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Inertia in partnerships: The role of gender

Author

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  • Bao, Wei
  • Houser, Daniel
  • Rao, Yulei
  • Xiao, Erte

Abstract

Using a controlled laboratory experiment, we provide rigorous evidence regarding inertia in partnerships. We find people maintain partnerships even when doing so is costly to themselves and brings neither benefits nor costs to their partners. Moreover, we find this effect to be much more pronounced for males than females, suggesting that males incur greater psychological costs of switching partners than do females.

Suggested Citation

  • Bao, Wei & Houser, Daniel & Rao, Yulei & Xiao, Erte, 2020. "Inertia in partnerships: The role of gender," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:196:y:2020:i:c:s0165176520303025
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2020.109491
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Inertia; Gender difference; Partner choice; Experimental design;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior

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