Job Market Paper
"Gender Similarities in Self-Promotion: The Role of Stereotypes"
[Link to PDF]
Evidence shows that men describe their professional skills more positively than women with similar experience in the labor market, a phenomenon known as the gender gap in "self-promotion". This paper presents one of the first clear drivers of this gender gap -- stereotypes about the relative performance of men and women in different tasks. In a laboratory experiment, I randomly assign participants to a series of tasks that vary in the strength of gender stereotypes. I find that men self-promote up to 11 percentage points more than women with similar performance in male-stereotyped tasks, but this gender gap is completely reversed in female-stereotyped tasks. In non-stereotypical tasks, I find no significant gender gap in self-promotion. Two key mechanisms explain these results: both men and women form higher beliefs about their performance, and interpret information about their performance more positively, in tasks where stereotypes favor their own gender group. Addressing gender gaps in beliefs and self-confidence is therefore crucial for addressing the gender gap in self-promotion.
[Link to PDF]
Evidence shows that men describe their professional skills more positively than women with similar experience in the labor market, a phenomenon known as the gender gap in "self-promotion". This paper presents one of the first clear drivers of this gender gap -- stereotypes about the relative performance of men and women in different tasks. In a laboratory experiment, I randomly assign participants to a series of tasks that vary in the strength of gender stereotypes. I find that men self-promote up to 11 percentage points more than women with similar performance in male-stereotyped tasks, but this gender gap is completely reversed in female-stereotyped tasks. In non-stereotypical tasks, I find no significant gender gap in self-promotion. Two key mechanisms explain these results: both men and women form higher beliefs about their performance, and interpret information about their performance more positively, in tasks where stereotypes favor their own gender group. Addressing gender gaps in beliefs and self-confidence is therefore crucial for addressing the gender gap in self-promotion.
- Awarded the Dean's Graduate Summer Fellowship, UC Davis College of Letters & Sciences, 2024
- Invited presentations: Purdue University, Wesleyan University, University of San Francisco, Global Labor Organization conference, Workshop on Experimental & Behavioral Economics of the Americas
Working Papers
"Revisiting Gender Differences in Volunteering for Non-Promotable Tasks"
(with Anujit Chakraborty)
Recent evidence shows men are less likely than women to volunteer for non-promotable tasks in organizations, which perpetuates gender gaps in career advancement. We design a series of lab experiments to identify the drivers of this gender difference in strategic volunteering. Specifically, we control whether participants receive real-time feedback about others' decisions in the volunteer's dilemma game. 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, feedback that other players are free-riding causes women to volunteer more often than men, which suggests gender differences in the updating of beliefs. Our results are robust to alternate strategy spaces in the game, survey measures of volunteering, and data from prior literature based on this game.
(with Anujit Chakraborty)
Recent evidence shows men are less likely than women to volunteer for non-promotable tasks in organizations, which perpetuates gender gaps in career advancement. We design a series of lab experiments to identify the drivers of this gender difference in strategic volunteering. Specifically, we control whether participants receive real-time feedback about others' decisions in the volunteer's dilemma game. 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, feedback that other players are free-riding causes women to volunteer more often than men, which suggests gender differences in the updating of beliefs. Our results are robust to alternate strategy spaces in the game, survey measures of volunteering, and data from prior literature based on this game.
- Presented at the Economic Science Association 2022, Bay Area Behavioral & Experimental Economics Workshop 2023, Western Economic Association International 2023
- Paper under revision. Please email me for the latest version.
"Gender, Culture, and Norms of Equality: Evidence from India"
(with Lata Gangadharan, Tarun Jain, and Pushkar Maitra)
Equal distribution of resources is considered a fundamental social norm. Are women punished differently than men for violating this norm, and does punishment vary across cultures with different levels of gender equity and autonomy? We study these questions using experiments of the Third Party Dictator Game in two Indian cultures at the extreme ends of gender equity: patriarchal societies of Haryana and matrilineal societies of Meghalaya. In Haryana, we find low punishments and frequent violations of equality among both men and women. Meghalaya, in contrast, displays high punishments and few violations of equality, with men being punished more often than women. Our findings are explained by differences in norms across societies: norms of equality are strong in Meghalaya, but weak for both genders in Haryana.
"Gender, Culture, and Norms of Equality: Evidence from India"
(with Lata Gangadharan, Tarun Jain, and Pushkar Maitra)
Equal distribution of resources is considered a fundamental social norm. Are women punished differently than men for violating this norm, and does punishment vary across cultures with different levels of gender equity and autonomy? We study these questions using experiments of the Third Party Dictator Game in two Indian cultures at the extreme ends of gender equity: patriarchal societies of Haryana and matrilineal societies of Meghalaya. In Haryana, we find low punishments and frequent violations of equality among both men and women. Meghalaya, in contrast, displays high punishments and few violations of equality, with men being punished more often than women. Our findings are explained by differences in norms across societies: norms of equality are strong in Meghalaya, but weak for both genders in Haryana.
- Paper under revision. Please email me 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.
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.
