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Article
Multiple Prizes in Tournaments with Career Concerns
Journal of Economic Theory (2024)
  • Alvaro J. Name-Correa, Carlos III University of Madrid
  • Huseyin Yildirim, Duke University
Abstract
We introduce career concerns into rank-order tournaments and offer a novel explanation for the pervasiveness of multiple prizes. We argue that career-concerned individuals, already facing market pressure to perform, will be reluctant to participate in winner-take-all competitions. To entice them and maximize performance, the organizer promises a softer competition through multiple prizes. We show that the minimum number of prizes is single-peaked in the population's talent variance and increasing in publicly disclosed ranks. We also examine entry fees, talent pre-screening, and prize budget as design tools for tournaments, along with prize allocation.
Keywords
  • tournaments,
  • contests,
  • career concerns,
  • ranking,
  • normal order statistic
Disciplines
Publication Date
January 11, 2024
Citation Information
Alvaro J. Name-Correa and Huseyin Yildirim. "Multiple Prizes in Tournaments with Career Concerns" Journal of Economic Theory Vol. 215 (2024)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/huseyin_yildirim/36/