English

Optimal allocations with capacity constrained verification

Theoretical Economics 2024-09-04 v1

Abstract

A principal has mm identical objects to allocate among a group of nn agents. Objects are desirable and the principal's value of assigning an object to an agent is the agent's private information. The principal can verify up to kk agents, where k<mk<m, thereby perfectly learning the types of those verified. We find the mechanism that maximizes the principal's expected utility when no monetary transfers are available. In this mechanism, an agent receives an object if (i) his type is above a cutoff and among the mm highest types, (ii) his type is above some lower cutoff but among the kk highest types, or (iii) he receives an object in a lottery that allocates the remaining objects randomly.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2409.02031,
  title  = {Optimal allocations with capacity constrained verification},
  author = {Albin Erlanson and Andreas Kleiner},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2409.02031},
  year   = {2024}
}
R2 v1 2026-06-28T18:32:51.728Z