A new understanding of competition

Abstract

Competition is currently found in many, if not most, social domains, such as the economy, politics, public services, sports, culture, higher education, and science. But competition is not endemic to any of these fields. Rather, it has been constructed by those involved or by observers. We ask what competition is and how it can be introduced into a new context. Critically reflecting on insights from economics, management studies and sociology, we define competition as a combined social construction of four factors: actorhood, relationships among actors, scarcity, and desire. We shed light on asymmetric constructions of competition among different actors. Our definition leaves open the effect of competition on behaviour: competition may lead competitors to avoid interaction with each other or to cooperate; it may motivate people to try harder or it may demotivate them. Finally, we discuss issues for further research that follow from our understanding of competition.