prizes and punish low performance agents with negative prizes. We link the optimal prize structure to the curvature of … distribution of abilities in the population. In particular, we identify conditions under which, even if punishment is costly …, punishing the bottom is more effective than rewarding the top in eliciting effort input. If punishment is costless, we study the …

To stay on top of global competition, firms and governments often need to acquire innovative goods and services … the degree of competition between suppliers, as well as other more practical indirect ways to stimulate innovation. We …

endogenous choice, groups typically vote for the reward option, even though punishment is actually more effective in sustaining …

microfoundations, the welfare consequences of rent seeking can be studied. In particular, I show that competition among rent seekers …

economics. This paper explores voting on a scheme of intergroup competition which facilitates cooperation in a social dilemma … situation. Experimental results show that the competitive scheme fosters cooperation. Competition is popular but the electoral … outcome depends strongly on specific voting rules of institutional choice. If the majority decides, competition is almost …

policies, such as "cruel and unusual punishments", irrespective of effectiveness considerations, in order to express their …

Most of the contest literature deals with first prizes; this Paper deals with the optimality of second prizes. We show … eliciting maximum effort from every contestant. Moreover, we consider the desirability of second prizes from the point of view … of competitive balance, which matters for contests such as sports competitions. …

Prizes are often awarded to encourage research on products deemed of vital importance. We present a mechanism which can …

We study two-stage political contests with private entry costs. We show that these political contests could be …

-prize and multiple-prize contests and show that allocation of several prizes may be optimal for a contest designer who maximizes … including all the objects to the player with the highest bid, or, alternatively, they may allocate several prizes, each prize …