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Exploring gendered behavior in the field with experiments: Why public goods are provided by women in a Nairobi slum

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  • Greig, Fiona
  • Bohnet, Iris

Abstract

Women, and particularly women in all-female groups, appear to be especially adept at providing public goods in developing countries. We use a one-shot Public Goods game to explore the effect of sex and a group's sex composition on the voluntary provision of public goods in a Nairobi slum. Sex heterogeneity hurts the voluntary provision of public goods because women--but not men--contribute less in mixed-sex than same-sex groups. Women contribute as much as men in same-sex groups. This result is driven by women's pessimism and men's optimism about others' contributions in mixed-sex groups rather than by gendered social preferences.

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  • Greig, Fiona & Bohnet, Iris, 2009. "Exploring gendered behavior in the field with experiments: Why public goods are provided by women in a Nairobi slum," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 70(1-2), pages 1-9, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:70:y:2009:i:1-2:p:1-9
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