Gender, Competitiveness, and Altruism: Global Evidence from Two Meta-Analyses of Randomized Experiments

Abstract

A large body of randomized experiments has explored the relationship between gender and the display of altruistic and competitive behaviours in individuals, yet the findings are inconsistent. I use meta-analytical techniques to investigate whether the effect sizes observed in distinct randomized experiments vary. If they do, what potential reasons explain the variation. First, I conduct a meta-analysis of 26 studies examining the causal relationship between gender and competitiveness. Then, I conduct a meta-analysis of 21 studies examining the causal relationship between gender and altruism. My findings suggest that men tend to exhibit more competitive behaviour, while women tend to display more altruistic behaviour. However, the mean effect size of gender on competitiveness and altruism is small, and there is significant heterogeneity in the reported effect sizes across the individual studies. The reasons driving the heterogeneity include conceptual and empirical reasons. An example of a conceptual reason is that the differences in the socio-cultural environments matter. Empirically, the differences in the research design and measures employed matter. My meta analysis reveals that the gender gap in competitiveness and altruism is more pronounced in countries with lower gender parity, suggesting that gender-equality in the social environment can reduce the gender gap in economic behaviour. I discuss the practical implications of my findings in my dissertation