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The selection efficiency of tournaments

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  • Ryvkin, Dmitry

Abstract

We discuss tournaments in terms of their efficiency as probabilistic mechanisms that select high-quality alternatives ("players") in a noisy environment. We characterize the selection efficiency of three such mechanisms - contests, binary elimination tournaments, and round-robin tournaments - depending on the shape of the distribution of players' quality, the number of players, and noise level. The results have implications as to how, and under what circumstances, the efficiency of tournament-based selection can be manipulated.

Suggested Citation

  • Ryvkin, Dmitry, 2010. "The selection efficiency of tournaments," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 206(3), pages 667-675, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ejores:v:206:y:2010:i:3:p:667-675
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    7. Jennifer Brown & Dylan B. Minor, 2014. "Selecting the Best? Spillover and Shadows in Elimination Tournaments," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(12), pages 3087-3102, December.
    8. Drugov, Mikhail & Ryvkin, Dmitry, 2017. "Biased contests for symmetric players," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 116-144.
    9. Penghuan Yan, 2024. "Balancing Selection Efficiency and Societal Costs in Selective Contests," Papers 2409.09768, arXiv.org, revised Oct 2024.
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