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Gender, Competition and Performance: Evidence from Real Tournaments

Author

Listed:
  • Peter Backus
  • Maria Cubel
  • Matej Guid
  • Santiago Sanchez-Pages
  • Enrique Lopez Manas
Abstract
There is a growing literature looking at how men and women respond differently to competition. We contribute to this literature by studying gender differences in performance in a high-stakes and male dominated competitive environment, expert chess tournaments. Our findings show that women underperform compared to men of the same ability and that the gender composition of games drives this effect. Using within player variation in the conditionally random gender of their opponent, we find that women earn significantly worse outcomes against male opponents. We examine the mechanisms through which this effect operates by using a unique measure of within game quality of play. We find that the gender composition effect is driven by women playing worse against men, rather than by men playing better against women. The gender of the opponent does not affect a male player’s quality of play. We also find that men persist longer against women before resigning. These results suggest that the gender composition of competitions affects the behavior of both men and women in ways that are detrimental to the performance of women. Lastly, we study the effect of competitive pressure and find that players’ quality of play deteriorates when stakes increase, though we find no differential effect over the gender composition of games.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Backus & Maria Cubel & Matej Guid & Santiago Sanchez-Pages & Enrique Lopez Manas, 2016. "Gender, Competition and Performance: Evidence from Real Tournaments," Economics Discussion Paper Series 1605, Economics, The University of Manchester.
    • Handle: RePEc:man:sespap:1605
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    File URL: http://hummedia.manchester.ac.uk/schools/soss/economics/discussionpapers/EDP-1605.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. José de Sousa & Guillaume Hollard, 2021. "From Micro to Macro Gender Differences: Evidence from Field Tournaments," Post-Print hal-03389151, HAL.
    2. Jung, Seeun & Vranceanu, Radu, 2017. "Experimental estimates of men's and women's willingness to compete: Does the gender of the partner matter?," ESSEC Working Papers WP1701, ESSEC Research Center, ESSEC Business School.
    3. Booth, Alison & Hayashi, Ryohei & Yamamura, Eiji, 2022. "Gender differences in tournament-performance over time in single-sex and mixed-sex environments," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    4. Buser, Thomas & van den Assem, Martijn J. & van Dolder, Dennie, 2023. "Gender and willingness to compete for high stakes," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 350-370.
    5. José De Sousa & Guillaume Hollard, 2023. "From Micro to Macro Gender Differences: Evidence from Field Tournaments," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(6), pages 3358-3399, June.
    6. Tukiainen, Janne & Takalo, Tuomas & Hulkkonen, Topi, 2019. "Relative age effects in political selection," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 50-63.
    7. Zak, Uri, 2021. "The performance advantage of traveling," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    8. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/5msrbb0rie9sjq3c4ejgb2v91o is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Künn, Steffen & Seel, Christian & Zegners, Dainis, 2020. "Cognitive Performance in the Home Office - Evidence from Professional Chess," Research Memorandum 021, Maastricht University, Graduate School of Business and Economics (GSBE).
    10. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/5msrbb0rie9sjq3c4ejgb2v91o is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Cubel, María & Sanchez-Pages, Santiago, 2022. "Gender differences in equilibrium play and strategic sophistication variability," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 194(C), pages 287-299.
    12. Künn, Steffen & Palacios, Juan & Pestel, Nico, 2019. "Indoor Air Quality and Cognitive Performance," IZA Discussion Papers 12632, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Lackner, Mario & Weichselbaumer, Michael, 2023. "Can barely winning lead to losing? Gender and past performance," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 208(C), pages 258-274.
    14. Anna Katharina Pikos & Alexander Straub, 2020. "Mind the Absent Gap: Gender-Specific Competitive Behavior in Nonprofessional Sports," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 21(3), pages 215-233, April.
    15. Booth, Alison & Hayashi, Ryohei & Yamamura, Eiji, 2019. "Gender Differences in Tournament Performance Over Time: Can Women Catch-Up with Men?," CEPR Discussion Papers 13681, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D03 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Behavioral Microeconomics: Underlying Principles
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J70 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - General
    • L83 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Sports; Gambling; Restaurants; Recreation; Tourism
    • M50 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - General

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