Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/157521 
Year of Publication: 
2017
Series/Report no.: 
DIW Discussion Papers No. 1662
Publisher: 
Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW), Berlin
Abstract: 
This paper addresses the behavioral puzzle of women's preference for competition when competitors are also women. Using a framed field experiment with 883 non-standard subjects, we show that none of the determinants of competitive behavior in general, including ability, self-confidence and risk aversion, provide a satisfying explanation for women's substantive gender-related selection into competition. Nonetheless, women who are overconfident, i.e. over-estimate own abilities in performing a task, enter competition regardless of the gender-mix. Hence, the gender-pairing phenomenon is driven by women who correctly estimate or under-estimate own ability. We concluded that this is due to stereotypes about women's underperformance compared to men.
Subjects: 
preferences for competition
gender
group composition
self-confidence
JEL: 
C99
D83
J16
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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