The Undesirable Consequences of Doping Regulations: Why Stricter Efforts Might Strengthen Doping Incentives

Abstract

We analyze the impact of doping regulations on the doping decisions of athletes in a Tullock contest. We show that stricter anti-doping regulations may increase the profits of doped athletes, which makes doping more sustainable in the long run. Under certain conditions, a naturally more able athlete may receive a lower payoff than his naturally less able competitor, reversing the natural payoff order. We consider the case of different anti-doping agencies and show that harmonization of doping regulations may increase the doping intensity. We point out incentive problems that may arise in the case of strategic interaction between anti-doping agencies.