The optimal allocation of prizes in contests: An auction approach

We characterize the optimal structure of prizes in contests, when the contest designer is interested in the maximization of either the expected total e¢çort or the expected highest e¢çort. The all-pay auction framework in the present paper makes it possible to derive all the results in Benny Moldovanu and Aner Sela's (2001, American Economic Review, 542-558) incomplete-information model of contests as well as other results in a particularly simple fashion.