Private-Information Group Contests∗

We model competing groups when players’ values for winning are private information, each group’s performance equals the best effort (“best shot”) of its members, and the group with the best performance wins the contest. At the symmetric equilibrium, the overall expected best shot unambiguously increases with the number of competing teams, though each team’s performance may increase or decrease. Depending on the convexity of the distribution of players’ values, individual, team, and contest performance may increase or decrease with team size. Considering just two competing groups that differ in size, we show members of the smaller group use the more aggressive strategy. Nevertheless, depending on the nature of uncertainty, either team may be more likely to win. JEL Codes: C72, D61, D82, H41