Internet Auctions: Some Issues and Problems

摘要

Recent advances in client-server, web-server and networking technology have made it possible to hold auctions over the Internet. The popularity of such auctions has grown very rapidly in the last few years, giving a new impetus to the study and analysis of auctions. Apart from technological problems, there are a variety of implementational, economic, and behavioral aspects that need to be studied. In this paper we describe a few representative issues, and outline promising quantitative and computer-based approaches that can lead to solutions. The three issues we examine are timed bids, forecasting of final bid values in incomplete auctions, and last-minute bidding. These and other related features of Internet auctions could have a major impact in the near future on the volume of business transactions over the Internet.