The present thesis examines if and to what extent microeconomic theory can explain the observable behavior of individuals in competitive environments. On the basis of self-compiled datasets from (professional) sports competitions as well as a widely broadcasted TV quiz-show two research...

A large part of the theoretical tournament literature argues that rank-order tournaments only unfold their incentive effects if the contestants all have similar prospects of winning. In heterogeneous fields, the outcome of the tournament is relatively clear and the contestants reduce their...