Open Versus Sealed-Bid Auctions: Testing for Revenue Equivalence under Singapore's Vehicle Quota System

• Main Authors: KOH, Winston T. H., MARIANO, Roberto S., TSE, Yiu Kuen
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2003
• Subjects: vehicle quotas; licenses; auction theory; revenue equivalence; Asian Studies; Behavioral Economics; Econometrics
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soe_research/681; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soe_research/article/1680/viewcontent/Revenueequivalence_WK_RSM_TYK.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Using data from the auction of vehicle quota licenses in Singapore, we study if revenue equivalence holds when the auction format was switched from a sealed-bid format (May 1990 to June 2001) to an open bidding format since July 2001. Our econometric analysis indicates the change in auction format led to a change in bidding behavior. On average, the quota license premium under the open bidding format is about US$1,000 (about 7.5% of the Category E license price in June 2001) lower, compared to the forecast level that would have prevailed if there had been no change in the auction format.