Choosing competition on behalf of someone else

This is the final version. Available from INFORMS via the DOI in this record. The data that support the findings of this study are made available upon publication. The file containing only the preregistered analysis is available from the corresponding author upon request.We extend the existing literature on gender differences in competitive behavior by investigating tournament entry choices when a principal decides for an agent. In a laboratory experiment, we randomly assign subjects the role of either principal or agent. The principal decides whether the agent performs a real-effort task under piece-rate or tournament incentives. When deciding, the principal is informed about the agent’s previous performance, age, and residency. Between treatments, we vary whether the principal knows the agent’s gender. In a baseline treatment, we replicate the standard setting in which subjects decide for themselves whether to compete. Our main findings are, first, that there is no gender gap in tournament entry when principals decide for agents as opposed to the baseline treatment. Second, the gender gap closes because more women are made to compete by principals. Third, whereas there is no gender gap in either of the principal treatments, revealing the agent’s gender is associated with higher overall tournament entry rates. Exploratory analyses of principals’ choice determinants reveal a positive effect of preferences to take risks, competitiveness, and confidence in agents’ performances on making agents compete. In addition, we find no difference in how principals evaluate male and female agents’ performances. Finally, we test the efficiency of principals’ competition choices and show that they lead to fewer payoff-maximizing outcomes than when subjects decide for themselves. Additionally, overall tournament performances and winners’ performances are lower when agents are made to compete, but this effect is not robust to controlling for agents’ previous performances.L. Meltzers HøyskolefondAustrian Science FundUniversity of BergenUniversity of Regensbur

On the robustness of gender differences in economic behavior

This is the final version. Available on open access from Nature Research via the DOI in this recordData and code availability: The dataset generated and analyzed for this research project as well as the custom code that supports the study′s findings are available on OSF (https://osf.io/tyzjh/?view_only=243e2b6ca1174a8d802f496ce97c6a70). The oTree code is available on request.Because of the importance of economic decisions, researchers have looked into what factors influence them. Gender has received a lot of attention for explaining differences in behavior. But how much can be associated with gender, and how much with an individual's biological sex? We run an experimental online study with cis- and transgender participants that (1) looks into correlational differences between gender and sex for competitiveness, risk-taking, and altruism by comparing decisions across these different subject groups. (2) we prime participants with either a masculine or feminine gender identity to examine causal gender effects on behavior. We hypothesize that if gender is indeed a primary factor for decision-making, (i) individuals of the same gender (but different sex) make similar decisions, and (ii) gender priming changes behavior. Based on 780 observations, we conclude that the role of gender (and sex) is not as decisive for economic behavior as originally thought.Elite Network of BavariaBavarian State Ministry of Science and the ArtsUniversity of Exeter Business Schoo

The UEFA Champions League seeding is not strategy-proof since the 2015/16 season

Fairness has several interpretations in sports, one of them being that the rules should guarantee incentive compatibility, namely, a team cannot be worse off due to better results in any feasible scenario. The current seeding regime of the most prestigious annual European club football tournament, the UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) Champions League, is shown to violate this requirement since the 2015/16 season. In particular, if the titleholder qualifies for the first pot by being a champion in a high-ranked league, its slot is given to a team from a lower-ranked association, which can harm a top club from the domestic championship of the titleholder. However, filling all vacancies through the national leagues excludes the presence of perverse incentives. UEFA is encouraged to introduce this policy from the 2021-24 cycle onwards.Comment: 11 pages, 1 figure, 1 tabl

Climate Action for (My) Children

This is the final version. Available on open access from Springer via the DOI in this recordData Availability: All data and documentation used in the analysis will be shared after publication at https://osf.io/2kdgz/?view_only=118e3af382284948835e8e66b4d1f451.How do we motivate cooperation across the generations—between parents and children? Here we study voluntary climate action (VCA), which is costly to today’s decision-makers but essential to enable sustainable living for future generations. We predict that “offspring observability” is critical: parents will be more likely to invest in VCA when their own offspring observes their action, whereas when adults or genetically unrelated children observe them, the effect will be smaller. In a large-scale lab-in-the-field experiment, we observe a remarkable magnitude of VCA: parents invest 82% of their 69€ endowment into VCA, resulting in almost 14,000 real trees being planted. Parents’ VCA varies across conditions, with the largest treatment effect occurring when a parent’s own child is the observer. In subgroup analyses, we find that larger treatment effects occur among parents with a high school diploma. Our findings have implications for policy-makers interested in designing programs to encourage voluntary climate action and sustaining intergenerational public goods

Predictably competitive? What faces can tell us about competitive behavior

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via the DOI in this recordData availability; Data will be made available on request.Competition for limited resources is ubiquitous in social and economic life and has sparked a large body of research on the determinants of competitive behavior. While we know a lot about the role of contextual factors and personality traits, the potential link between competitive behavior and physical appearance remains unexplored. In this study we test whether objective facial characteristics and subjective attractiveness ratings are related to the competitive behavior in the form of opting for a tournament payment scheme in a real-effort task. We find no association for any of the examined characteristics. Nevertheless, we show that individuals are significantly better than chance at predicting the competitiveness of experimental participants, just by looking at their headshots. These findings advance our understanding of the role of observable physical characteristics as telltale signs of behavior

Brains, hormones, and genes: Introduction to the special issue on the biological foundations of economic decision-making

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via the DOI in this record The Journal of Economic Psychology's previous Special Issue related to biology - the Special Issue on Decision Neuroscience by Smith and Huettel (2010) - was released over a decade ago. Since then, technological advances have led to better data availability and methodologies across various scientific fields. New techniques and biomedical measures, such as brain stimulation and genotyping, have become more accessible to researchers. Therefore, we found it timely to organize a Special Issue on the Biological Foundations of Economic Decision-Making. The Introduction to this Special Issue will provide an overview of the latest research findings in this field and the selected papers for this Special Issue. The different contributions are grouped into three main subtopics, namely Neuroeconomics, hormones and neuroendocrine signaling, and studies utilizing genetic information

Predictably competitive? What faces can tell us about competitive behavior

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via the DOI in this recordCompetition for limited resources is ubiquitous in social and economic life and has sparked a large body of research on the determinants of competitive behavior. While we know a lot about the role of contextual factors and personality traits, the potential link between competitive behavior and physical appearance remains unexplored. In this study we test whether objective facial characteristics and subjective attractiveness ratings are related to the competitive behavior in the form of opting for a tournament payment scheme in a real-effort task. We find no association for any of the examined characteristics. Nevertheless, we show that individuals are significantly better than chance at predicting the competitiveness of experimental participants, just by looking at their headshots. These findings advance our understanding of the role of observable physical characteristics as telltale signs of behavior.University of InnsbruckUniversity of Exete

Conflict in the Pool: A Field Experiment

This is the author accepted manuscript.We conduct a field experiment on conflict in swimming pools. When all lanes are occupied, an actor joins the least crowded lane and asks one of the swimmers to move to another lane. The lane represents a contested scarce resource. We vary the actor’s valuation (high and low) for the good through the message they deliver. Also, we take advantage of the natural variation in the number of swimmers to proxy for their valuation. Consistent with theoretical predictions, a swimmer’s propensity to engage in conflict increases in scarcity and decreases in the actor’s valuation. We complement the results with survey evidence.Tyrolean Science FundAustralian Research Council (ARC