Job Market Paper
"Gender Similarities in Self-Promotion: The Role of Stereotypes"
Gender differences in career advancement may be perpetuated by men describing their professional skills more positively than women in the labor market, a phenomenon known as the gender gap in self-promotion. This paper explores the role of gender stereotypes in driving the gender gap in self-promotion. I design an experiment where participants are randomly assigned to domains that vary in their stereotypical male or female advantage. In each domain, participants take cognitive tests as "workers" and describe their test performance to "employers" using adjectives and ratings. In male-stereotyped domains, I replicate the prior finding that men self-promote more than similarly-performing women. However, this gender gap is reversed in female-typed domains, leading to an aggregate gender similarity in self-promotion when domains are pooled. Further experiments reveal two mechanisms that drive these results: both men and women form higher beliefs about their performance, and interpret information about their performance more positively, in domains where stereotypes favor their own gender group.
Gender differences in career advancement may be perpetuated by men describing their professional skills more positively than women in the labor market, a phenomenon known as the gender gap in self-promotion. This paper explores the role of gender stereotypes in driving the gender gap in self-promotion. I design an experiment where participants are randomly assigned to domains that vary in their stereotypical male or female advantage. In each domain, participants take cognitive tests as "workers" and describe their test performance to "employers" using adjectives and ratings. In male-stereotyped domains, I replicate the prior finding that men self-promote more than similarly-performing women. However, this gender gap is reversed in female-typed domains, leading to an aggregate gender similarity in self-promotion when domains are pooled. Further experiments reveal two mechanisms that drive these results: both men and women form higher beliefs about their performance, and interpret information about their performance more positively, in domains where stereotypes favor their own gender group.
- Awarded the Dean's Graduate Summer Fellowship, UC Davis College of Letters & Sciences, 2024
- Recent presentations: University of San Francisco, Global Labor Organization conference, Southern Economic Association, Workshop on Experimental & Behavioral Economics of the Americas, Economic Science Association
Working Papers
"Gender Differences in the Evolution of Beliefs in Non-Promotable Tasks"
(with Anujit Chakraborty)
Recent studies show that relative to men, women undertake more "non-promotable" service work in organizations because they believe that others are unlikely to volunteer in strategic settings. We study how gender differences in beliefs evolve in response to feedback about others' volunteering decisions. In lab experiments of the volunteer’s dilemma game, we randomly vary whether participants receive real-time feedback about the volunteering decisions of their opponents. We find that men and women volunteer at equal rates in the absence of feedback, suggesting that they have similar prior beliefs about others’ likelihood of volunteering. However, women volunteer significantly more than men in response to the feedback that others are free-riding, which suggests gender differences in the updating of beliefs.
(with Anujit Chakraborty)
Recent studies show that relative to men, women undertake more "non-promotable" service work in organizations because they believe that others are unlikely to volunteer in strategic settings. We study how gender differences in beliefs evolve in response to feedback about others' volunteering decisions. In lab experiments of the volunteer’s dilemma game, we randomly vary whether participants receive real-time feedback about the volunteering decisions of their opponents. We find that men and women volunteer at equal rates in the absence of feedback, suggesting that they have similar prior beliefs about others’ likelihood of volunteering. However, women volunteer significantly more than men in response to the feedback that others are free-riding, which suggests gender differences in the updating of beliefs.
- Presented at the Economic Science Association 2022, Bay Area Behavioral & Experimental Economics Workshop 2023, Western Economic Association International 2023
- Draft under revision. Please email for the latest version.
"Kinship Structures and Norms of Equality: Evidence from India"
(with Lata Gangadhran, Tarun Jain, and Pushkar Maitra)
Equal distribution of resources is considered a fundamental social norm in most societies. Using experiments of the Third-Party Dictator Game, we study the strength of equality norms across two institutions of kinship and lineage that determine women’s autonomy in rural India. We find that matrilineal societies with strong gender autonomy are characterized by strong and homogeneous norms of equality, and both men and women are sanctioned for transgressing norms in these settings. In a patrilineal society with lower gender autonomy, we find equality norms to be weak and heterogeneous, as is the enforcement of these norms. Our findings highlight a novel connection between lineage institutions, women’s autonomy, and pro-social behavior.
"Kinship Structures and Norms of Equality: Evidence from India"
(with Lata Gangadhran, Tarun Jain, and Pushkar Maitra)
Equal distribution of resources is considered a fundamental social norm in most societies. Using experiments of the Third-Party Dictator Game, we study the strength of equality norms across two institutions of kinship and lineage that determine women’s autonomy in rural India. We find that matrilineal societies with strong gender autonomy are characterized by strong and homogeneous norms of equality, and both men and women are sanctioned for transgressing norms in these settings. In a patrilineal society with lower gender autonomy, we find equality norms to be weak and heterogeneous, as is the enforcement of these norms. Our findings highlight a novel connection between lineage institutions, women’s autonomy, and pro-social behavior.
- Draft under revision. Please email for the latest version.
Peer-reviewed Publication
"Alcohol Ban and Crime: The ABC’s of the Bihar Prohibition" Economic Development and Cultural Change, June 2024
(with Natasha Jha, Mrithyunjayan Nilayamgode, and Revathy Suryanarayana)
Published version | Ungated version | Blog by Tata Cornell Institute
We study the causal relationship between alcohol regulation and crime after an alcohol prohibition in the Indian state of Bihar in 2016. Using a difference-in-differences approach, we explore the differential effects of alcohol on different crime types. We find that the prohibition led to a 0.22 standard deviation point reduction in reported violent crimes, without significantly affecting nonviolent crimes. Heterogeneity tests reveal stronger effects in interior districts and in districts with higher baseline alcohol consumption or fewer religious restrictions on alcohol consumption. Thus, we conclude that the ban affected crime by reducing alcohol availability and consumption rather than through institutional changes.
(with Natasha Jha, Mrithyunjayan Nilayamgode, and Revathy Suryanarayana)
Published version | Ungated version | Blog by Tata Cornell Institute
We study the causal relationship between alcohol regulation and crime after an alcohol prohibition in the Indian state of Bihar in 2016. Using a difference-in-differences approach, we explore the differential effects of alcohol on different crime types. We find that the prohibition led to a 0.22 standard deviation point reduction in reported violent crimes, without significantly affecting nonviolent crimes. Heterogeneity tests reveal stronger effects in interior districts and in districts with higher baseline alcohol consumption or fewer religious restrictions on alcohol consumption. Thus, we conclude that the ban affected crime by reducing alcohol availability and consumption rather than through institutional changes.
