Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP8873
Authors: Antonio Filippin; Jan C. van Ours
Abstract: We use data from the 24-hours Belluno run which has the unique characteristic that participants are affiliated with teams and run for an hour. This allows us not only to study the individual relationship between age and performance but also to study group dynamics in terms of accessions to and separations from teams in a manner that closely resembles workers and firms when individual productivity would have been perfectly observable. From our analysis we conclude that individual performance goes down with age, although the speed-age gradient is rather flat. Group performance goes down with age as well, but interestingly a counterbalancing force emerges, namely team dynamics that are driven by performance of runners who enter and leave.
Keywords: age; attrition; intrinsic motivation; performance
JEL Codes: J14; J24; J31
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| underperformance relative to team (D29) | likelihood of stopping racing (L83) |
| team dynamics (M54) | counterbalance age-related decline in performance (D29) |
| age (J14) | selective attrition (C24) |
| age (J14) | running performance (D29) |