nep-spo New Economics Papers
on Sports and Economics
Issue of 2016‒12‒11
one paper chosen by
João Carlos Correia Leitão
Universidade da Beira Interior

  1. Performance in Mixed-Sex and Single-Sex Tournaments: What We Can Learn from Speedboat Races in Japan By Booth, Alison L.; Yamamura, Eiji

  1. By: Booth, Alison L. (Australian National University); Yamamura, Eiji (Seinan Gakuin University)
    Abstract: In speedboat racing in Japan, women racers participate and compete in races under the same conditions as men, and all individuals are randomly assigned to mixed-gender or single-gender groups for each race. In this paper we use a sample of over 140,000 observations of individual-level racing records provided by the Japanese Speedboat Racing Association to examine how male-dominated circumstances affect women's racing performance. We control for individual fixed-effects plus a host of other factors affecting performance (such as starting lane, fitness and weather conditions). Our estimates reveal that women's race-time is slower in mixed-gender races than in all-women races, whereas men racer's time is faster in mixed-gender races than men-only races. In mixed-gender races, male racers are found to be more 'aggressive' – as proxied by lane-changing – in spite of the risk of being penalized if they contravene the rules, whereas women follow less aggressive strategies. We find no difference in disqualifications between genders. We suggest that gender-differences in risk-attitudes and over-confidence may result in different responses to the competitive environment and penalties for rule-breaking, and that gender-identity also plays a role.
    Keywords: peer effects, gender and competition, tournaments, women's labor participation, gender identity
    JEL: J16 L83 M5
    Date: 2016–11
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10384&r=spo

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