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Winner’s Curse and Entry in Highway Procurement

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

Forthcoming
<mark>Journal publication date</mark>22/05/2025
<mark>Journal</mark>RAND Journal of Economics
Publication StatusAccepted/In press
<mark>Original language</mark>English

Abstract

In procurement auctions, there are situations where a bidder’s cost is uncertain at the time of bidding, leading to a “winner’s curse.” We use bridgework data from the State of Oklahoma and an empirical auction model to explore whether the winner’s curse also affects entry, which can have serious implications for procurement costs and efficiency. We find that the winner’s curse generally reduces entry in Oklahoma by reducing bidder markups conditional on participating. We then investigate various entry policies—including taxes, subsidies, and entry rights auctions.