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  5. Competitiveness and Income in the Family
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Competitiveness and Income in the Family

Paper Session

Friday, Jan. 5, 2024 2:30 PM - 4:30 PM (CST)

Marriott Rivercenter, Conference Room 6
Hosted By: Society for the Advancement of Behavioral Economics
  • Chair: David Ong, Jinan University and University of Birmingham Joint Institute

Is There a Motherhood Gap in the Willingness to Compete for Pay?

Nikos Nikiforakis
,
New York University-Abu Dhabi
Aurelie Dariel
,
New York University-Abu Dhabi

Abstract

A substantial fraction of the gender gap in earnings is due to wage disparities between women with and without children. Inspired by evidence linking attitudes toward competition with labor-market outcomes, we explore the association between motherhood and the willingness to compete for pay. In two behavioral studies, one in the UAE and one in the USA, we find that mothers aged 18-30 are considerably less likely to choose a competitive payment scheme than similar women without children. The motherhood gap in competitiveness is not mediated by differences in ability, beliefs, risk attitudes, marital status, parental education, parental employment, or the time since the last pregnancy. Using an experimentally-validated survey measure of competitiveness, we also observe a motherhood gap in competitiveness in a third sample, consisting of women drawn from a panel of the Dutch population. We use information about the arrival of children and show that the gap in competitiveness predates motherhood, suggesting that attitudes toward competition drive selection into early motherhood. Fathers, across studies, are at least as willing as non-fathers to compete for pay.

Listen to Her: Gender Differences in Information Diffusion within the Household

Johanna Mollerstrom
,
George Mason University
Dietmar Fehr
,
University of Heidelberg
Ricardo Perez-Truglia
,
University of California-Berkeley

Abstract

We study how economic information diffuses within the household, leveraging an information provision experiment with a representative sample of households from Germany. A random sample of household members received information on their household’s position in the income distribution. When provided with information directly, there are no gender differences in how individuals update their beliefs. However, we find significant gender differences in how the information diffuses within the household. When only the husband received information, it also impacted the wife’s beliefs, but when only the wife received it, the husband’s beliefs remained unchanged.

Measuring Gendered Values of Time for Married Couples by Life Stage based on an Intertemporal Household Utility-Maximization Model

Ashley Lo
,
Tohoku University
Tatsuhito Kono
,
Tohoku University

Abstract

We investigate the time values for married couples by life stage based on an intertemporal model that represents within-individual and within-couple trade-offs between different activities. Using Japan Household Panel Survey, we find that wives value their time greater than 4,400 yen/hour when their first child is of preschool age; the value, however, decreases after their first child reaches school age. These changes reflect their time on work and commute. Conversely, the husbands’ time values are not very different in magnitude. We find that some dual-income households have time burden as they highly value their time saving on childcare.

Gender Differences in the Influence of Competitiveness on Individual and Partner Incomes

David Ong
,
Jinan University
Gahye (Roslayn) Jeon
,
Georgia State University

Abstract

We extend prior research on gender differences in competitiveness by distinguishing the role of competitiveness on individual and partner incomes. Using a 2017-2021 representative household survey in the Netherlands, we find that competitiveness positively correlates with the present and future incomes for single and partnered women and partnered men, but not for single men. Interestingly, competitive women tend to match with higher-earning men, but the reverse pattern, where competitive men match with higher-earning women, is not observed. We employ 2017 income as a proxy for unobservable individual and couple-specific factors on 2018-2021 incomes. Regarding individual’s own competitiveness, only single men's competitiveness increases their future income. Remarkably, for couples, we find that it is the men's female partner’s competitiveness, rather than their own, that significantly increases men’s future income. Men's competitiveness does not affect their female partners' income. Contrary to household specialization as the channel, women’s competitiveness does not increase their partner's work hours. Our findings offer fresh insights into the influence of competitiveness on individual and household incomes.

Discussant(s)
Maria Recalde
,
University of Melbourne
Elif Demiral
,
Austin Peay State University
Zhongying Gan
,
University of California-Irvine
Jeanne Lafortune
,
Pontifical Catholic University of Chile
JEL Classifications
  • D1 - Household Behavior and Family Economics
  • J1 - Demographic Economics