Head starts in dynamic tournaments? Articles uri icon

publication date

  • December 2016

start page

  • 94

end page

  • 97

volume

  • 149

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 0165-1765

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 1873-7374

abstract

  • In promotion contests or other tournament-like situations, a principal may attach some value to the highest effort expended by an agent. We show that whenever agents interact over multiple periods, awarding a head start to one of them is optimal even with completely symmetric agents. Awarding a small head start increases maximum individual effort without decreasing aggregate effort. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

subjects

  • Economics

keywords

  • personnel economics; contests; tournaments; head start; asymmetric contests