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The older the bolder: Does relative age among peers influence children’s preference for competition?

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  • Page, Lionel
  • Sarkar, Dipanwita
  • Silva-Goncalves, Juliana

Abstract

Having been relatively old at school tends to have a long lasting positive effect on professional achievement, in particular in competitive environments (sports, politics). We investigate the roots of this pattern and study whether the relative age position of children at school plays a role in shaping their preference for competition. We run a controlled experiment in high schools across two states in Australia. Our participants are students who are the very oldest or very youngest in their classroom. We elicit their preference for competition using the Niederle and Vesterlund (2007) task and find evidence of an effect of relative age. This effect is concentrated on male students. We find no differences in self-confidence, and risk attitudes between relatively old and young students. These results suggest that the observed pattern may come from pure preference for competition.

Suggested Citation

  • Page, Lionel & Sarkar, Dipanwita & Silva-Goncalves, Juliana, 2017. "The older the bolder: Does relative age among peers influence children’s preference for competition?," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 43-81.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joepsy:v:63:y:2017:i:c:p:43-81
    DOI: 10.1016/j.joep.2017.10.002
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    Cited by:

    1. Page, Lionel & Sarkar, Dipanwita & Silva-Goncalves, Juliana, 2019. "Long-lasting effects of relative age at school," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 166-195.
    2. Botond Kálmán & Arnold Tóth & Tímea Juhász, 2020. "Gender Differences Of Competitive Attitude From Childhood To Adulthood," Economy & Business Journal, International Scientific Publications, Bulgaria, vol. 14(1), pages 216-236.
    3. Tushar Bharati & Thea Harpley Green, 2021. "Age at school transition and children’s cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 21-06, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    4. YAMAGUCHI Shintaro & ITO Hirotake & NAKAMURO Makiko, 2020. "Month-of-Birth Effects on Skills and Skill Formation," Discussion papers 20079, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    5. Peña, Pablo A. & Duckworth, Angela L., 2018. "The effects of relative and absolute age in the measurement of grit from 9th to 12th grade," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 183-190.
    6. Miller, Danny & Pastoriza, David & Plante, Jean-François, 2019. "Conditioning competitive risk: Competitors’ rank proximity and relative ability," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 161-175.
    7. Shintaro Yamaguchi & Hirotake Ito & Makiko Nakamuro, 2020. "Month-of-Birth Effects on Skills and Skill Formation," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-1153, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.
    8. Pilar Beneito & Pedro Javier Soria-Espín, 2020. "Month of birth and academic performance: differences by gender and educational stage," Discussion Papers in Economic Behaviour 0120, University of Valencia, ERI-CES.
    9. Shintaro Yamaguchi & Hirotake Ito & Makiko Nakamuro, 2020. "Month-of-Birth Effects on Skills and Skill Formation," RF Berlin - CReAM Discussion Paper Series 2015, Rockwool Foundation Berlin (RF Berlin) - Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM).
    10. Tony Beatton & Michael P. Kidd & Anthony Niu & Francis Vella, 2023. "Age of Starting School, Academic Performance, and the Impact of Non‐Compliance: An Experiment within an Experiment, Evidence from Australia," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 99(325), pages 175-206, June.
    11. Yamaguchi, Shintaro & Ito, Hirotake & Nakamuro, Makiko, 2023. "Month-of-Birth Effects on Skills and Skill Formation," IZA Discussion Papers 15895, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. John R Doyle & Paul A Bottomley, 2019. "The relative age effect in European elite soccer: A practical guide to Poisson regression modelling," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(4), pages 1-14, April.
    13. Pastoriza, David & Alegre, Inés & Canela, Miguel A., 2021. "Conditioning the effect of prize on tournament self-selection," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    14. Yamaguchi, Shintaro & Ito, Hirotake & Nakamuro, Makiko, 2023. "Month-of-birth effects on skills and skill formation," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Relative age; Competitive preference; Self-confidence; Artefactual field experiment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D04 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Microeconomic Policy: Formulation; Implementation; Evaluation
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy

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