Optimal Strategy-proof Mechanisms on Single-crossing Domains

Abstract: We consider an economic environment with one buyer and one seller. For a bundle $(t,q)\in [0,\infty[\times [0,1]=\mathbb{Z}$, $q$ refers to the winning probability of an object, and $t$ denotes the payment that the buyer makes. We consider continuous and monotone preferences on $\mathbb{Z}$ as the primitives of the buyer. These preferences can incorporate both quasilinear and non-quasilinear preferences, and multidimensional pay-off relevant parameters. We define rich single-crossing subsets of this class and characterize strategy-proof mechanisms by using monotonicity of the mechanisms and continuity of the indirect preference correspondences. We also provide a computationally tractable optimization program to compute the optimal mechanism for mechanisms with finite range. We do not use revenue equivalence and virtual valuations as tools in our proofs. Our proof techniques bring out the geometric interaction between the single-crossing property and the positions of bundles $(t,q)$s in the space $\mathbb{Z}$. We also provide an extension of our analysis to an $n-$buyer environment, and to the situation where $q$ is a qualitative variable.