Johanna Mollerstrom, PhD
Associate Professor of Economics
George Mason University

Can Simple Advice Eliminate the Gender Gap in Willingness to Compete?

As a recent literature has demonstrated, men and women differ in their willingness to sort into competitive environments. In particular, men are more willing than women to compete. We investigate whether it is possible to reduce the gender gap in willingness to complete through an information intervention that informs participants of the gap and advises them about the potential earnings implications. We find that this simple information intervention reduced the gender gap, both in a laboratory study at a German university and in a field study with Swedish high school students. Further, we find that the intervention improved the ex-post efficiency of outcomes, in the sense that it lead to high performers being more likely to enter (and win) the tournaments.

The presentation will begin at 12:00pm. Food and drinks will be provided.