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Gender differences in willingness to compete: the role of public observability
[working paper]
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Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung gGmbH
Abstract A recent literature emphasizes the importance of the gender gap in willingness to compete as a partial explanation for gender differences in labor market outcomes. However, whereas experiments investigating willingness to compete typically do so in anonymous environments, real world competitions oft... view more
A recent literature emphasizes the importance of the gender gap in willingness to compete as a partial explanation for gender differences in labor market outcomes. However, whereas experiments investigating willingness to compete typically do so in anonymous environments, real world competitions often have a more public nature, which introduces potential social image concerns. If such image concerns are important, we should expect public observability to further exacerbate the gender gap. We test this prediction using a laboratory experiment that varies whether the decision to compete, and its outcome, is publicly observable. Across four different treatments, however, all treatment effects are close to zero. We conclude that the public observability of decisions and outcomes does not exert a significant impact on male or female willingness to compete, indicating that the role of social image concerns related to competitive decisions may be limited.... view less
Keywords
gender; image; competitiveness; experiment; gender role; labor market
Classification
National Economy
Women's Studies, Feminist Studies, Gender Studies
Labor Market Research
Free Keywords
C91; D03; J16; gender differences; social image
Document language
English
Publication Year
2017
City
Berlin
Page/Pages
18 p.
Series
Discussion Papers / Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung, Forschungsschwerpunkt Markt und Entscheidung, Abteilung Verhalten auf Märkten, SP II 2017-203
Handle
http://hdl.handle.net/10419/162785
Status
Published Version; reviewed
Licence
Deposit Licence - No Redistribution, No Modifications