Process Utility in High-Stakes Competition
Fuente:
arXiv
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| Autore principale: | |
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| Natura: | Preprint |
| Pubblicazione: |
2026
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| _version_ | 1866911708718563328 |
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| author | Dupuy, Arnaud |
| author_facet | Dupuy, Arnaud |
| contents | We study how individuals trade off outcome ("what") and process ("how") utility in high-stakes strategic decisions, namely professional tennis. Using optimality conditions and the second-service rule, we derive a sufficient condition for the nonparametric lower bound on the weight of process utility to be positive. Under mild shape restrictions, the high-frequency data indicate that most players likely value process utility positively. We then develop a structural model that recovers player-specific preferences over outcomes and processes. Estimates show that players systematically sacrifice success probabilities to increase process utility, with economically meaningful consequences for match outcomes and expected earnings. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_23539 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Process Utility in High-Stakes Competition Dupuy, Arnaud Econometrics We study how individuals trade off outcome ("what") and process ("how") utility in high-stakes strategic decisions, namely professional tennis. Using optimality conditions and the second-service rule, we derive a sufficient condition for the nonparametric lower bound on the weight of process utility to be positive. Under mild shape restrictions, the high-frequency data indicate that most players likely value process utility positively. We then develop a structural model that recovers player-specific preferences over outcomes and processes. Estimates show that players systematically sacrifice success probabilities to increase process utility, with economically meaningful consequences for match outcomes and expected earnings. |
| title | Process Utility in High-Stakes Competition |
| topic | Econometrics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.23539 |