Score contribution per author:
α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count
I consider an infinite‐period race where players choose between low‐ and high‐variance motion technologies. I provide sufficient conditions under which, in equilibrium, the leader chooses a safe technology and the laggard a risky one, thus formalizing the sports intuition that the laggard has nothing to lose. Various examples and empirical implications are presented.