Group contest success function: The heterogeneous individuals case

Abstract

This paper extends the axiomatic characterization of the group contest success function in Münster (2009) to groups with heterogeneous individuals (e.g., individuals with different skills or different cognitive capacities). The obtained function allows for differences in terms of effort effectiveness between the group individuals and differences in terms of returns to scale at the aggregate level. Keywords: Group contests; Multi-issue contests; Success function; Heterogeneity; Characterization. JEL classi fication: C70, D72, D74.