Profit vs. win maximization in a league: a paradox

Pre-print, Working paper: The paper studies a very simple game-theoretical model of sports competition such as the European football leagues. In this oligopoly-type context, the Cournot-Nash equilibrium reveals a paradoxical differentiation between clubs: those that include not only profit but also sporting performance in their objectives end up generating more profit than others who purely maximize profit.

Author(s)

Luc Arrondel, Richard Duhautois, Jean-François Laslier

Date of publication
  • 2023
Keywords
  • Cournot-Nash equilibrium
  • Oligopoly
  • Sports economics
  • Football
Internal reference
  • PSE Working Papers n°2023-45
Pages
  • 17 p.
Version
  • 1