This paper empirically analyzes how performance feedback and information on heterogeneity affect behavior in dynamic contests, using data on two-player-contests from a smartphone/tablet application called ``Wordblitz for Friends''. We find that players increase output as underdogs and decrease...

A large literature attempts to identify factors that contribute to gender differences in performance and in the decision to compete. We exploit a highly competitive environment in which elite-female athletes are exposed to the presence of men without the element of direct competition, which...

We study contests as an example of winner-take-all competition with linearly ordered large strategy space. We study a model in which each player optimizes the probability of winning above some subjective threshold. The environment we consider is that of limited information where agents play the...

This paper investigates whether chronic stress and acute physiological responses to competitive stress can explain individual and gender differences in competitiveness. We measure individuals' autonomic nervous system activity in a resting state as well as under non-competitive and competitive...

Brazil, Chile and other developing countries have recently experienced with forward or long-run contract auctions for electricity demand, to meet supply adequacy problems. In this paper, we analyze what it requires to have a competitive auction process for this type of contracts when each bidder...

I develop a game theoretic model where players use two different reasoning processes in strategic situations: cooperative and competitive. Players always consider cooperating at first: if they believe others will cooperate with enough probability, they will do so; otherwise they behave...

Contests are commonly used in the workplace to motivate workers, determine promotion, and assign bonuses. Although contests can be very effective at eliciting high effort, they can also lead to inefficient effort expenditure (overbidding). Researchers have proposed various theories to explain...

We model firms' quality disclosure and pricing in the presence of cursed consumers, who fail to be sufficiently skeptical about undisclosed quality. We show that neither competition nor the presence of sophisticated consumers necessarily protect cursed consumers from being exploited....

Vendettas occur in many real world settings where rivals compete for a prize, e.g., winning a competitive promotion or retaining a job, by engaging in aggressive retaliatory behavior. We present a benchmark experiment where two players have an initial probability of winning a prize. Retaliatory...

We study whether leaders influence the unethical conduct of followers. To avoid selection issues present in natural environments, we use a laboratory experiment in which we form groups and assign leadership roles at random. We study an environment in which groups compete, with dishonest behavior...