Gender differences and dynamics in competition: the role of luck

David Gill and Victoria Prowse

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: In a real effort experiment with repeated competition we find striking differences in how the work effort of men and women responds to previous wins and losses. For women losing per se is detrimental to productivity, but for men a loss impacts negatively on productivity only when the prize at stake is big enough. Responses to luck are more persistent and explain more of the variation in behavior for women, and account for about half of the gender performance gap in our experiment. Our findings shed new light on why women may be less inclined to pursue competition-intensive careers.

Keywords: Real effort experiment; Gender differences; Gender gap; Competition aversion; Tournament; Luck; Win; Loss; Competitive outcomes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C91 J16 J33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012-01-24
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-bec, nep-cbe, nep-dem, nep-evo, nep-exp, nep-hrm, nep-lab and nep-lma
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Gender differences and dynamics in competition: The role of luck (2014)
Working Paper: Gender Differences and Dynamics in Competition: The Role of Luck (2013)
Working Paper: Gender Differences and Dynamics in Competition: The Role of Luck (2011)
Working Paper: Gender Differences and Dynamics in Competition: The Role of Luck (2010)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pra:mprapa:38220

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