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Instant Exit from the Asymmetric War of Attrition

Author

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  • David P. Myatt
Abstract
In an asymmetric war of attrition the players` prize valuations are drawn from different distributions. A stochastic strength ordering, based upon relative hazard rates, is used to rank these distributions. The stochastically stronger player is perceived to be strong ex ante, even though her realized valuation may be lower ex post. Since the classic war of attrition exhibits multiple equilibria, the game is perturbed; for instance, by imposing an arbitrarily large time limit, or allowing for the arbitrarily small probability of players that are restricted to fighting forever. In the unique equilibrium of the perturbed game, a stochastically weaker player almost always instantly exits at the beginning, even though her valuation may be higher.

Suggested Citation

  • David P. Myatt, 2005. "Instant Exit from the Asymmetric War of Attrition," Economics Series Working Papers 160, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:oxf:wpaper:160
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Kwiek, Maksymilian, 2014. "Conclave," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 258-275.
    3. Myatt, David P. & Wallace, Chris, 2008. "An evolutionary analysis of the volunteer's dilemma," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 62(1), pages 67-76, January.
    4. Florian Morath, 2013. "Volunteering and the strategic value of ignorance," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 41(1), pages 99-131, June.
    5. Kwiek, Maksymilian & Marreiros, Helia & Vlassopoulos, Michael, 2019. "Voting as a war of attrition," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 104-121.
    6. Timothy Simcoe, 2012. "Standard Setting Committees: Consensus Governance for Shared Technology Platforms," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(1), pages 305-336, February.
    7. Asako Yasushi, 2015. "One-Sided Games in a War of Attrition," The B.E. Journal of Theoretical Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 15(2), pages 313-331, July.
    8. Martin C. Byford & Joshua S. Gans, 2014. "Permission to Exist," NBER Working Papers 20512, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Johannes Hörner & Nicolas Sahuguet, 2011. "A war of attrition with endogenous effort levels," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 47(1), pages 1-27, May.
    10. Betto, Maria & Thomas, Matthew W., 2024. "Asymmetric all-pay auctions with spillovers," Theoretical Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 19(1), January.
    11. Kwiek, Maksymilian, 2010. "Reputation in multi-unit ascending auction with common values," Discussion Paper Series In Economics And Econometrics 1012, Economics Division, School of Social Sciences, University of Southampton.
    12. Bingchao Huangfu & Gagan Ghosh & Heng Liu, 2023. "Resource inequality in the war of attrition," International Journal of Game Theory, Springer;Game Theory Society, vol. 52(1), pages 33-61, March.
    13. Georgiadis, George & Kim, Youngsoo & Kwon, H. Dharma, 2022. "The absence of attrition in a war of attrition under complete information," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 171-185.
    14. Indridi H. Indridason, 2008. "When To Run And When To Hide: Electoral Coordination And Exit," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(1), pages 80-105, March.
    15. George Georgiadis & Youngsoo Kim & H. Dharma Kwon, 2021. "The Absence of Attrition in a War of Attrition under Complete Information," Papers 2110.12013, arXiv.org, revised Nov 2021.
    16. Li, Hongcheng, 2019. "Multi-Player War of Attrition with Asymmetric Incomplete Information," MPRA Paper 109511, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 31 Aug 2021.
    17. Paulo Júlio, 2011. "Public Debt Stabilization: Redistributive Delays Versus Preemptive Anticipations," GEE Papers 0045, Gabinete de Estratégia e Estudos, Ministério da Economia, revised Dec 2011.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    war of attrition; exit; rent seeking; auctions; stochastic dominance; games of timing; bargaining; voluntary provision of public goods; macroeconomics stabilization; adoption of technological standards;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D44 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Auctions
    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • D74 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Conflict; Conflict Resolution; Alliances; Revolutions
    • D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty
    • E63 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Comparative or Joint Analysis of Fiscal and Monetary Policy; Stabilization; Treasury Policy
    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms

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