Gender Differences in Risk Behaviour: Does Nurture Matter?

Alison Booth and Patrick Nolen

No 4026, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Women and men may differ in their propensity to choose a risky outcome because of innate preferences or because their innate preferences are modified by pressure to conform to gender-stereotypes. Single-sex environments are likely to modify students’ risk-taking preferences in economically important ways. To test this, our controlled experiment gave subjects an opportunity to choose a risky outcome ? a real-stakes gamble with a higher expected monetary value than the alternative outcome with a certain payoff ? and in which the sensitivity of observed risk choices to environmental factors could be explored. The results show that girls from single-sex schools are as likely to choose the real-stakes gamble as much as boys from either coed or single sex schools, and more likely than coed girls. Moreover, gender differences in preferences for risk-taking are sensitive to the gender mix of the experimental group, with girls being more likely to choose risky outcomes when assigned to all-girl groups. This suggests that observed gender differences in behaviour under uncertainty found in previous studies might reflect social learning rather than inherent gender traits.

Keywords: gender identity; controlled experiment; risk aversion; risk attitudes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C9 C91 C92 J16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 32 pages
Date: 2009-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cbe, nep-exp and nep-upt
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (52)

Published - published in: Economic Journal, 2012, 122 (558), F56 - F78

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Related works:
Journal Article: Gender differences in risk behaviour: does nurture matter? (2012)
Working Paper: Gender Differences in Risk Behaviour: Does Nurture Matter? (2009)
Working Paper: Gender Differences in Risk Behaviour: Does Nurture Matter? (2009)
Working Paper: Gender Differences in Risk Behaviour: Does Nurture Matter? (2009)
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