Working Paper: NBER ID: w13922
Authors: Muriel Niederle; Alexandra H. Yestrumskas
Abstract: We examine whether women and men of the same ability differ in their decisions to seek challenges. In the laboratory, we create an environment in which we can measure a participants performance level (high or low), where a high performance level participant has on average higher earnings from solving a hard rather than an easy task, and vice versa. After we identify each participant's performance level, they choose the difficulty level (easy or hard) for the next two tasks (only one of which will be chosen for payment). Although there are no gender differences in performance, or beliefs about relative performance, men choose the hard task about 50 percent more frequently than women, independent of performance level. Gender differences in preferences for characteristics of the tasks cannot account for this gender gap. When we allow for a flexible choice high performing women choose the hard task significantly more often, at a rate now similar to the decision of men. Such a flexible choice makes challenging choices easier when participants are either risk averse, or uncertain about their ability. Our results highlight the role of institution design in affecting choices of women and men, and the resulting gender differences in representation in challenging tasks.
Keywords: No keywords provided
JEL Codes: C91; J0; J16; J24
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Men choose the hard task (D13) | Women choose the hard task (J16) |
| High-performing women choose the hard task (D29) | Flexible choice (D10) |
| Initial gender gap in choices (J16) | Feedback aversion or preferences for hard tasks (D91) |
| Initial gender gap in choices (J16) | Risk aversion or greater uncertainty in women's abilities (D81) |
| Reduced commitment (D79) | High-performing men and women choose the hard task (D29) |
| Institutional changes (D02) | Align choices with participants' performance levels (C52) |