Information Systems Research

Wang, Qiu-Hong; Hui, Kai-Lung

doi: 10.1287/isre.2016.0659pmid: N/A

We study the strategic benefits of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) when competing information technology vendors sell different generations of the same product with different quality. We assume the new product arrives unexpectedly when an installed base of the old product exists. We show that the combination of consumers’ purchase history and heterogeneity leads to new demand complexity that gives rise to innovative product strategies. We find that shelving the old product is an important motivation for M&A. The acquirer may exercise static or intertemporal price discrimination depending on whether it can exercise upgrade pricing. M&A may speed up or slow down new product consumption, and it can lead to delayed new product introduction in some markets. However, it always increases the acquirer’s profit and can sometimes help maximize social welfare. We discuss relevant managerial and policy implications.The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.2016.0659.

Bichler, Martin; Hao, Zhen; Adomavicius, Gediminas

doi: 10.1287/isre.2016.0681pmid: N/A

Bidders in larger ascending combinatorial auctions face a substantial coordination problem, which has received little attention in the literature. The coordination problem manifests itself by the fact that losing bidders need to submit nonoverlapping package bids that are high enough to outbid the standing winners. We propose an auction format, which leverages the information that the auctioneer collects throughout the auction about the preferences of individual bidders and suggests prices for the members of losing bidder coalitions, which in total would make a given coalition winning. We model the bidder’s bundle selection problem as a coordination game, which provides a theoretical rationale for bidders to agree to these prices, and highlights the role of the auctioneer in providing relevant information feedback. Results of extensive numerical simulations and experiments with human participants demonstrate that this type of pricing substantially reduces the number of auction rounds and bids necessary to find a competitive equilibrium, and at the same time significantly increases auction efficiency in the lab. This rapid convergence is crucial for the practical viability of combinatorial auctions in larger markets.The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.2016.0681.