Auction Theory, 2nd Edition

Preface

The analysis of auctions as games of incomplete information originates in the

work of William Vickrey (1961). In this book I discuss the theory of auctions in

this tradition. The goal is to give an account of developments in the field in the

40 years since Vickrey’s pioneering paper.

I do not attempt to provide a comprehensive survey of auction theory. The

field has burgeoned, especially in the past couple of decades, and a comprehen-

sive survey would be nearly impossible. The Econ Lit database alone has more

than a thousand entries with the word “auction” or “auctions” in their titles, and

about one-half of these papers are theoretical. Instead, I have opted to concen-

trate on selected themes that I consider to be central to the theory. I