Skip to content

Matthias Dahm's web site

  • About
  • Bio & CV
  • Research
    • industrial & health economics
      • auctions & multiple sourcing
      • health economics
    • public & political economics
      • lobbying
      • voting
      • country formation
    • contest theory
      • affirmative action
      • endogenous contest
      • strategic analysis
      • contest success functions
      • winner-pay contests
  • Publications
  • Recent papers

contest theory

Supplier Diversity Before the Time of Cholera

February 11, 2020April 9, 2020 ~ matthiasdahm

The most recent version is here: SSRN Working Paper No. 3572009 (April 2020).

Procurement programs often aim to rely on a diverse pool of suppliers, besides achieving cost effectiveness. We propose complementing a share auction for dual sourcing with affirmative action to create an endogenous set-aside for a high-cost supplier. Continue reading →

Dual Sourcing with Price Discovery

April 19, 2015April 24, 2019 ~ matthiasdahm

with J Alcalde, Games and Economic Behavior, 2019, DOI

The most recent unpublished version is here: DualSourcingR3 (February 2019).

Click here for longer summary.

Reverse auctions are considered a fast and inexpensive price discovery tool to award procurement contracts and it is often desirable to award contracts to more than one supplier. Continue reading →

Semi-Targeted All-Pay Auctions: A Partial Exclusion Principle

April 19, 2015April 24, 2019 ~ matthiasdahm

International Journal of Industrial Organization, 2018, DOI

The most recent unpublished version is here: SemiTargetedAllPay (September 2018).

Click here for longer summary.

This paper studies the effects of a specific affirmative action policy in complete information all-pay auctions when players differ in ability. Continue reading →

Affirmative Action Through Extra Prizes

April 19, 2015April 24, 2019 ~ matthiasdahm

with P Esteve-González, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 2018, DOI

The most recent version is here: DahmEsteveExtraPrizes (June 2016).

Some affirmative action policies establish that a set of disadvantaged competitors has access to an extra prize. We analyse the effects of creating an extra prize by reducing the prize in the main competition. Continue reading →

Competition for Procurement Shares

April 4, 2015May 30, 2015 ~ matthiasdahm

with J Alcalde, Games and Economic Behavior, 2013, DOI

We propose a new procurement procedure that allocates shares of the total amount to be procured depending on the bids of suppliers. Continue reading →

Welfare Maximizing Contest Success Functions when the Planner Cannot Commit

April 4, 2015May 30, 2015 ~ matthiasdahm

with L Corchón, Journal of Mathematical Economics, 2011, DOI

We analyze how a contest organizer chooses optimally the winner when the contestants’ efforts are already exerted and commitment to the use of a given contest success function is not possible. Continue reading →

Rent Seeking and Rent Dissipation: A Neutrality Result

April 4, 2015May 30, 2015 ~ matthiasdahm

with J Alcalde, Journal of Public Economics, 2010, DOI

We consider rent seeking contests between at least two agents who might value the prize differently. Continue reading →

Foundations for Contest Success Functions

April 4, 2015May 30, 2015 ~ matthiasdahm

with L Corchón, Economic Theory, 2010, DOI

In the literature, the outcome of contests is either interpreted as win probabilities or as shares of the prize. With this in mind, we examine two approaches to contest success functions (CSFs). Continue reading →

Biased Contests

April 4, 2015May 30, 2015 ~ matthiasdahm

with N Porteiro, Public Choice, 2008, DOI

We examine the effects of providing more accurate information to a political decision-maker lobbied by competing interests. Continue reading →

Tullock and Hirshleifer: A Meeting of the Minds

April 4, 2015May 30, 2015 ~ matthiasdahm

with J. Alcalde, Review of Economic Design, 2007, DOI

We introduce the serial contest by building on the desirable properties of two prominent contest games. Continue reading →

Blog at WordPress.com.