Facing Your Opponents: Social Identification and Information Feedback in Contests

Shakun Mago, Anya Samak and Roman Sheremeta
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Anya Savikhin Samek

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: We experimentally investigate the effect of social identification and information feedback on individual behavior in contests. In all treatments we find significant over-expenditure of effort relative to the standard theoretical predictions. Identifying subjects through photo display decreases wasteful effort. Providing information feedback about others’ effort does not affect the aggregate effort, but it decreases the heterogeneity of effort and significantly affects the dynamics of individual behavior. We develop a behavioral model which incorporates a non-monetary utility of winning and relative payoff maximization. The model explains significant over-expenditure of effort. It also suggests that decrease in ‘social distance’ between group members through photo display promotes pro-social behavior and decreases over-expenditure of effort, while improved information feedback decreases the heterogeneity of effort.

Keywords: contest; information; identification; over-expenditure; experiments (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C72 C91 D72 D74 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013-05-15
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cbe, nep-cta, nep-exp and nep-upt
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Facing Your Opponents: Social Identification and Information Feedback in Contests (2014)
Working Paper: Facing Your Opponents: Social identification and information feedback in contests (2012)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pra:mprapa:47029

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