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The theory of contests: A unified model and review of the literature

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  • Van Long, Ngo

Abstract

This paper is a brief review of the literature on contests, with focus on rent-seeking. A fairly general contest model is presented. We show that the Tullock contest model and the first-prize sealed-bid auction model are obtained as special cases. Some important modifications of the basic model are reviewed: hierarchical rent-seeking, rent-seeking under risk aversion, insecure rents, sabotage in rent-seeking contests, contest design, commitment and endogenous order of moves, and dynamic rent-seeking.

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  • Van Long, Ngo, 2013. "The theory of contests: A unified model and review of the literature," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 161-181.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:poleco:v:32:y:2013:i:c:p:161-181
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2013.07.006
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    Keywords

    Rent-seeking; Contest; All-pay auction;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D44 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Auctions
    • C72 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Noncooperative Games

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