Contest Success Function with the Possibility of a Draw: Axiomation

Abstract

In imperfectly discriminating contests, the contestants contribute effort to win a prize but the highest contributed effort does not necessarily secure a win. The contest success function (CSF) is the technology that translates an individual's effort into his or her probability of winning. This paper provides an axiomatization of CSF when there is the possibility of a draw (the sum of winning probabilities across all contestants is non-additive).

Keywords: Contest success function, draw, logit, irrelevant alternatives, imperfectly discriminating

JEL Classification: C72, D72, L13