Gender Differences in Competition: Evidence From a Matrilineal and a Patriarchal Society

Uri Gneezy, Kenneth Leonard () and John List

Econometrica, 2009, vol. 77, issue 5, 1637-1664

Abstract: We use a controlled experiment to explore whether there are gender differences in selecting into competitive environments across two distinct societies: the Maasai in Tanzania and the Khasi in India. One unique aspect of these societies is that the Maasai represent a textbook example of a patriarchal society, whereas the Khasi are matrilineal. Similar to the extant evidence drawn from experiments executed in Western cultures, Maasai men opt to compete at roughly twice the rate as Maasai women. Interestingly, this result is reversed among the Khasi, where women choose the competitive environment more often than Khasi men, and even choose to compete weakly more often than Maasai men. These results provide insights into the underpinnings of the factors hypothesized to be determinants of the observed gender differences in selecting into competitive environments. Copyright 2009 The Econometric Society.

Date: 2009
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Working Paper: Gender differences in competition: Evidence from a matrilineal and a patriarchal society (2009)
Working Paper: Gender Differences in Competition: Evidence from a Matrilineal and a Patriarchal Society (2008)
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