Welcome!

I am Nicolás Riquelme, an Assistant Professor in the School of Business and Economics at Universidad de los Andes, Chile. I obtained my  Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Rochester, NY, USA. 

My research interests include game theory, industrial organization, antitrust-regulation and political economy.

Email: nriquelme[at]uandes.cl

CV: Click here

Research

• "Competitive Limit of Competing Auctions" (with Zizhen Ma), accepted at Games and Economic Behavior.

We provide a strategic foundation for competing auction markets, proving that as the number of players grows, equilibria in finite markets converge to a simple strategy: setting reserve prices equal to costs.

• "Learning by Lobbying" (with Emiel Awad and  Gleason Judd), American Journal of Political Science, 2025; DOI; Summary at AJPS's Blog.

We study lobbying as a dynamic screening process used to identify a policy maker's preference. Our analysis reveals how institutional incentives and reputation management shape the evolution of policies.

• "Information Exchange through Secret Vertical Contracts" (with Jihwan Do), Economic Theory, 2024, 78, 671-707; DOI.

We show how firms can indirectly exchange private demand information via secret vertical contracts with a common supplier. By using slotting fees and upfront payments to screen and signal, these firms can achieve nearly optimal industry profits.

• "International Cooperation, Information Transmission, and Delegation" (with Emiel Awad), Quarterly Journal of Political Science, 2024, 19 (2): 217-242; DOI

We show that delegating to international organizations improves policy coordination but amplifies costly signaling. Consequently, states delegate only when low preference uncertainty ensures coordination gains outweigh these signaling costs.

Teaching

Competition, Markets and Regulation (Graduate) 

Game Theory for Strategic Advantage (Graduate) 

Industrial Organization (Undergraduate)

Principles of Economics (Undergraduate)

Grants

FAI Puente Fondeyct Regular UANDES (2026-2027). Research project: "Antitrust, Platforms and Information".

FOVI ANID (2026). Research project: "Climate Change Economics: Sectoral Risks and Solutions".

Fondecyt Iniciación ANID (2021-2024). Research project: "Auctions and Information Transmission".

FAI Puente Fondeyct Iniciación UANDES (2021-2022). Research project: "Mechanisms and Transmission of Information with Multiple Principals".

Working Papers

"Competing Auctions with Informed Sellers" (with Zizhen Ma), R&R Economic Theory

"Diversity and Empowerment in Organizations" (with Daniel Habermacher), submitted

"Vertical Contracting and Informational Spillover in Cournot Competition" (with Jihwan Do), submitted

"Signalling Willingness to Hire through Wage-Setting Mechanisms" (with Jose Valenzuela)

"Discretion to Encourage Effort for Different Information Technologies" (with Stefan Elbl)

"Common Agency with Informed Principals: Revelation Principle" 

"The Ineffectiveness of the Optimal Merger Regulation"

Conferences/Seminars

2026: Conference on Mechanism and Institution Design, York (scheduled).

2025: USACH; SECHI, Arica; UNAB; LACEA-LAMES, Recife; Workshop in Management Science, Santa Cruz.

2024: SAET, Santiago, Chile; PET, Santiago, Chile.; Ca Foscari University of Venice; Conference on Mechanism and Institution Design, Budapest; Stony Brook International Conference on Game Theory, NY; Games 2024, Beijing; SECHI, Concepción; U. Talca; U. Católica del Maule.

2023: EARIE, Rome; Stony Brook International Conference on Game Theory, NY; The ISDG Workshop, Naples; The Lisbon Meetings in Game Theory and Applications, Lisbon; Workshop on Industrial Organization & Economic Theory (TOI), Viña del Mar.

2022: Universidad de Chile; Universidad de Piura; UNSAAC (online); Stony Brook International Conference on Game Theory, NY; International Conference on Public Economic Theory, Marseille; SIOE Conference, Toronto; The 20th Annual International Industrial Organization Conference, Boston; LACEA-LAMES, Lima. 

2021: SECHI, SAET (online); GAMES (online).

2020: PUC-Chile (online); U. Diego Portales (online); Quebec Political Economy Webinar Series (online).

2019: U. Andes; Georgia Tech; SECHI; LACEA-LAMES, Puebla.

2018: Stony Brook International Conference on Game Theory, NY.

2017: Stony Brook International Conference on Game Theory, NY; Midwest Economic Theory Conference, Dallas.

2016: Wallis Institute U. of Rochester; SECHI.

Press

2026:

[Radio BioBio] Licitaciones de pesca.

2025:

[DF] Concentración en mercado aérero: Grupo ABRA y SKY

[El Mercurio] Join Venture CODELCO-SQM

[TVN, Radio BioBio] Colusión de la centolla.

[Ex-Ante] Empresas chinas en el sector eléctrico chileno.

[La Estrella de Concepción] Licitaciones de pesca.

[Radio BioBio] Licitaciones de generación eléctrica.

[Emol] Metro Pago y Librecompetencia.

[The Clinic] Concentración centros de sky y snowboard en Santiago.

[TVN, Cooperativa, BioBio, LUN, 24 Horas] Colusión en el mercado del Delivery.

[La Tercera] Abuso posición dominante CDF.

[Cooperativa] Librecompetencia y Google en Chile.

[El Mercurio] Locales chinos y su expansión hacia centros comerciales de la RM.

[Emol] Licitaciones explotación Litio.

2024:

[El Mercurio] Los efectos en Chile de la posible separación de Chrome y Google.

[Emol] Nuevos premios Nobel en Economía. 

[MEGA] Cartel del oxígeno: Escándalo de empresas por coludirse para subir precios a hospitales y clínicas.

[DF] Reduflación ¿Por qué los productos se siguen encogiendo?