Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/175863 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2017
Series/Report no.: 
MAGKS Joint Discussion Paper Series in Economics No. 23-2017
Version Description: 
Updated in March 2018
Publisher: 
Philipps-University Marburg, School of Business and Economics, Marburg
Abstract: 
This paper investigates the role of social trust in determining one's willingness to compete in math competitions in school, observing how competitive occupational choices often require higher quantitative skills. Using the data of the PISA test in math, the empirical results highlight that a higher level of trust in school environments promotes a student's willingness to participate in math competitions. However, this positive effect of trust maintains mainly in mixed-sex competition, but not in single-sex competition. Furthermore, the effect of trust on mixed-sex competition is greater for girls than boys, while the effect is equally insignificant for boys and girls in single-sex competition. These findings suggest the importance of trust in the rules of the game when girls are matched with boys. On the other hand, when they compete with other girls, concerns about fairness do not play a significant role in their consideration. This is possibly because single-sex matches reduce unfairness caused by gender discrimination.
Subjects: 
gender
competition
math studies
social trust
gender-matching school environments
institutions
survey
East Asia
JEL: 
I24
J16
O17
O53
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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