Differences in the Economic Decisions of Men and Women: Experimental Evidence

This chapter reviews the results from public goods, ultimatum, and dictator experiments for evidence of systematic differences in the behavior of men and women. While the results do not offer consistent evidence of behavioral differences between men and women, there are some intriguing patterns in the data. No significant evidence of systematic differences in the play of men and women is evident in those settings where subjects are exposed to risk. In those settings where risk is absent, systematic differences are revealed. This finding is conditioned by the level of risk.

[1]  J. Brown-Kruse,et al.  Gender effects in laboratory public goods contribution: Do individuals put their money where their mouth is? , 1993 .

[2]  Jane Sell,et al.  Gender, Strategies, and Contributions to Public Goods* , 1997 .

[3]  J. Andreoni,et al.  Which is the Fair Sex? Gender Differences in Altruism , 2001 .

[4]  S. Solnick.  Gender differences in the ultimatum game , 2001 .

[5]  Catherine C. Eckel,et al.  The Relative Price of Fairness: Gender Differences in a Punishment Game , 1996 .

[6]  C. Cadsby,et al.  Gender and free riding in a threshold public goods game: Experimental evidence , 1998 .

[7]  Catherine C. Eckel,et al.  Are Women Less Selfish Than Men?: Evidence From Dictator Experiments , 1998 .

[8]  Jane Sell,et al.  Levels of Information and Contributions to Public Goods , 1991 .

[9]  Clifford Nowell,et al.  The influence of gender on the provision of a public good , 1994 .

[10]  Rick K. Wilson,et al.  Are women more cooperative than men in social dilemmas , 1993 .

[11]  S. Seguino,et al.  Gender and cooperative behavior: economic man rides alone , 1996 .

[12]  Gary E. Bolton,et al.  An Experimental Test for Gender Differences in Beneficent Behavior , 1995 .

[13]  B. Ingram,et al.  Sex-Role Orientation, Defensiveness, and Competitiveness in Women , 1977 .

[14]  Catherine C. Eckel,et al.  Chivalry and Solidarity in Ultimatum Games , 2001 .

[15]  A Rapoport,et al.  Sex differences in factors contributing to the level of cooperation in the prisoner's dilemma game. , 1965, Journal of personality and social psychology.