We consider a standard two-player all-pay auction with private values, where the valuation for the object is private information to each bidder. The crucial feature is that one bidder is favored by the allocation rule in the sense that he need not bid as much as the other bidder to win the...

We analyze a model of delegated expertise with limited liability where both the agent's effort and his findings are unobservable. We show that the latter assumption reduces the agent's effort and the principal's profit in the unique subgame perfect equilibrium. Most interestingly, the...

Contests are often unfair in the sense that outperforming the rival may not be enough to be the winner, because one contestant is favored by the allocation rule, while the other one is handicapped. We consider a discriminatory contest with handicaps and derive the contestants equilibrium...