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Gender Differences in Competition: Evidence from a Matrilineal and a Patriarchal Society

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Author Info
Uri Gneezy
Kenneth L. Leonard
John A. List

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Abstract

This study uses a controlled experiment to explore whether there are gender differences in selecting into competitive environments across two distinct societies: the Maasai in Tanzania and the Khasi in India. One unique aspect of these societies is that the Maasai represent a textbook example of a patriarchal society whereas the Khasi are matrilineal. Similar to the extant evidence drawn from experiments executed in Western cultures, Maasai men opt to compete at roughly twice the rate as Maasai women. Interestingly, this result is reversed amongst the Khasi, where women choose the competitive environment more often than Khasi men, and even choose to compete weakly more often than Maasai men. We view these results as potentially providing insights into the underpinnings of the factors hypothesized to be determinants of the observed gender differences in selecting into competitive environments.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 13727.

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Date of creation: Jan 2008
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:13727

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
C9 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments
C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities and Races; Non-labor Discrimination
J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Glenn W. Harrison & John A. List, 2004. "Field Experiments," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 42(4), pages 1009-1055, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Michael S. Haigh & John A. List, 2005. "Do Professional Traders Exhibit Myopic Loss Aversion? An Experimental Analysis," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(1), pages 523-534, 02. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Francine D. Blau & Lawrence M. Kahn, 2000. "Gender Differences in Pay," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 14(4), pages 75-99, Fall. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  4. Joseph Henrich & Richard McElreath, 2002. "Are Peasants Risk-Averse Decision Makers?," Artefactual Field Experiments 0057, The Field Experiments Website. [Downloadable!]
  5. Vandegrift, Donald & Yavas, Abdullah, 2009. "Men, women, and competition: An experimental test of behavior," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 72(1), pages 554-570, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Gneezy, Uri & Potters, Jan, 1997. "An Experiment on Risk Taking and Evaluation Periods," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 112(2), pages 631-45, May.
  7. 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)
  8. Blau, Francine D & Kahn, Lawrence M, 1992. "The Gender Earnings Gap: Learning from International Comparisons," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 82(2), pages 533-38, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Uri Gneezy & Aldo Rustichini, 2004. "Gender and Competition at a Young Age," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(2), pages 377-381, May. [Downloadable!]
  10. Nabanita Datta Gupta & Anders Poulsen & Marie-Claire Villeval, 2005. "Male and Female Competitive Behavior - Experimental Evidence," Post-Print halshs-00180022_v1, HAL. [Downloadable!]
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  11. Altonji, Joseph G. & Blank, Rebecca M., 1999. "Race and gender in the labor market," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 48, pages 3143-3259 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
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(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Waichmann, Israel & Requate, Tilman & Siang, Ch'ng Kean, 2008. "Managers and Students Playing Cournot: Experimental Evidence from Malaysia," Economics Working Papers 2008,19, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  2. Booth, Alison L. & Nolen, Patrick, 2009. "Choosing to Compete: How different are girls and boys?," CEPR Discussion Papers 7214, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Booth, Alison L., 2009. "Gender and Competition," IZA Discussion Papers 4300, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Alison L. Booth & Patrick Nolen, 2009. "Gender Differences in Risk Behaviour: Does Nurture Matter?," Economics Discussion Papers 672, University of Essex, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Alan Manning & Farzad Saidi, 2008. "Understanding the Gender Pay Gap: Whats Competition Got to Do with It?," CEP Discussion Papers dp0898, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE. [Downloadable!]
  6. Bernd Hayo & Björn Vollan, 2009. "Individual Heterogeneity, Group Interaction, and Co-operative Behaviour: Evidence from a Common-Pool Resource Experiment in South Africa and Namibia," MAGKS Papers on Economics 200917, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung). [Downloadable!]
  7. Gagliarducci, Stefano & Paserman, Daniele, 2009. "Gender Interactions within Hierarchies: Evidence from the Political Arena," IZA Discussion Papers 4128, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  8. Olga Shurchkov, 2009. "Gender Differences in Output Quality and Quantity under Competition and Time Constraints: Evidence from a Pilot Study," Working Papers 2009.95, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei. [Downloadable!]
  9. Dreber, Anna & von Essen, Emma & Ranehill, Eva, 2009. "Outrunning the Gender Gap – Boys and Girls Compete Equally," Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance 709, Stockholm School of Economics, revised 16 Oct 2009. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  10. Frederico Finan & Laura Schechter, 2009. "Vote-Buying and Reciprocity," Working Papers id:1882, esocialsciences.com. [Downloadable!]
  11. Kristin Kleinjans, 2008. "Do Gender Differences in Preferences for Competition Matter for Occupational Expectations?," Economics Working Papers 2008-09, School of Economics and Management, University of Aarhus. [Downloadable!]
  12. Robin Hogarth & Natalia Karelaia & Carlos Andrés Trujillo, 2009. "Under-achievement and the glass ceiling: Evidence from a TV game show," Economics Working Papers 1165, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra. [Downloadable!]
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