Gender differences in response to contingent rewards: Evidence from a natural experiment of junior tennis

Anbarci, N.; Arin, K.P.; Lee, J.

Abstract

We investigate gender differences in responding to contingent rewards by exploiting a natural experiment in junior tennis tournaments in Florida where the ranking point system was revised to induce more players to play doubles. The new point system increased the points earned from wins in singles matches significantly if the two thirds or more of players in their sex/age group chose to play doubles. We examine three types of potential responses to the new system: (1) a ‘positive’ response of playing doubles more by singles winners, (2) a ‘subversive’ response of playing doubles less by singles losers, and (3) a ‘slack’ response of playing loosely in their doubles matches by singles winners. We find strong evidence on the positive response among boys and top-ranked girls but no evidence for subversive and slack responses.

Citation

Anbarci, N., Arin, K., & Lee, J. (2014). Gender differences in response to contingent rewards: Evidence from a natural experiment of junior tennis. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, 53, 131-137. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socec.2014.09.003

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 10, 2014
• Online Publication Date: Sep 19, 2014
• Publication Date: Sep 19, 2014
• Deposit Date: Aug 16, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 29, 2018
• Journal: Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics
• Print ISSN: 2214-8043
• Electronic ISSN: 2214-8051
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 53
• Pages: 131-137
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socec.2014.09.003
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1323020