Gender and peer effects on performance in social networks

Julie Beugnot (), Bernard Fortin (), Guy Lacroix and Marie Claire Villeval

European Economic Review, 2019, vol. 113, issue C, 207-224

Abstract: We investigate whether peer effects at work differ by gender and whether the differences -if any- depend on work organization. We develop a social network model with gender heterogeneity that we test using a real-effort laboratory experiment. We compare unidirectional networks (with a one-way information flow) and bidirectional networks (with a two-way information flow). Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that competitive rivalry is the basic mechanism through which peer effects influence individuals’ behavior. Males and females behave differently. The former are influenced by their peers in both types of networks whereas the latter are indifferent to their peers’ performance in bidirectional networks. An interpretation is that females perceive the bidirectional networks as being more competitive.

Keywords: Gender; Peer effects; Social networks; Work effort; Experiment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C91 J16 J24 J31 M52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (23)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Gender and Peer Effects on Performance in Social Networks (2019)
Working Paper: Gender and Peer Effects on Performance in Social Networks (2018)
Working Paper: Gender and Peer Effects on Performance in Social Networks (2017)
Working Paper: Gender and Peer Effects on Performance in Social Networks (2017)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:eecrev:v:113:y:2019:i:c:p:207-224

DOI: 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2019.01.002

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