The DOI matches its Crossref record; 21 of the 22 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Do Women Shy Away From Competition? Do Men Compete Too Much?
Abstract
We examine whether men and women of the same ability differ in their selection into a competitive environment. Participants in a laboratory experiment solve a real task, first under a noncompetitive piece rate and then a competitive tournament incentive scheme. Although there are no gender differences in performance, men select the tournament twice as much as women when choosing their compensation scheme for the next performance. While 73 percent of the men select the tournament, only 35 percent of the women make this choice. This gender gap in tournament entry is not explained by performance, and factors such as risk and feedback aversion only playa negligible role. Instead, the tournament-entry gap is driven by men being more overconfident and by gender differences in preferences for performing in a competition. The result is that women shy away from competition and men embrace it.
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“Consistent with this view, numerous studies fi nd that women exhibit lower levels of overcon fi dence than men (Barber & Odean, 2001; Dean & Ortoleva, 2019; Niederle & Vesterlund, 2007; Waldman, 1994).”
From Talking the talk, not walking the walk: The coevolution of overconfidence and loss aversion (2026) · cites this paper as Niederle & Vesterlund, 2007
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Flagged first, then by citations
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Gender Differences in Preferences
Croson, R., & Gneezy, U. (2009) · Journal of Economic Literature · doi:10.1257/jel.47.2.448 · Cited by 5,694
INDIVIDUAL RISK ATTITUDES: MEASUREMENT, DETERMINANTS, AND BEHAVIORAL CONSEQUENCES
Dohmen, T., Falk, A., Huffman, D., Sunde, U., Schupp, J., & Wagner, G. G. (2011) · Journal of the European Economic Association · doi:10.1111/j.1542-4774.2011.01015.x · Cited by 3,982
The Gender Wage Gap: Extent, Trends, and Explanations
Blau, F. D., & Kahn, L. M. (2017) · Journal of Economic Literature · doi:10.1257/jel.20160995 · Cited by 3,149
A Grand Gender Convergence: Its Last Chapter
Goldin, C. D. (2014) · American Economic Review · doi:10.1257/aer.104.4.1091 · Cited by 2,659
The trouble with overconfidence.
Moore, D. A., & Healy, P. J. (2008) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.115.2.502 · Cited by 2,358
Metadata
- Authors
- Niederle, M., & Vesterlund, L.
- Affiliations
- National Bureau of Economic Research (US)
- University of Pittsburgh (US)
- ORCID
- Niederle, M.
- Venue
- The Quarterly Journal of Economics
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2007-08-01
- Volume
- 122
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 1067-1101
- ISSN
- 0033-5533 (ISSN-L)
- 1531-4650
- OpenAlex
- W2890421732
- Cited by
- 3,186
- References
- 22
- Citations by year
- 2026: 115 · 2025: 204 · 2024: 251 · 2023: 235 · 2022: 254 · 2021: 221 · 2020: 226 · 2019: 209 · 2018: 221 · 2017: 173 · 2016: 150 · 2015: 171 · 2014: 154 · 2013: 131 · 2012: 102
- FWCI
- 197.67
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Quarterly Journal of Economics (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › General Decision Sciences › Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Names, Identity, and Discrimination Research
- Keywords
- gender differences, competition, tournament entry, tournament incentives, piece rates, overconfidence, risk aversion, compensation systems
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