We study the order of sale in art auctions. The final bid relative to the auctioneer's estimated price declines throughout the course of an auction. A theoretical model shows that in an auction ordered by declining valuation, even in the presence of risk-neutral strategic bidders, the price...

A model of a firm with one principal and two agents is considered. The actions of the agents are not observed by the principal; hence there is moral hazard. It is shown that when the agents act sequentially -- that is, agent 2 takes his action conditional upon agent 1's choice -- the first-best...