Cancelling out early age gender differences in competition: an analysis of policy interventions

We study the willingness to compete of 588 children and teenagers aged ten to seventeen. We replicate the gender difference in tournament entry choices usually found in the literature for adults. We then show that policy interventions like quotas and preferential treatment help to close down the gen...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Experimental economics : a journal of the Economic Science Association 2016-06, Vol.19 (2), p.412-432
Main Authors: Sutter, Matthias, Glätzle-Rützler, Daniela, Balafoutas, Loukas, Czermak, Simon
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Affirmative action
Age
Age groups
Behavioral/Experimental Economics
Child development
Children & youth
Developing countries
Economic models
Economic statistics
Economic theory
Economic Theory/Quantitative Economics/Mathematical Methods
Economics
Economics and Finance
Game Theory
Gender differences
Gender differentiation
Girls
Industrialized nations
Labor market
LDCs
Medical research
Microeconomics
Operations Research/Decision Theory
Original Paper
Quotas
Social and Behav. Sciences
Studies
Teenagers
Tournaments & championships
Women
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Summary:We study the willingness to compete of 588 children and teenagers aged ten to seventeen. We replicate the gender difference in tournament entry choices usually found in the literature for adults. We then show that policy interventions like quotas and preferential treatment help to close down the gender gap without leading to losses in efficiency, during or after a tournament. Given that differences in competitive behavior are prevalent from an early age, the application of interventions to promote females in competitions may be desirable already at early ages to promote equal chances for women on labor markets later on.
ISSN:1386-4157
1573-6938
DOI:10.1007/s10683-015-9447-y