Do female experts face an authority gap? Evidence from economics

Hans H. Sievertsen and Sarah Smith

Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 2025, vol. 231, issue C

Abstract: This paper reports results from a survey experiment comparing the effect of (the same) opinions expressed by visibly senior, female versus male experts. Members of the public were asked for their opinion on topical issues and shown the opinion of either a named male or a named female economist, all professors at leading US universities. There are three findings. First, experts can persuade members of the public – the opinions of individual expert economists affect the opinions expressed by the public. Second, the opinions expressed by visibly senior female economists are more persuasive than the same opinions expressed by male economists. Third, removing credentials (university and professor title) eliminates the gender difference in persuasiveness, suggesting that credentials act as a differential information signal about the credibility of female experts.

Keywords: Economic expertise; Persuasion; Gender; Stereotypes; Survey experiments (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A11 D83 J16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:231:y:2025:i:c:s0167268125000320

DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2025.106912

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