Far above others
研究社会或大型组织中通过人际比较产生的竞争性如何影响努力供给，发现竞争的两个来源（比较门槛的严格性和相对绩效权重）作用方向相反，高竞争性社会不一定导致更高努力。
We study the role of competitiveness, via interpersonal comparisons, in a society or a large organization. We consider a dynamic model of effort provision. Agents gain an extra utility by producing an outcome above a “comparison threshold” derived from the outcomes of their reference group in a random network. There are two different sources of competitiveness: the stringency of the comparison threshold and the weight given to relative performance in the utility function. We find that these two sources operate in opposite directions. Societies with higher competitiveness may not necessarily lead to more competitive outcomes (i.e., higher effort provision). Finally, we show that the effects of an increase in the density and variance of the network crucially depend on the stringency of the comparison threshold.