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Gender Differences in Strategic Reasoning

Author

Listed:
  • Marcus Dittrich
  • Kristina Leipold

Abstract

This paper studies gender differences in strategic situations. In two experimental guessing games - the beauty contest and the 11-20 money request game - we analyze the depth of strategic reasoning of women and men. We use unique data from an internet experiment with more than 1,000 participants. We find that men, on average, perform more steps of reasoning than women. Our results also suggest that women behave more consistently across both games.

Suggested Citation

  • Marcus Dittrich & Kristina Leipold, 2014. "Gender Differences in Strategic Reasoning," CESifo Working Paper Series 4763, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_4763
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    File URL: https://www.cesifo.org/DocDL/cesifo1_wp4763.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Chen Daniel L., 2019. "Law and Literature: Theory and Evidence on Empathy and Guile," Review of Law & Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 15(1), pages 1-33, March.
    2. Marco Mantovani, 2015. "Limited backward induction: foresight and behavior in sequential games," Working Papers 289, University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Economics, revised Jan 2015.
    3. Elif E. Demiral & Johanna Mollerstrom, 2017. "Entitled Women – but Not Men – Make Tougher Strategic Demands as Proposers in the Ultimatum Game," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1708, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    4. Ewens, Michael, 2022. "Race and Gender in Entrepreneurial Finance," SocArXiv djf8z, Center for Open Science.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    gender differences; strategic reasoning; level-k; beauty contest; 11-20 money request game;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C72 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Noncooperative Games
    • C90 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - General
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

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