Search

The process of allocating rights to resources can be viewed as a contest: parties compete with each other for the right to claim a larger allocation. In some situations, the amount of the resource that is available to allocate may be unknown when parties are competing for shares and perhaps not realized until contestants actually attempt to claim their shares of the resource. For example, fishing quotas may be awarded based on estimated fish populations, but if there are fewer fish than anticipated, those who are last to harvest may not be able to fill their quota. We model contests of this form and test the predictions of the model using a controlled laboratory experiment. The general result, supported by both theory and experimental data, is that participants compete less intensively for shares of the resource when uncertainty regarding the size of the prize is resolved later in the process.

In many situations, two rivals find themselves facing a common threat necessitating cooperation. Such alliances are uneasy as the parties anticipate eventually competing against each other in the future. Recent theoretical work shows that both standalone and joint contribution strategies, as well as a hybrid of the two, can emerge in equilibrium where the former strategy is characterized by one of the rivals contributing enough to eliminate the common threat, while the latter is characterized by rivals providing half the necessary effort to eliminate the common threat. Using a controlled laboratory experiment, we show that player behavior is best described by the hybrid strategy. However, none of these predictions closely describes the observed behavior, which is better described as following a proportionate rule. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A range of proposals aim to reform teacher compensation, recruitment, and retention. Teachers have generally not embraced these policies. One potential explanation for their objections is that teachers are relatively risk averse. We examine this hypothesis using a risk-elicitation task common to experimental economics. By comparing preferences of new teachers with those entering other professions, we find that individuals choosing to teach are significantly more risk averse. This suggests that the teaching profession may attract individuals who are less amenable to certain reforms. Policy-makers should take into account teacher risk characteristics when considering reforms that may clash with preferences.

We use a recent survey of college (American) football fans to study rivalry, where we find the most intense rivalries occur between in-state teams. Relatedly, within a conference fans are [...]