Gender and Economic Norms

Mayo, Robert (2017): Gender and Economic Norms.

Abstract

I conduct an on-line experiment to test the hypothesis that the divergence in behaver between men and women found in Mayo (2016) was caused by men and women following different economic norms. The definition of norms is based on Bicchieri (2005), and includes three elements: First, that men and women exhibit different behavior. This was shown in Mayo (2016) and is confirmed here. Second, that men and women have different beliefs about what other men and women do and advocate be done when presented with the same options. This was shown in the results of an incentive compatible compensated online survey. Third, that providing messages about the behavior and statements of other men and women would cause a change in behavior. This was tested with an online controlled experiment. The results of this experiment were suggestive of the third element of the hypothesis, but did not prove causation. Further testing with higher statistical power is suggested.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Charitable giving; Altruism; Gender
• Subjects: C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C9 - Design of Experiments > C99 - Other; D - Microeconomics > D3 - Distribution > D31 - Personal Income, Wealth, and Their Distributions; D - Microeconomics > D6 - Welfare Economics > D64 - Altruism ; Philanthropy

References

Amir, Ofra, David G Rand, and Ya’akov Kobi Gal. 2012. “Economic Games on the Internet: The Effect of $1 Stakes.” PLoS ONE 7 (2): 1–4. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0031461.

Andreoni, James. 1989. “Giving with Impure Altruism: Applications to Charity and Ricardian Equivalence.” Journal of Political Economy 97 (6): 1447. doi:10.1086/261662.

Andreoni, James, and Lise Vesterlund. 2001. “Which Is the Fair Sex? Gender Differences in Altruism.” The Quarterly Journal of Economics 116 (1): 293–312. doi:10.1162/003355301556419.

Arabmazar, Abbas, and Peter Schmidt. 1981. “Further Evidence on the Robustness of the Tobit Estimator to Heteroskedasticity.” Journal of Econometrics 17 (2): 253–58. doi:10.1016/0304-4076(81)90029-4.

———. 1982. “An Investigation of the Robustness of the Tobit Estimator to Non-Normality.” Econometrica 50 (4): 1055–63. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1912776.

Aranoff, Daniel, and James T Tedeschi. 1968. “Original Stakes and Behavior in the Prisoner’s Dilemma Game.” Psychonomic Science 12 (2): 79–80. doi:10.3758/BF03331202.

Bicchieri, Christina. 2005. The Grammar of Society: The Nature and Dynamics of Social Norms. Cambridge University Press. doi:https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511616037.

Bicchieri, Cristina, and Erte Xiao. 2009. “Do the Right Thing: But Only If Others Do so.” Journal of Behavioral Decision Making 22 (2): 191–208. doi:10.1002/bdm.621.

Cason, Tn, and Vl Mui. 1998. “Social Influence in the Sequential Dictator Game.” Journal of Mathematical Psychology. doi:doi:10.1006/jmps.1998.1213.

Chen, Daniel L., Martin Schonger, and Chris Wickens. 2016. “oTree-An Open-Source Platform for Laboratory, Online, and Field Experiments.” Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance 9. Elsevier B.V.: 88–97. doi:10.1016/j.jbef.2015.12.001.

Cox, James C, and Cary A Deck. 2006. “When Are Women More Generous than Men?” Economic Inquiry. doi:10.1093/ei/cbj042.

Dana, Jason, Daylian M Cain, and Robyn M Dawes. 2006. “What You Don Õ T Know Won Õ T Hurt Me : Costly ( but Quiet ) Exit in Dictator Games” 100: 193–201. doi:10.1016/j.obhdp.2005.10.001.

Dawes, Robyn M., Jeanne McTavish, and Harriet Shaklee. 1977. “Behavior, Communication, and Assumptions About Other People’s Behavior in a Commons Dilemma Situation.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 35 (1): 1–11. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.35.1.1.

Deaux, Kay. 1976. The Behavior of Women and Men. Monterey, CA: Brooks Publishing.

Eckel, Catherine C, Philip J Grossman, Catherine C Eckel, and Philipj Grossman. 2017. “Are Women Less Selfish Than Men ?: Evidence from Dictator Experiments Published by : Wiley on Behalf of the Royal Economic Society Stable URL : http://www.jstor.org/stable/2565789 JSTOR Is a Not-for-Profit Service That Helps Scholars , Researchers , and S” 108 (448): 726–35.

Gächter, Simon, Daniele Nosenzo, and Martin Sefton. 2012. “The Impact of Social Comparisons on Reciprocity.” Scandinavian Journal of Economics. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9442.2012.01730.x.

Gilligan, Carol. 1982. In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women’s Development. Harvard University Press.

Greene, William H. 2008. Econometric Analysis. 7th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall.

Horton, John J., David G. Rand, and Richard J. Zeckhauser. 2011. “The Online Laboratory: Conducting Experiments in a Real Labor Market.” Experimental Economics 14 (3): 399–425. doi:10.1007/s10683-011-9273-9.

Jones, B, M Steele, J Gahagan, and J Tedeschi. 1968. “Matrix Values and Cooperative Behavior in the Prisoner’s Dilemma Game.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 8 (2): 148–53.

Kahn, Arnold, Joe Hottes, and William L Davis. 1971. “Cooperation and Optimal Responding in the Prisoner’s Dilemma Game: Effects of Sex and Physical Attractiveness.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 17 (3): 267–79. doi:10.1037/h0030597.

Krupka, Erin, and Roberto A. Weber. 2009. “The Focusing and Informational Effects of Norms on pro-Social Behavior.” Journal of Economic Psychology. doi:10.1016/j.joep.2008.11.005.

Mack, David, Paula N Auburn, and George P Knight. 1971. “Sex Role Identification and Behavior in a Reiterated Prisoner’s Dilemma Game.” Psychonomic Science 24: 280–81. doi:10.3758/BF03329005.

Maddala, G.S., and Forrest Nelson. 1975. “Specification Errors in Limited Dependent Variable Models.” 96. National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series. Cambridge, MA. doi:10.3386/w0096.

Mansbridge, Jane. 1991. Beyond Self-Interest. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Mayo, Robert L. 2016. “Decomposing Altruism : An Experiment to Measure Motivations for Giving by Demographic Group.” Under Submission. Arlington, VA.

Meux, Eleanor P. 1973. “Concern for the Common Good in an N-Person Game.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 28 (3): 414–18.

Mittone, Luigi, and Matteo Ploner. 2011. “Peer Pressure, Social Spillovers, and Reciprocity: An Experimental Analysis.” Experimental Economics. doi:10.1007/s10683-010-9263-3.

Orbell, John, Robyn Dawes, and Peregrine Schwartz-Shea. 1994. “Trust, Social Categories, and Individuals: The Case of Gender.” Motivation and Emotion 18 (2): 109–28. doi:10.1007/BF02249396.

Rapoport, A, and a M Chammah. 1965. “Sex Differences in Factors Contributing to the Level of Cooperation in the Prisoner’s Dilemma Game.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 2 (6): 831–38. doi:10.1037/h0022678.

Stockard, Jean, Alphons J. C. Van de Kragt, and Patricia J. Dodge. 1988. “Gender Roles and Behavior in Social Dilemmas: Are There Sex Differences in Cooperation and in Its Justification?” Social Psychology Quarterly 51 (2): 154–63. doi:10.2307/2786837.

Swope, K. J., Cadigan, J. Schmitt, and R. Shupp. 2008. “Personality Preferences in Laboratory Economics Experiments.” Journal of Socio-Economics 37 (3): 998–1009.

Thöni, Christian, and Simon Gächter. 2012. “Peer Effects and Social Preferences in Voluntary Cooperation.” IZA Discussion Paper Series.

Xiao, Erte, and Daniel Houser. 2007. “Emotion Expression and Fairness in Economic Exchange.” Interdisciplinary Center for Economic Science. Fairfax, VA.