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Vasily Korovkin

UCLA Anderson School of Management, Los Angeles, California, USA

Authors: Pasha Andreyanov, Alec Davidson and Vasily Korovkin

Abstract: This paper develops a novel method for detecting auctioneer corruption in first-price sealed-bid auctions. We study the leakage of bid information by the auctioneer to a preferred bidder. We construct a formal test for the presence of bid-leakage corruption and apply it to a novel data set of 4.3 million procurement auctions in Russia that occurred between 2011 and 2016. With bid leakage, the preferred bidder gathers information on other bids and waits until the end of the auction to place a bid. Such behavior creates an abnormal correlation between winning and being (chronologically) the last bidder. Informed by this fact, we build several measures of corruption. We document that more than 10% of the auctions were affected by bid leakage. Our results imply that the value of the contracts assigned through these auctions was $1.2 billion over the six-year study period. We build a model of bidding behavior to show that corruption exerts two effects on the expected prices of the contracts. The direct effect inflates the price of the contract. The indirect effect reduces the expected price, since honest bidders are trying to undercut corrupt bidders. We find both effects in the data, with the direct effect being more pronounced.

Full Text:  “Detecting Auctioneer Corruption: Evidence from Russian Procurement Auctions”

Thursdays 17:00 - 18:30 
Starting date: 26 April 2018
Finishing date: 17 May 2018
Duration: 4 Sessions
Course instructor: Peter Štefko

Registration for this course is closed. Please read about our selection process. Follow EDH on Facebook for the latest news and tips.

The course will demonstrate examples of practical applications of statistical methods in finance using the R programming language environment.

Preliminary outline of the course:

1. The power of random numbers: Monte Carlo Simulations
2. Yield curves and dimensionality reduction
3. Market efficiency and algorithmic trading

Prerequisites:

• Basic understanding of R programming techniques as well as some experience with probability, statistics and linear algebra are advantageous, though not necessary
• Participants need to bring their own laptops

Participants who attend at least 75% of the sessions will obtain a Certificate of Attendance issued by CERGE-EI.

About the facilitator:

Peter Štefko
Peter Štefko is currently a PhD candidate at CERGE-EI, focusing mostly on econometrics of financial markets and market microstructure. He has used the R programming environment extensively during his studies and is currently applying it both in his doctoral research as well as in a commercial sector position.

We thank our partners for supporting the Economics Discovery Hub.

Wednesdays 17:30 - 19:00 
Starting date: 9 May 2018
Finishing date: 30 May 2018
Duration: 4 Sessions
Course instructor: Radek Janhuba

Registration for this course is closed. Please read about our selection process. Follow EDH on Facebook for the latest news and tips.

The course will consist of interactive workshops covering all standard steps in data management. During the four sessions, participants will cover the following topics:

• Data Cleaning
• Combining and reshaping datasets
• Working with dates and text in Stata
• Automation of work (macros, loops, programs)

Prerequisites:

• Although no prior experience with Stata is strictly necessary, it is desirable that users have seen it before and know how to operate it (opening a dataset, executing a command, showing the data and its summary statistics)
• It is also recommended to have experience with statistical software in general and to have an idea how do files (scripts) work
• There is no need to bring laptops. The lectures will be conducted in the computer lab where the Stata software is installed

Participants who attend at least 75% of the sessions will obtain a Certificate of Attendance issued by CERGE-EI.

About the facilitator:

Radek Janhuba

Radek is a CERGE-EI PhD Candidate and Junior Researcher. His dissertation focuses on sports economics. In particular, the three studies contribute to the economics of well-being, crime, and betting markets. The analytical side of his research uses Stata extensively. Since 2015, he has regularly taught courses on the Stata software. In his free time, Radek enjoys curling, officiating American football, and board games.

We thank our partners for supporting the Economics Discovery Hub.