The Anatomy of Competitiveness

Thomas Buser and Hessel Oosterbeek

No 16224, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: A large empirical literature in behavioral economics investigates heterogeneity across individuals and groups in preferences for competition. In this study, we provide a more detailed view on competitiveness by differentiating between four different motivations for entering competitions – enjoyment of competition, desire to win, competition for personal development, and general challenge seeking. We investigate which of these dimensions are picked up by traditional measures of competitiveness; how they predict individual and gender differences in career outcomes including income, holding a leadership position, and entrepreneurship; how they predict wellbeing; and how they relate to other personality traits, skills, and preferences.

Keywords: competitiveness; personality traits; labor market outcomes; leadership; gender (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C92 D91 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 33 pages
Date: 2023-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ent, nep-exp, nep-gen, nep-lma and nep-spo
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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