The Role of Ex Post Audits in Doping Enforcement

Abstract

We develop a theoretical model of ex post doping audits and analyze their effects on an athlete’s doping decision. In our model, the doping agency can store doping samples and retest them at a later point. We show that there is a doping minimizing storage and retesting mix for the doping agency and that storing doping samples will reduce the athletes’ doping intensity. Furthermore, there is a threshold for the agency’s antidoping budget. If the budget exceeds this threshold, inefficiencies in the antidoping battle will occur and, depending on the agency’s objective, the athletes’ doping incentives may even increase.