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The Herodotus Paradox

CESifo Working Paper Series No. 3135

26 Pages Posted: 31 Jul 2010

See all articles by Michael R. Baye

Michael R. Baye

Indiana University - Kelley School of Business - Department of Business Economics & Public Policy

Dan Kovenock

Chapman University - Economic Science Institute; CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

Casper G. de Vries

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Erasmus School of Economics (ESE); Tinbergen Institute; CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

Date Written: July 29, 2010

Abstract

The Babylonian bridal auction, described by Herodotus, is regarded as one of the earliest uses of an auction in history. Yet, to our knowledge, the literature lacks a formal equilibrium analysis of this auction. We provide such an analysis for the two-player case with complete and incomplete information, and in so doing identify what we call the “Herodotus Paradox.”

JEL Classification: C72, D44

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Baye, Michael Roy and Kovenock, Daniel and De Vries, Casper, The Herodotus Paradox (July 29, 2010). CESifo Working Paper Series No. 3135, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1650527 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1650527

Michael Roy Baye (Contact Author)

Indiana University - Kelley School of Business - Department of Business Economics & Public Policy ( email )

Bloomington, IN 47405
United States
812-855-2779 (Phone)
812-855-3354 (Fax)

Daniel Kovenock

Chapman University - Economic Science Institute ( email )

1 University Drive
Orange, CA 92866
United States

CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

Poschinger Str. 5
Munich, DE-81679
Germany

HOME PAGE: http://www.CESifo.de

Casper De Vries

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) ( email )

P.O. Box 1738
3000 DR Rotterdam, NL 3062 PA
Netherlands
+31 10 408 8956 (Phone)
+31 10 408 9147 (Fax)

Tinbergen Institute

Burg. Oudlaan 50
Rotterdam, 3062 PA
Netherlands
+31 10 408 8956 (Phone)
+31 10 408 9147 (Fax)

CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

Poschinger Str. 5
Munich, DE-81679
Germany

HOME PAGE: http://www.CESifo.de

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