported me through- out my PhD. I would like to thank my friends for helping me find some much needed relaxation. Femke and Pauline, we started the economics adventure together and I am very happy that we are still friends. Stefan, Jolanda, Nick and Maaike, thank you for all the fun we had in Limburg and in Utrecht. I am also grateful to all of my friends for adhering to PhD etiquette and, after some beginners' mistakes, never asking me \how my research is doing" or \whether I will finish soon". Finally, I would not have come this far without the encouragement of my family. Papa, thank you for your never-ending support. You and mama have always encouraged me to follow my own path and do whatever makes me happiest. This gave me the confidence to follow my dreams, and I am very grateful for that. Maud, it is great having you as a (little) sister! Thank you for all the fun, laughter and (asking for) advice, and for letting me boss you around from time to time. Without being aware of it, you were an inspiration to me during the writing of the fourth chapter of this x Acknowledgements dissertation. I may even have mentioned you in some of my presentations. I would also like to thank Cees, Jeanine and Myrthe for welcoming me into their family and|despite many threats|never once locking me in the crawl space.