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Performance Gender-Gap: Does Competition Matter?

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Author Info
Örs, Evren
Palomino, Frédéric
Peyrache, Eloïc

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Abstract

Using data from a natural experiment with high payoffs in education, we examine whether the competitive nature of tournament structure explains the performance gender-gap. We find that performance is statistically lower for women, the variance of performance is higher for men, and the tails of the performance distribution are significantly fatter for men. For the same participants in non-competitive settings with similar academic content, the performance of women first-order-stochastically dominates that of men. We reject differences in risk aversion and ability as reasons for performance gender-gap.

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Paper provided by C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers in its series CEPR Discussion Papers with number 6891.

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Date of creation: Jun 2008
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Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:6891

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Related research
Keywords: gender-gap; relative-performance evaluation; tournament;

Find related papers by JEL classification:
I29 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Other
J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

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  2. Justin Wolfers, 2006. "Diagnosing Discrimination: Stock Returns and CEO Gender," IZA Discussion Papers 1944, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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  3. Angrist, Joshua D & Evans, William N, 1998. "Children and Their Parents' Labor Supply: Evidence from Exogenous Variation in Family Size," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(3), pages 450-77, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  4. Brown, Charles & Corcoran, Mary, 1997. "Sex-Based Differences in School Content and the Male-Female Wage Gap," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 15(3), pages 431-65, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  5. Eriksson, Tor, 1999. "Executive Compensation and Tournament Theory: Empirical Tests on Danish Data," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 17(2), pages 262-80, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Lazear, Edward P & Rosen, Sherwin, 1990. "Male-Female Wage Differentials in Job Ladders," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 8(1), pages S106-23, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  7. Green, Jerry R & Stokey, Nancy L, 1983. "A Comparison of Tournaments and Contracts," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 91(3), pages 349-64, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  8. Paglin, Morton & Rufolo, Anthony M, 1990. "Heterogeneous Human Capital, Occupational Choice, and Male-Female Earnings Differences," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 8(1), pages 123-44, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  15. Edward P. Lazear, 1999. "Personnel Economics: Past Lessons and Future Directions," NBER Working Papers 6957, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  16. Uri Gneezy & Muriel Niederle & Aldo Rustichini, 2003. "Performance In Competitive Environments: Gender Differences," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 118(3), pages 1049-1074, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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