Elimination Tournament Design under Psychological Momentum

24 Pages Posted: 23 Oct 2017

See all articles by Bo Chen

Bo Chen

Wuhan University

Xiandeng Jiang

Southwestern University of Finance and Economics (SWUFE)

Date Written: October 21, 2017

Abstract

In multi-round elimination tournaments, players experience "psychological momentum". We re-consider the design of elimination tournament plan, by taking into account of various types of psychological momentum. The results show that if there is negative psychological momentum, either persistent or not, a double-elimination tournament elicits a higher total effort than a single-elimination tournament if and only if the negative psychological shocks from a player's failures in preceding rounds do not affect this player's mental status significantly in the following rounds. Similarly, if positive momentum is non-persistent, a double-elimination tournament elicits a higher total effort if and only if psychological shocks are not significant. However, if positive psychological momentum is persistent, then a double-elimination tournament always dominates a single-elimination tournament.

Keywords: Elimination Tournaments, Psychological Momentum, Contest Design

JEL Classification: C7, D4, D7, D9

Suggested Citation

Chen, Bo and Jiang, Xiandeng, Elimination Tournament Design under Psychological Momentum (October 21, 2017). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3056658 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3056658

Bo Chen

Wuhan University ( email )

Economics and Management School
Wuhan University
Wuhan, Hubei
China
+492287362187 (Phone)

Xiandeng Jiang (Contact Author)

Southwestern University of Finance and Economics (SWUFE) ( email )

Zhizhi Zone 236, 555 Liutai Avenue
Wenjiang District
Chengdu, Sichuan 611130
China

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