This paper discusses the interrelation between the choice of technology and rent seeking. First, the players have to decide on the purchase of a technology. If the technology is acquired, realized profits are distributed via a rent-seeking contest. I can show that players will reject profitable...

In practice, two types of tournaments can be distinguished - U-type and J-type tournaments. In U-type tournaments, workers receive prizes that have been fixed in advance. In J-type tournaments, the employer fixes an aggregate wage bill in advance, which is then shared among the workers according...

We consider a dismissal tournament where the loser gets fired. Although the firm takes possible selection failures into account when choosing the optimal tournament design, the selection efficiency of a dismissal tournament is often rather low. This is because low-ability workers, possessing...