Mind the Absent Gap: Gender-Specific Competitive Behavior in Nonprofessional Sports

Abstract

There is wide evidence for gender differences in competitive behavior and performance under pressure from experimental economics and single-sex professional sports. We analyze these differences in a sport with direct gender competition. Our unique data consist of over 500,000 observations from around 11,000 German ninepin bowling games of which around 15% are from mixed-gender leagues. Men perform better against women on average, but this is fully explained by differences in ability. Our results are robust to instrumenting for opposite gender using the sex composition of the opponent team. Gender differences in tight situations do not seem to play a role.

Raising the Bar: Causal Evidence on Gender Differences in Risk-Taking From a Natural Experiment

“…Booth and Yamamura (2018) confirm a gap in competitiveness and performance in speedboat races when women compete in mix-gender environments. In contrast, Pikos and Straub (2019) find no gender gap in competitiveness.…”

Raising the Bar: Causal Evidence on Gender Differences in Risk-Taking from a Natural Experiment

“…Booth and Yamamura (2018) confirm a gap in competitiveness and performance in speedboat races when women compete in mix-gender environments. Pikos and Straub (2019) find no gender gap in competitiveness.…”