
46 Qualifications and Extensions
4.3 ASYMMETRIES AMONG BIDDERS
In this section, we consider situations in which bidders are ex ante asymmetric:
different bidders’ values are drawn from different distributions. Asymmetries
among bidders do not affect bidding behavior in second-price auctions; it is still
a weakly dominant strategy for each bidder to bid his or her value. In a first-price
auction, however, asymmetries lead to numerous complications. First, although
an equilibrium exists (see Appendix G), unlike in the case of symmetric bidders,
a closed form expression for the bidding strategies is not available, making a
comparison with the second-price ...