robustness to labor market competition both theoretically and experimentally. Consistent with our theoretical model, we observe … substantial ratchet effects in the absence of competition, which is nearly eliminated when competition is introduced; this is true …

We analyze the impact of social comparison on optimal contract design under imperfect labor market competition for … if the degree of competition for talent is sufficiently low. In contrast, a ranking unambiguously reduces welfare if the … competition intensity is high and agents suffer from lagging behind while it can enhance welfare (depending on the fraction of …