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Tournament Performance and ‘Agency’ Problems: An Empirical Investigation of ‘March Madness’

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Author Info
James E. McClure () (Department of Economics, Ball State University)
Lee C. Spector () (Department of Economics, Ball State University)

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Abstract

Tournaments have long been used as a resource allocation device. Regardless of the margin of victory, a tournament's champion is typically rewarded far more handsomely than are its losers. For this reason, a tournament can generally be expected to elicit spectacular levels of performance from a group of competitors; performances in professional golf tournaments are an example. Surprisingly, the analysis in this paper indicates the existence of no significant relationship between the rewards and performances of participants in the NCAA basketball tournament. To explain this finding we allude to the classic principal-agent problem.

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File URL: http://web.bsu.edu/cob/econ/research/papers/bsuecwp199601mcclure.pdf
File Format: application/pdf
File Function: First version, 1996
Download Restriction: no

Publisher Info
Paper provided by Ball State University, Department of Economics in its series Working Papers with number 199601.

Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML (with abstract), plain text (with abstract), BibTeX, RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite), ReDIF
Length: 14 pages
Date of creation: Jan 1996
Date of revision: Jan 1997
Publication status: Published in Journal of Economics and Finance 21 no. 1 (1997): 61-68.
Handle: RePEc:bsu:wpaper:199601

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Related research
Keywords: NCAA Basketball Tournament; Principal-Agent Problem; Incentive Effects;

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  1. Bull, Clive & Schotter, Andrew & Weigelt, Keith, 1987. "Tournaments and Piece Rates: An Experimental Study," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 95(1), pages 1-33, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  2. Alchian, Armen A & Demsetz, Harold, 1972. "Production , Information Costs, and Economic Organization," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 62(5), pages 777-95, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  3. Rosen, Sherwin, 1986. "Prizes and Incentives in Elimination Tournaments," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(4), pages 701-15, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  4. 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)
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  5. Lazear, Edward P, 1989. "Pay Equality and Industrial Politics," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(3), pages 561-80, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Ehrenberg, Ronald G & Bognanno, Michael L, 1990. "Do Tournaments Have Incentive Effects?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(6), pages 1307-24, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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