Multi-unit auctions are sometimes plagued by the so-called exposure problem. In this paper, we analyze a simple game called the "chopstick auction" in which bidders are confronted with the exposure problem. We do so both in theory and in a laboratory experiment. In theory, the chopstick auction...

For an ordinary linear program it is well known that, if the resources are evaluated at marginal prices determined by an optimal dual solution, then this imputed value is identical with the value of the primal objective function. For a convex program with a nonlinear objective function and...