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Rank-order tournaments and selection

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  • Derek Clark
  • Christian Riis

Abstract

Rank order tournaments are often presented as incentive devices: a tournament in which the hardest working individual gains promotion to the next level in a firms' hierarchy may induce workers to exert extra effort for example. In this paper, we consider a tournament in which workers are expected to be heterogenous, so that the principal cares about who is promoted, worker ability is, however, unknown to the principal.
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Suggested Citation

  • Derek Clark & Christian Riis, 2001. "Rank-order tournaments and selection," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 73(2), pages 167-191, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jeczfn:v:73:y:2001:i:2:p:167-191
    DOI: 10.1007/BF02340174
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Derek Clark & Christian Riis, 2001. "Rank-order tournaments and selection," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 73(2), pages 167-191, June.
    2. Lazear, Edward P & Rosen, Sherwin, 1981. "Rank-Order Tournaments as Optimum Labor Contracts," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 89(5), pages 841-864, October.
    3. Margaret A. Meyer, 1991. "Learning from Coarse Information: Biased Contests and Career Profiles," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(1), pages 15-41.
    4. Green, Jerry R & Stokey, Nancy L, 1983. "A Comparison of Tournaments and Contracts," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 91(3), pages 349-364, June.
    5. George Baker & Michael Gibbs & Bengt Holmstrom, 1994. "The Wage Policy of a Firm," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 109(4), pages 921-955.
    6. Baker, G.P. & Jensen, M.C. & Murphy, K.J., 1988. "Compensation And Incentives: Practice Vs. Theory," Papers 88-05, Rochester, Business - Managerial Economics Research Center.
    7. Bull, Clive & Schotter, Andrew & Weigelt, Keith, 1987. "Tournaments and Piece Rates: An Experimental Study," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 95(1), pages 1-33, February.
    8. Bhattacharya, Sudipto & Guasch, J Luis, 1988. "Heterogeneity, Tournaments, and Hierarchies," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 96(4), pages 867-881, August.
    9. Richard L. Fullerton & R. Preston McAfee, 1999. "Auctioning Entry into Tournaments," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 107(3), pages 573-605, June.
    10. Taylor, Curtis R, 1995. "Digging for Golden Carrots: An Analysis of Research Tournaments," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(4), pages 872-890, September.
    11. O'Keeffe, Mary & Viscusi, W Kip & Zeckhauser, Richard J, 1984. "Economic Contests: Comparative Reward Schemes," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 2(1), pages 27-56, January.
    12. Canice Prendergast, 1993. "The Role of Promotion in Inducing Specific Human Capital Acquisition," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 108(2), pages 523-534.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Anja Schöttner & Veikko Thiele, 2010. "Promotion Tournaments and Individual Performance Pay," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(3), pages 699-731, September.
    2. Derek Clark & Christian Riis, 2007. "Contingent payments in selection contests," Review of Economic Design, Springer;Society for Economic Design, vol. 11(2), pages 125-137, September.
    3. Clark, Derek J. & Riis, Christian, 2000. "Allocation efficiency in a competitive bribery game," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 109-124, May.
    4. Laurent Franckx & Isabelle Brose, 2004. "A theoretical framework for incentives in the public sector," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 10(2), pages 1-8.
    5. Norbert Bach & Oliver Guertler & Joachim Prinz, 2009. "Incentive Effects in Tournaments with Heterogeneous Competitors – an Analysis of the Olympic Rowing Regatta in Sydney 2000," management revue. Socio-economic Studies, Rainer Hampp Verlag, vol. 20(3), pages 239-253.
    6. Bernd Frick, 2003. "Contest Theory and Sport," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 19(4), pages 512-529, Winter.
    7. Marc Gürtler & Oliver Gürtler, 2015. "The Optimality of Heterogeneous Tournaments," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 33(4), pages 1007-1042.
    8. Derek Clark & Christian Riis, 2001. "Rank-order tournaments and selection," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 73(2), pages 167-191, June.
    9. Bernd Frick & Oliver Gürtler & Joachim Prinz, 2008. "Anreize in Turnieren mit heterogenen Teilnehmern — Eine empirische Untersuchung mit Daten aus der Fußball-Bundesliga," Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, Springer, vol. 60(4), pages 385-405, June.
    10. Kawamura, Kohei & Moreno de Barreda, Inés, 2014. "Biasing selection contests with ex-ante identical agents," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 123(2), pages 240-243.
    11. 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.
    12. Oliver Gürtler, 2006. "Are 18 Holes Enough for Tiger Woods?," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(3), pages 267-284, July.
    13. Münster, Johannes, 2006. "Selection tournaments, sabotage, and participation [Auswahlturniere, Sabotage und Teilnahme]," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Market Processes and Governance SP II 2006-08, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    14. Penghuan Yan, 2024. "Balancing Selection Efficiency and Societal Costs in Selective Contests," Papers 2409.09768, arXiv.org, revised Oct 2024.
    15. Ewerhart, Christian, 2016. "An envelope approach to tournament design," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 1-9.
    16. Oliver Gürtler, 2010. "Collusion in homogeneous and heterogeneous tournaments," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 100(3), pages 265-280, July.
    17. Derek J. Clark & Tore Nilssen, 2022. "Fatter or fitter? On rewarding and training in a contest," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 60(1), pages 101-120, January.
    18. Münster, Johannes, 2006. "Selection Tournaments, Sabotage, and Participation," Discussion Paper Series of SFB/TR 15 Governance and the Efficiency of Economic Systems 118, Free University of Berlin, Humboldt University of Berlin, University of Bonn, University of Mannheim, University of Munich.
    19. Gürtler, Oliver, 2005. "Are 18 holes enough for Tiger Woods?," Discussion Paper Series of SFB/TR 15 Governance and the Efficiency of Economic Systems 44, Free University of Berlin, Humboldt University of Berlin, University of Bonn, University of Mannheim, University of Munich.
    20. Kräkel, Matthias & Schöttner, Anja, 2012. "Internal labor markets and worker rents," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 84(2), pages 491-509.
    21. Ying Bao & Mengze Shi & Ajay Kalra, 2022. "Designing Product Development Contracts in the Presence of Managerial Lobbying," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(9), pages 6797-6818, September.
    22. repec:ebl:ecbull:v:10:y:2004:i:2:p:1-8 is not listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    rank-order tournament; selection; J41; C72;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J41 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Labor Contracts
    • C72 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Noncooperative Games

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