Working Paper
The Herodotus Paradox
Michael R. Baye, Dan Kovenock J., Casper De Vries
CESifo, Munich, 2010
CESifo Working Paper No. 3135
CESifo, Munich, 2010
CESifo Working Paper No. 3135
![](https://cesifo.org/DocImg/cesifo1_wp3135.jpg?c=1689236840)
The Babylonian bridal auction, described by Herodotus, is regarded as one of the earliest uses of an auction in history. Yet, to our knowledge, the literature lacks a formal equilibrium analysis of this auction. We provide such an analysis for the two-player case with complete and incomplete information, and in so doing identify what we call the “Herodotus Paradox.”
CESifo Category
Empirical and Theoretical Methods
Empirical and Theoretical Methods
JEL Classification: C720,D440