Gender differences in competition emerge early in life

Arbeitspapier

We study gender differences in the willingness to compete in a large-scale experiment with 1,035 children and teenagers, aged three to eighteen years. Using an easy math task for children older than eight years and a running task for the younger ones we find that boys are much more likely to enter a tournament than girls across the whole age spectrum considered here. This gender gap is observed already with three-year olds, indicating that gender differences in competitiveness emerge very early in life. The gap is robust to controlling for gender differences in risk attitudes and overconfidence.

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• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: Working Papers in Economics and Statistics ; No. 2010-14

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Design of Experiments: Laboratory, Individual
• Subject: Competition ; gender gap ; experiment ; children ; teenagers ; Verhaltensökonomik ; Wettbewerb ; Geschlecht ; Kinder ; Test

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Sutter, Matthias ; Rützler, Daniela
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): University of Innsbruck, Department of Public Finance
• (where): Innsbruck
• (when): 2010

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/73530