Deterrence in Rank-Order Tournaments

In a tournament competitors may cheat to gain an advantage. This paper considers the problem of deterrence and finds that tournaments reflect special circumstances that are not present in a traditional model of law enforcement. The traditional model considers sanctions and monitoring as the instruments of deterrence. In a tournament the prize structure plays a critical role in determining both the costs and benefits to cheating. We consider ways in which the pride structure can be manipulated in order to reduce monitoring costs. "We didn't get beat, we got out-milligrammed. And when you found out what they were taking, you started taking them." Tom House (former MLB pitcher) in USA Today