Publications of the Research Unit Market Design

  1. ZEW Discussion Paper No. 22-062 // 2022

    Motivated Beliefs in Auctions

    In auctions bidders are usually assumed to have rational expectations with regards to their winning probability. However, experimental and empirical evidence suggests that agent's expectations depend on direct…

  2. ZEW Discussion Paper No. 22-060 // 2022

    Congestion Management Games in Electricity Markets

    This paper proposes a game-theoretic model to analyze the strategic behavior of inc-dec gaming in market-based congestion management (redispatch). We extend existing models by considering incomplete information…

  3. Refereed Journal // 2022

    Uncertain Product Availability in Search Markets

    In many markets buyers are poorly informed about which firms sell the product (product availability) and prices, and therefore have to spend time to obtain this information. In contrast, sellers typically have a…

  4. ZEW Discussion Paper No. 22-056 // 2022

    The Value of Decentralization Using the Blockchain

    I study an entrepreneur’s incentives to build a network using a blockchain. The entrepreneur can either build the network using a regular company and retain control of the network, or build the network using a…

  5. ZEW Discussion Paper No. 22-054 // 2022

    Non-standard Choice in Matching Markets

    We explore the possibility of designing matching mechanisms that can accommodate non-standard choice behavior. We pin down the necessary and sufficient conditions on participants’ choice behavior for the…

  6. Refereed Journal // 2022

    The asymmetric effect of narratives on prosocial behavior

    We study how positive narratives (stories in favor of a prosocial action) and negative narratives (stories in favor of a selfish action) influence prosocial behavior in a series of lab and online…

  7. ZEW policy brief No. 22-06 // 2022

    Price Subsidies May Impair Competition in Retail Market for Natural Gas

    Policymakers have been discussing various potential measures to cushion the impact of skyrocketing gas prices and prevent supply shortages. On 10 October 2022 an expert commission in Germany proposed a plan to…

  8. ZEW Discussion Paper No. 22-050 // 2022

    Willingness to Volunteer Among Remote Workers Is Insensitive to the Team Size

    Volunteering is a widespread allocation mechanism in the workplace. It emerges naturally in software development or the generation of online knowledge platforms. Using a field experiment with more than 2000…

  9. ZEW Discussion Paper No. 22-048 // 2022

    Performance Feedback and Job Search Behavior: Empirical Evidence From Linked Employer-Employee Data

    In this paper, we study whether performance feedback can serve as an instrument for firms to increase employee retention. Feedback on the relative performance may affect individual job search behavior…