Auctions are generally not efficient when the object's expected value depends on private and common value information. We report a series of first-price auction experiments to measure the degree of inefficiency that occurs with financially motivated bidders. While some subjects fall prey to the...

The objects for sale in most auctions possess both private and common value elements. This salient feature has not yet been incorporated into a strategic analysis of equilibrium bidding behaviour. This paper reports such an analysis for a stylised model in which bidders receive a private value...

This chapter focuses on the information cascade experiments. The concept of an information cascade can be explained in the context of a specific numerical example that was used in initial laboratory experiments. The predictions are publicly announced as they are made, but individuals are not...

When a series of individuals with private information announce public predictions, initial conformity can create an "information cascade" in which later predictions match the early announcements. This paper reports an experiment in which private signals are drawn from an unobserved urn. Subjects...