TY - JOUR
T1 - The emergence of male leadership in competitive environments
AU - Reuben, Ernesto
AU - Rey-Biel, Pedro
AU - Sapienza, Paola
AU - Zingales, Luigi
PY - 2012
Y1 - 2012
N2 - We present evidence from an experiment in which groups select a leader to compete against the leaders of other groups in a real-effort task that they have all performed in the past. We find that women are selected much less often as leaders than is suggested by their individual past performance. We study three potential explanations for the underrepresentation of women, namely, gender differences in overconfidence concerning past performance, in the willingness to exaggerate past performance to the group, and in the reaction to monetary incentives. We find that men's overconfidence is the driving force behind the observed prevalence of male representation.
AB - We present evidence from an experiment in which groups select a leader to compete against the leaders of other groups in a real-effort task that they have all performed in the past. We find that women are selected much less often as leaders than is suggested by their individual past performance. We study three potential explanations for the underrepresentation of women, namely, gender differences in overconfidence concerning past performance, in the willingness to exaggerate past performance to the group, and in the reaction to monetary incentives. We find that men's overconfidence is the driving force behind the observed prevalence of male representation.
U2 - 10.1016/j.jebo.2011.06.016
DO - 10.1016/j.jebo.2011.06.016
M3 - Article
SN - 0167-2681
VL - 83
SP - 111
EP - 117
JO - Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization
JF - Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization
IS - 1
ER -