Rent-seeking with multiple winners

This paper examines the impact of the number of winners allowed by regulators on rentseeking expenditures. It is demonstrated in a widely used model that an increase in the number of winners will decrease total rent-seeking expenditures. This result is generally obtained regardless of whether the firms are risk-averse or risk-lovers. When regulators award coveted market franchises, there will be smaller welfare losses if more winners are allowed.I am grateful to an anonymous referee whose comments were very helpful. The usual caveats apply.