Optimal Contest Design with Entry Restriction

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Hanbing Liu, Ningyuan Li, Weian Li, Qi Qi, Changyuan Yu

Published: 2025, Last Modified: 29 Jan 2026CoRR 2025EveryoneRevisionsBibTeXCC BY-SA 4.0
Abstract: This paper explores the design of contests involving $n$ contestants, focusing on how the designer decides on the number of contestants allowed and the prize structure with a fixed budget. We characterize the unique symmetric Bayesian Nash equilibrium of contestants and find the optimal contests design for the maximum individual effort objective and the total effort objective.