Topic:Effort Discrimination and Curvature of Contest Technology in Conflict Networks

Lecturer:Assistant Researcher ,Jin Xu,School of Economics, Shandong University

Time:12:00-13:00p.m.November23th, 2023

Venue:B321,Zhixin Building, Central Campus

Abstract:In a model of interconnected conflicts on a network, we compare the equilibrium effort profiles and payoffs under two scenarios: uniform effort(UE) in which each contestant is restricted to exert the same effort across all the battles she participates, and discriminatoryeffort(DE) in which such a restriction is lifted. When the contest technology in each battle is of Tullock form, a surprising neutrality result holds within the class of semi -symmetric conflict network structures: both the aggregate actions and equilibrium payoffs under two regimes are the same. We also show that, in some sense, the Tullock form is necessary for such a neutrality result. Moving beyond the Tullock family, we further demonstrate how the curvature of contest technology shapes thewelfare and effort effects.