Dissolving Multi-Partnerships Efficiently

Abstract

I study a market where agents with jointly owned heterogeneous goods trade subject to the constraint that each agent ends up with one good. In this market the existence of an efficient, incentive compatible, individually rational and budget balanced mechanism depends on the shares of the agents. I characterize the set of shares for which having such a mechanism is possible. This set includes the symmetric allocation and excludes the allocation in which every agent owns a separate good.

Keywords: Efficient mechanisms, multidimensional information, multi-object auctions

JEL Classification: C72, D44, D82, L14