2003/01/27 by I. Yang, Insoon Yang, H. Jeong +4
Business, Management and Accounting · Chemistry · Decision Sciences · Physics and Astronomy · #Auction Theory and Applications #Bidding #Business #Chemistry #Common value auction #Computer science #Consumer Market Behavior and Pricing #Econometrics #Economics #Fraction (chemistry) #Game Theory and Applications #Microeconomics #cond-mat.stat-mech
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physreve.68.016102
4pages, 5figures
arxiv created 2003/01/27 · openalex publication_date 2003/07/03 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We characterize the statistical properties of a large number of agents on two major online auction sites. The measurements indicate that the total number of bids placed in a single category and the number of distinct auctions frequented by a given agent follow power-law distributions, implying that a few agents are responsible for a significant fraction of the total bidding activity on the online market. We find that these agents exert an unproportional influence on the final price of the auctioned items. This domination of online auctions by an unusually active minority may be a generic feature of all online mercantile processes.