Essays on cost and surplus sharing games and contest theory

Pham, Ngoc Anh (2023) Essays on cost and surplus sharing games and contest theory. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

This thesis contains three essays on cost and surplus-sharing games. In the first chapter, Lorenz comparison between increasing serial and Shapley value cost-sharing rule, I consider the cost-sharing problem using a cooperative approach and compare the Shapley value and the Moulin-Shenker’s (Increasing) serial rule in the Lorenz sense. The result allows me to provide the complete ordering in inequality among the four popular sharing rules: The average share, the Shapley value, the Increasing serial, and the Decreasing serial sharing rule.

In the later two chapters, I study the Tullock contest, which is a different interpretation of the non-cooperative surplus sharing game with the average rule. My second chapter, Underperforming and Outperforming contestant: Who to support?, consider a repeated Tullock contest where the designer has the option to favour either the early winner or the loser in the subsequent round, aiming to maximise the total effort. In the later section of the chapter, the contest designer is granted the additional capability to determine the prize distribution between the two stages. My work focuses on the optimal biasing decision and allocation of prizes to achieve the highest level of effort.

In the third chapter, Benefits of Intermediate Competition with Non-Monetary Incentive, the underlying assumption is that the designer places importance not only on the total effort invested in the contest but also on the contest’s selection accuracy. I focus on investigating the impact of introducing an intermediate stage with a non-monetary incentive on the contest’s performance in both dimensions. By analysing the contest from this perspective, my work provides insights into the potential advantages and enhancements that can be achieved through the inclusion of intermediate competition and non-monetary incentives.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Subjects: H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory
• Colleges/Schools: College of Social Sciences > Adam Smith Business School
• Supervisor's Name: Bogomolnaia, Professor Anna and Moulin, Professor Herve
• Date of Award: 2023
• Depositing User: Theses Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:2023-83725
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 12 Jul 2023 08:57
• Last Modified: 12 Jul 2023 08:57
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.83725
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/83725