ICES Seminar in Experimental Economics and Game Theory
Contests Within and Between Groups: Theory and Experiment
Friday, October 1, 2021 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM EDT
Online Location, Zoom Meeting
The ICES Seminar in Experimental Economics and Game Theory of the Fall 2021 semester will feature:
University of Arkansas
Contests Within and Between Groups: Theory and Experiment
Please contact ICES Office Manager (sbahabib@gmu.edu) for Zoom link.
Abstract
We examine behavior in a two-stage group contest where intra-group contests are followed by an inter-group contest. Rewards accrue to the winning group, with winners of the intra-group contest within that group receiving a greater reward. The model generates a discouragement effect, where losers from the first stage exert less effort in the second stage than winners. In contrast to previous frameworks of sequential contests, we show that a prior win may be disadvantageous, generating lower profits for first stage winners as compared to losers. We consider exogenous asymmetry between groups arising from a biased group contest success function. Although the asymmetry occurs in the second stage, its effect plays out in the first stage, with higher intra-group conflict in the advantaged group. Experimental results support the qualitative predictions of the model. However, losers from the first stage bear a higher burden of the group contribution than deemed strategic.
For more information about the Seminar Series, please visit the Seminar Schedule homepage.
