In this paper we reexamine several experimental papers on myopic loss aversion by analyzing individual rather than aggregate choice patterns. We find that the behavior of the majority of subjects is inconsistent with the hypothesis of myopic loss aversion.

In imperfectly discriminating contests the contestants contribute effort to win a prize but the highest contributed effort does not necessarily secure a win. The contest success function (CSF) is the technology that translates an individual’s effort into his or her probability of winning. This...