3 essays on the economics of on line auctions: The posted price option puzzle and seller reputation

This dissertation investigates three characteristics of online auctions. The first chapter investigates the seller's decision to offer a posted price option in an online auction. Sellers leave money on the table by choosing a posted price, as theory predicts. The second chapter studies how a seller's reputation affects ending transaction prices in auctions. This chapter improves the existing literature by controlling for endogenous seller choices and finds no returns to reputation. Finally, the third chapter investigates how buyer search costs impact returns to seller reputation in online auctions. Reputation does matter in this chapter, but it is unclear what role search costs play.