This paper studies optimal auction design when buyers’ value discovery investment is covert but essential for mutually beneficial trade between seller and buyers. Since selling mechanisms contingent on value discovery (e.g. ex ante fees charged upon information acquisition) are not feasible,...

This paper provides a different approach to establish the uniqueness of equilibrium in Tullock con- tests between two players with asymmetric valuations, when the discriminatory power r is between 1 and 2. Our result complements that of Ewerhart (2017) in Ölling up the remaining gap in the...