This file is part of IDEAS, which uses RePEc data


[ Papers | Articles | Software | Books | Chapters | Authors | Institutions | JEL Classification | NEP reports | Search | New papers by email | Author registration | Rankings | Volunteers | FAQ | Blog | Help! ]

Contests for Status

Author info | Abstract | Publisher info | Download info | Related research | Statistics
Author Info
Benny Moldovanu
Aner Sela
Xianwen Shi

Additional information is available for the following registered author(s):

Abstract

We study the optimal design of organizations under the assumption that agents in a contest care about their relative position. A principal determines the number and size of status categories in order to maximize output. We first consider the pure status case without tangible prizes. Our results connect the optimal partition in status categories to properties of the distribution of ability among contestants. The top status category always contains a unique element. For distributions that have an increasing failure rate (IFR), a proliferation of status classes is optimal, whereas the optimal partition involves only two categories if the distribution of abilities is sufficiently concave. Moreover, for IFR distributions, a coarse partition with two status categories achieves at least half of the output obtained in the optimal partition with many categories. Finally, if status is derived solely from monetary rewards, we show that the optimal partition in status classes contains only two categories.

Download Info
To download:

If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. Information about this may be contained in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.

File URL: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/resolve?id=doi:10.1086/518010
File Format: text/html
File Function:
Download Restriction: A link to the University of Chicago Press online edition may require you to be a subscriber to this journal to access the full text, unless the article is not yet subject to access control.

As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version under "Related research" (further below) or search for a different version of it.

Publisher Info
Article provided by University of Chicago Press in its journal Journal of Political Economy.

Volume (Year): 115 (2007)
Issue (Month): ()
Pages: 338-363
Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML (with abstract), plain text (with abstract), BibTeX, RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite), ReDIF
Handle: RePEc:ucp:jpolec:v:115:y:2007:p:338-363

Contact details of provider:
Postal: The University of Chicago Press, Journals Division, P.O. Box 37005 Chicago, IL 60637
Fax: (773) 753-0811
Email:
Web page: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/JPE/home.html

Order Information:
Web: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/JPE/order1.html

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (Christopher F. Baum).

Related research
Keywords:

Other versions of this item:

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Edward P. Lazear & Sherwin Rosen, 1981. "Rank-Order Tournaments as Optimum Labor Contracts," NBER Working Papers 0401, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. Larry Samuelson, 2004. "Information-Based Relative Consumption Effects," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 72(1), pages 93-118, 01. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Fershtman, Chaim & Weiss, Yoram, 1993. "Social Status, Culture and Economic Performance," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 103(419), pages 946-59, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  4. Glazer, Amihai & Konrad, Kai A, 1996. "A Signaling Explanation for Charity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(4), pages 1019-28, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Benny Moldovanu & Aner Sela, 2001. "The Optimal Allocation of Prizes in Contests," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(3), pages 542-558, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  6. Milton Friedman & L. J. Savage, 1948. "The Utility Analysis of Choices Involving Risk," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 56, pages 279. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Brown, Gordon D. A. & Gardner, Jonathan & Oswald, Andrew & Qian, Jing, 2005. "Does Wage Rank Affect Employees’ Wellbeing?," IZA Discussion Papers 1505, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  8. Pradeep Dubey & John Geanakoplos, 2004. "Grading Exams: 100, 99, ..., 1 or A, B, C? Incentives in Games of Status," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 1467, Cowles Foundation, Yale University. [Downloadable!]
  9. Ed Hopkins & Tatiana Kornienko, 2004. "Running to Keep in the Same Place: Consumer Choice as a Game of Status," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(4), pages 1085-1107, September. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  10. Rick Harbaugh & Tatiana Kornienko, 2000. "Local Status and Prospect Theory," Claremont Colleges Working Papers 2000-38, Claremont Colleges. [Downloadable!]
  11. Bagwell, Laurie Simon & Bernheim, B Douglas, 1996. "Veblen Effects in a Theory of Conspicuous Consumption," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(3), pages 349-73, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Bognanno, Michael L, 2001. "Corporate Tournaments," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 19(2), pages 290-315, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Moldovanu, Benny & Sela, Aner, 2002. "Contest Architecture," Sonderforschungsbereich 504 Publications 02-06, Sonderforschungsbereich 504, Universität Mannheim & Sonderforschungsbereich 504, University of Mannheim. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  14. Postlewaite, Andrew, 1998. "The social basis of interdependent preferences," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 42(3-5), pages 779-800, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  15. Green, Jerry R & Stokey, Nancy L, 1983. "A Comparison of Tournaments and Contracts," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 91(3), pages 349-64, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  16. Robson, Arthur J, 1992. "Status, the Distribution of Wealth, Private and Social Attitudes to Risk," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 60(4), pages 837-57, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  17. Baker, George & Gibbs, Michael & Holmstrom, Bengt, 1994. "The Internal Economics of the Firm: Evidence from Personnel Data," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 109(4), pages 881-919, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  18. Milton Friedman, 1953. "Choice, Chance, and the Personal Distribution of Income," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 61, pages 277. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  19. Gary S. Becker & Kevin M. Murphy & Ivan Werning, 2005. "The Equilibrium Distribution of Income and the Market for Status," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 113(2), pages 282-310, April.
  20. Cole, Harold L & Mailath, George J & Postlewaite, Andrew, 1992. "Social Norms, Savings Behavior, and Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(6), pages 1092-1125, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  21. Sheryl Ball & Catherine Eckel & Philip J. Grossman & William Zame, 2001. "Status In Markets," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 116(1), pages 161-188, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Ghazala Azmat & Nagore Iriberri, 2009. "The Importance of Relative Performance Feedback Information: Evidence from a Natural Experiment using High School Students," CEP Discussion Papers dp0915, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE. [Downloadable!]
  2. Amegashie, J. Atsu, 2007. "American Idol: Should it be a Singing Contest or a Popularity Contest?," MPRA Paper 6300, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  3. Fu, Qiang & Lu, Jingfeng, 2007. "Unifying Contests: from Noisy Ranking to Ratio-Form Contest Success Functions," MPRA Paper 6679, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Amegashie, J. Atsu, 2007. "American Idol: Should it be a Singing Contest or a Popularity Contest?," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
  5. Moldovanu, Benny & Sela, Aner & Shi, Xianwen, 2008. "Carrots and Sticks: Prizes and Punishments in Contests," CEPR Discussion Papers 6770, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Caruso, Raul, 2008. "Spesa Pubblica E Criminalità Organizzata In Italia Evidenza Empirica Su Dati Panel Nel Periodo 1997-2003," MPRA Paper 6861, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  7. Caruso, Raul & Schneider, Friedrich, 2009. "Al Qaeda and Jihadist Terrorism in the Light of Contest Theory, Empirical Evidence for the period 2004-2008," MPRA Paper 15856, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  8. Pérez Truglia, Ricardo Nicolás, 2007. "Can a rise in income inequality improve welfare?," MPRA Paper 4700, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 22 Dec 2007. [Downloadable!]
  9. Amegashie, J., 2007. "American Idol: Should it be a Singing Contest or a Popularity Contest?," Working Papers 2007-8, University of Guelph, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  10. Ghazala Azmat & Nagore Iriberri, 2009. "The Importance of Relative Performance Feedback Information: Evidence from a Natural Experiment using High School Students," Economics Working Papers 1148, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, revised Jul 2009. [Downloadable!]
  11. Caruso, Raul & Locatelli, Andrea, 2007. "Feeding Terror! How Bin Laden Rewards Terrorist Groups, An Economic Interpretation," MPRA Paper 5448, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  12. Altmann, Steffen & Falk, Armin & Wibral, Matthias, 2008. "Promotions and Incentives: The Case of Multi-Stage Elimination Tournaments," IZA Discussion Papers 3835, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  13. Caruso, Raul, 2008. "Al Qaeda as a Tournament: Empirical Evidence," MPRA Paper 11693, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  14. Almenberg, Johan & Dreber, Anna, 2008. "Lady and the Trump: Status and Wealth in the Marriage Market," Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance 690, Stockholm School of Economics, revised 10 Jul 2008. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
Statistics
Access and download statistics

Did you know? RePEc also has a blog.

This page was last updated on 2009-11-16.


This information is provided to you by IDEAS at the Department of Economics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Connecticut using RePEc data on a server sponsored by the Society for Economic Dynamics.