주파수경매의 효율성 향상방안 : 배분적 외부성이 존재하는 경우를 중심으로

Discriminating Bidders Can Improve Efficiency in Auction

주파수와 같이 매우 희소한 경제적 자원을 배분하는 경우 경매는 배분적 외부성으로 인하여 비효율적 결과를 낳을 수 있다. 경매수입이 아닌 사회후생을 기준으로 하면, 경매를 통한 배분은 경매참여자가 2인일 때에도 비효율적일 수 있다. 이는 2위 기업이 주파수를 더 효율적으로 활용할 수 있다 하더라도 이를 통해 얻는 이익은 크지 않은 반면에 선도기업이 시장을 잠식당함으로써 입는 손실이 클 때 발생한다. 2-경기자 호텔링 모형을 사용하여 분석한 결과, 2위 기업의 입찰가에 어떠한 승수를 곱함으로써 2위 기업을 경매에서 유리하게 만들 경우 경매를 통한 배분 결과가 파레토 개선된다. 승수는 시장점유율을 바탕으로 구할 수 있으며 시장점유율 격차가 클수록 높다.

Auction is widely used in allocation and procurement of resources due to its desirable properties: efficiency and revenue maximization. It is well-known, however, that auction may fail to achieve efficiency when allocative externalities exist. Such a result may happen in the auction of the resources that are very scarce, for example, radio spectrum. This is because allocation of the resources has effects on competition of the firms in the aftermarket, and thus a firm that utilizes the resources less efficiently may make a higher bid to lessen competition. This paper shows first that efficient allocation may not be achieved by auction even when the number of bidders is 2, while it is shown in the literature that auction may result in inefficient allocation when the number of bidders is greater than or equal to 3. There exist 2 firms, who make a bid to win the scarce resources that increase the value or decrease the production cost of their own product. After the auction ends, the firms engage in Bertrand competition on the Hotelling line. Inefficient allocation may happen even under the second-price auction rule, and it happens only when the firms are different in the initial value or the initial cost of their products as well as in the value of the auctioned resources. The firm who has been the leader loses a large portion of the market if it fails to win the auction, and thus makes a high bid even when the other firm can use the resources more efficiently. Allocative efficiency Pareto improves when the smaller firm's bid counts more than the leader's bid. This paper suggests a modified rule that the smaller firm wins the auction when its bid multiplied by some constant is greater than the leader's bid. The multiplier can be calculated from the market shares. It is equal to 1 when the two firms are the same, and is increasing in the leader's market share. Allocation is efficient in a strictly larger set of parameters under the modified rule than under the standard second-price auction rule.