Four Essays in Auction Theory and Contest Theory

Abstract

This thesis consists of four essays that belong to the literature on the theory of auctions and the theory of contests. Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 are devoted to the research on auctions and study the role of symmetry in auction design. In Chapter 1, I show how the designer can favor one of the bidders by choosing auction rules even if the chosen auction has to be symmetric. In Chapter 2, the symmetric revenue-maximizing auction is completely characterized. Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 contribute to the contest theory. In Chapter 3, the role of head starts in search contests is investigated. Chapter 4 finds optimal prize structures of elimination contests for a general form of the designer's objective.