From: "Mike Rothkopf" To: "Eric Rasmusen" Subject: Re: Your paper on Uncertainty Over One's own Uncertainty in PV Auctions Date: Monday, July 16, 2001 11:15 AM Hi, Comments below. I hope you are enjoying Japan. Mike Rothkopf At 10:30 AM 7/16/01 +0900, you wrote: >Dear Professor Rothkopf, > >Thank you for your encouragement. I just gave the paper as a seminar for >the first time here, and hope to be sending it off to a journal in August. You are most welcome. Keep me posted, as I will probably find occasion to cite your work on this. > >The value discovery idea does have lots of possibilities. It can explain >"getting carried away" too, I think, and I have some notes on that that will >be a short paper soon. I'll be sure to send it to you. I'll be looking for it. > > Did you know that I just reprinted your "Trees: A Decisionmaker's Lament?" >in Readings in Games and Information? The publisher got all the >permissions, in a rather mixed-up way, and I'm not sure if they contacted >the authors as well as the publishers. Anyway, the book's just out this >May. Did they send you a copy? I vaguely remember a request for permission some time ago. I didn't get a copy, but would be please to get one. In any case, please send me the exact reference. > > Yours truly, > >Eric Rasmusen >Professor of Bus. Econ. and Public Policy, Indiana University >Visiting Professor, CIRJE (May-August 2001) >Faculty of Economics, The University of Tokyo >3-1, Hongo 7-chome, Bunkyo-Ku, Tokyo 113-0033 Japan >81 (3) 5841-5511. Fax: 81 (03) 5841-8294 >Home: 4-6-41 C-603, International Lodge, Shirokanedai, Minato-ku, >Tokyo 108-0071, 81 (03) 3449-9766. >Erasmuse@e.u-tokyo.ac.jp, Erasmuse@indiana.edu, Php.indiana.edu/~erasmuse > > >----- Original Message ----- >From: "Mike Rothkopf" >To: >Cc: >Sent: Saturday, July 14, 2001 1:37 AM >Subject: Your paper on Uncertainty Over One's own Uncertainty in PV Auctions > > >> Dear Professor Rasmusen, >> I have a copy of the June 5, 2001 version of your "Strategic Implications >> of Uncertainty Over One's Own Private Value in Auctions." As someone who >> has long been arguing that appropriate modeling of auctions matters (See >> Michael H. Rothkopf, Thomas J. Teisberg and Edward P. Kahn, "Why Are >> Vickrey Auctions Rare?" Journal of Political Economy 98, pp. 94-109, 1990; >> Michael H. Rothkopf, "On Auctions with Withdrawable Winning Bids", >> Marketing Science 10, pp. 40-57, 1991; Michael H. Rothkopf and Richard >> Engelbrecht-Wiggans, "Getting the Model Right: The Case of Competitive >> Bidding," Interfaces 23, pp. 99-106, May-June 1993; Michael H. Rothkopf >and >> Ronald Harstad, "Modeling Competitive Bidding: A Critical Essay," >> Management Science 40, pp. 364-384, 1994.), I very much like your paper. >I >> think it is much more important than merely helping explain sniping at >> E-Bay. I hope that you will position your results more broadly (and >please >> send me copies of your related work as it becomes available!). >> Some specific comments: >> Your Result 1 destroys a widely repeated argument for second-price >> auctions, that bidders do not need information on other bidders. >> Your result 3 is interesting. It adds to the discussion of jump bids in >> Michael H. Rothkopf and Ronald M. Harstad, "On the Role of Discrete Bid >> Levels in Oral Auctions," European Journal of Operational Research 74, pp. >> 572-581, 1994. >> I think that your model has broad practical application to thinking about >> real auction issues. In writing on such an issue for the electricity >> industry, I considered using arguments related to value discovery but >ended >> up leaving them out since there were plenty of other arguments, they would >> have complicated the discussion, and the details of the value discovery >> arguments had not been worked out. (See Michael H. Rothkopf, "On Misusing >> Auctions to Value Stranded Assets," The Electricity Journal 10(10), pp. >> 10-17, December, 1997.) >> Sincerely, >> Michael Rothkopf >> > > >