Gender, Competitiveness and Socialization at a Young Age: Evidence from a Matrilineal and a Patriarchal Society

Recent literature presents evidence that men are more competitively inclined than women. Since top-level careers usually require competitiveness, competitiveness differences provide an explanation for gender gaps in wages and differences in occupational choice. A natural question is whether women are born less competitive, or whether they become so through the process of socialization. To pinpoint when in the socialization process the difference arises, we compare the competitiveness of children in matrilineal and patriarchal societies. We find that while there is no difference at any age in the matrilineal society, girls become less competitive around puberty in the patriarchal society. JEL Codes: C93, J16, D03. *Andersen (corresponding author): Department of Economics, Copenhagen Business School, Porcelænshaven 16A, 1, DK-2000 Frederiksberg, Denmark (e-mail: [email protected]); Ertac: Koc University, Rumeli Feneri Yolu, Sariyer, Istanbul 34450 Turkey (email: [email protected]);Gneezy: Rady School of Management, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093 (email: [email protected]); List: Department of Economics, University of Chicago, 1126 E. 59th St., Chicago, IL 60637, and NBER (e-mail: [email protected]); Maximiano: Economics Department, Krannert School of Management, 403 W. State Street West Lafayette, IN 47907. We are grateful to the editor and two anonymous referees for their valuable input. We thank participants at the many conferences and university seminars where the paper was presented for beneficial comments. Gneezy thanks the National Science Foundation and Ertac thanks the European Union FP7 Program for support of their research. 312