The distribution of talent across contests

Ghazala Azmat and Marc Möller ()

Economics Working Papers from Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra

Abstract: Do the contests with the largest prizes attract the most able contestants? To what extent do contestants avoid competition? In this paper, we show, theoretically and empirically, that the distribution of abilities plays a crucial role in determining contest choice. Sorting exists only when the proportion of high-ability contestants is sufficiently small. As this proportion increases, contestants shy away from competition and sorting decreases, such that, reverse sorting becomes a possibility. We test our theoretical predictions using a large panel data set containing contest choice over three decades. We use exogenous variation in the participation of highly-able competitors to provide empirical evidence for the relationship among prizes, competition, and sorting.

Keywords: contests; sorting; ability; prize allocation. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D02 D82 M52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012-01, Revised 2013-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hrm, nep-lab and nep-mic
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Related works:
Journal Article: The Distribution of Talent Across Contests (2018)
Working Paper: The Distribution of Talent Across Contests (2018)
Working Paper: The Distribution of Talent Across Contests (2018)
Working Paper: The Distribution of Talent across Contests (2016)
Working Paper: The Distribution of Talent across Contests (2012)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:upf:upfgen:1298

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