Mathematica Eterna
Open Access

Abstract

The analysis of an unfair contest model

Dexian Duan, Shaoyong Lai, Zhichen Zhou

The contests are usually “unfair” in the sense that outperforming all rivals may not be enough to be the winner, because some contestants are favored by the allocation rule, while others are handicapped. However, the roles of the contestants can have a transform. In other words, the contestant who is favored by the allocation rule at beginning of the contest is possibly handicapped with the passage of time. An unfair, two-player discriminatory contest (all pay auction) where the roles of the contestants have a transform, is analyzed. We characterize equilibrium strategies and provide closed form solutions to unfair contests.