Risk Taking in Selection Contests

We study a tournament/contest where the strategic variable is degree of risk rather than amount of effort. The degree to which the most able contestants win (selection efficiency) is examined. We show that the selection efficiency of a contest may be improved by limiting the competition in two ways; a) by having a small number of contestants, and b) by restricting contestant quality. The results may contribute to our understanding of such diverse phenomena as promotion processes in large firms, selection of fund managers and research tournaments