Unnatural experiments: the case of television game shows

Charles Reback and Kristin Stowe

Applied Economics Letters, 2011, vol. 18, issue 10, 919-923

Abstract: Economists often use television game shows as 'natural experiments' to test theories on risk aversion. This article demonstrates that some of these natural experiments may not be so natural after all. Using data from Jeopardy!, we show that contestants are chosen to maintain a gender balance, with the result that men outperform women across several dimensions. This selection bias suggests that caution should be exercised in generalizing findings based on these shows to the population as a whole.

Date: 2011
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DOI: 10.1080/13504851.2010.515198

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