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Gender Differences in Risk-Taking: Evidence from Professional Basketball

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Abstract

We analyze gender differences in risk-taking in high-pressure situations. Using novel data from professional athletes (NBA and WNBA), we find that male teams increase their risktaking towards the end of matches when a successful risky strategy could secure winning the match. Female teams, in contrast, reduce their risk-taking in these situations. The less time left in a match, the larger is the gap. When the costs of an unsuccessful risky strategy are very large (losing the tournament), we find no increase in risk-taking for male teams.

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  • René Böheim & Christoph Freudenthaler & Mario Lackner, 2016. "Gender Differences in Risk-Taking: Evidence from Professional Basketball," Economics working papers 2016-07, Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.
    • Handle: RePEc:jku:econwp:2016_07
    Note: English
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    Cited by:

    1. René Böheim & Christoph Freudenthaler & Mario Lackner, 2019. "Do male managers increase risk-taking of female teams? Evidence from the NCAA," Department of Economics Working Papers wuwp281, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Department of Economics.
    2. Mario Lackner, 2021. "Gender differences in competitiveness," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 236-236, November.
    3. Gürtler, Oliver & Struth, Lennart & Thon, Max, 2023. "Competition and risk-taking," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    4. repec:ces:ifodic:v:15:y:2017:i:2:p:19337553 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Mario Lackner, 2016. "Teams as Superstars: Effort and Risk Taking in Rank-Order Tournaments for Women and Men," Economics working papers 2016-13, Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.
    6. Pikos, Anna Katharina & Straub, Alexander, 2019. "Mind the absent gap: Gender-specific competitiveness in non-professional sports," Hannover Economic Papers (HEP) dp-652, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät.
    7. Pikos, Anna Katharina & Straub, Alexander, 2022. "Different but stable—Performance against the opposite sex across age," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    8. Czibor, Eszter & Claussen, Jörg & van Praag, Mirjam, 2019. "Women in a men’s world: Risk taking in an online card game community," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 62-89.
    9. Pikos, Anna Katharina & Straub, Alexander, 2021. "Different but stable - gender-specific competitive behaviour across age," Hannover Economic Papers (HEP) dp-689, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät.
    10. René Böheim & Mario Lackner & Wilhelm Wagner, 2022. "Raising the Bar: Causal Evidence on Gender Differences in Risk-Taking From a Natural Experiment," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 23(4), pages 460-478, May.
    11. Anna Katharina Pikos & Alexander Straub, 2020. "Mind the Absent Gap: Gender-Specific Competitive Behavior in Nonprofessional Sports," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 21(3), pages 215-233, April.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Risk-taking; gender differences; tournament incentives;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • L83 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Sports; Gambling; Restaurants; Recreation; Tourism

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