An Economic Model of the Evolution of the Gender Performance Ratio in Individual Sports

Arnaud Dupuy ()

No 4838, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: This paper shows that the gender world record ratio in four disciplines, i.e. marathon, triple jump, pole vault and 800 meters, follows an S-shape over time. It is argued that this pattern is initiated by a sudden drop in the social barrier for women to participate in these disciplines. This drop in social barrier materializes – later – by the authorization for women to participate at major events, such as the Olympic Games, in these disciplines. The paper builds a simple economic model of sector self-selection and human capital accumulation with intrinsic disutility (social barriers) to participate in some sectors. As social barriers are removed in a sector, the Gender Performance Ratio is shown to follow an S-shape over time under very basic assumptions and calibrations. Ability self-selection, measured as the difference between mean ability of women in that sector and population mean, becomes more positive after removal of the social barrier.

Keywords: human capital investments; sector self-selection; gender performance ratio (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J16 J7 N32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 43 pages
Date: 2010-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lab and nep-spo
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Published - published in: International Journal of Performance Analysis in Sport, 2012, 12 (1), 222-245

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Related works:
Journal Article: An Economic Model of the Evolution of the Gender Performance Ratio in Individual Sports (2012)
Working Paper: An economic model of the evolution of the gender performance ratio in individual sports (2010)
Working Paper: An economic model of the evolution of the gender performance ratio in individual sports (2010)
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