Dutch auction, also known as descending price auction, uses a bidding process to find an optimal market price for the stock, the highest price at which an issuing company can sell all the available shares. An alternative to the traditional negotiated pricing process used by underwriters to set IPO prices, it was most recently employed by Google and is used for US Treasury auctions. Named after the famous auctions of Dutch tulip bulbs in the 17th century, it is based on a pricing system devised by Nobel prize winning reconomist William Vickrey.

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