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Winner’s effort maximization in large contests

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  • Barbieri, Stefano
  • Serena, Marco

Abstract

We investigate the temporal structure that maximizes the winner’s effort in large homogeneous contests. We find that the winner’s effort ranges from a lower bound of 0 to an upper bound of one third of the value of the prize, depending on the temporal structure; the upper (lower) bound is approached with an infinite number of players playing sequentially (simultaneously) in the first periods (period). Nevertheless, when the number of players is large but finite, we show that winner’s effort is maximized when all players play sequentially except in the very last period and that, within the family of such optimal temporal structures, more players play simultaneously in the very last period than sequentially in all other periods. Furthermore, out of all players, the percentage of those playing simultaneously in the very last period goes to 100% as the number of players grows larger and larger.

Suggested Citation

  • Barbieri, Stefano & Serena, Marco, 2021. "Winner’s effort maximization in large contests," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:mateco:v:96:y:2021:i:c:s0304406821000628
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jmateco.2021.102512
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    9. Shanglyu Deng & Hanming Fang & Qiang Fu & Zenan Wu, 2020. "Confidence Management in Tournaments," NBER Working Papers 27186, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    Cited by:

    1. Hideo Konishi & Nicolas Sahuguet & Benoît S. Y. Crutzen, 2024. "Allocation rules of indivisible prizes in team contests," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 78(1), pages 69-100, August.
    2. Maria Arbatskaya & Hideo Konishi, 2025. "Dynamic team contests with complementary efforts," Review of Economic Design, Springer;Society for Economic Design, vol. 29(3), pages 611-633, September.
    3. Wasser, Cédric & Zhang, Mengxi, 2023. "Differential treatment and the winner's effort in contests with incomplete information," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 90-111.

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