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Gender and Cooperation in Children: Experiments in Colombia and Sweden

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  • Juan-Camilo Cárdenas
  • Anna Drebber
  • Emma von Essen
  • Eva Ranehill

Abstract

This paper compares cooperation among Columbian and Swedish children aged 9-12. We illustrate the dynamics of the prisoner´s dilemma in a new task that is easily understood by children and performed during a physical education class. We find some evidence that children cooperate more in Sweden than in Colombia. Girls in Colombia are less cooperative than boys, whereas our results indicate the opposite gender gap in Sweden. On average, children are more cooperative with boys than with girls.

Suggested Citation

  • Juan-Camilo Cárdenas & Anna Drebber & Emma von Essen & Eva Ranehill, 2012. "Gender and Cooperation in Children: Experiments in Colombia and Sweden," Documentos CEDE 9800, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    • Handle: RePEc:col:000089:009800
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    Cited by:

    1. Zhou, Yexin & Chen, Siwei & Chen, Yefeng & Vollan, Björn, 2022. "Does parental migration impede the development of the cooperative preferences in their left-behind children? Evidence from a large-scale field experiment in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    2. Angerer, Silvia & Glätzle-Rützler, Daniela & Lergetporer, Philipp & Sutter, Matthias, 2016. "Cooperation and discrimination within and across language borders: Evidence from children in a bilingual city," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 254-264.
    3. Tam Kiet Vuong & Ho Fai Chan & Benno Torgler, 2021. "Competing social identities and intergroup discrimination: Evidence from a framed field experiment with high school students in Vietnam," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(12), pages 1-27, December.
    4. Kirsten Häger & Bastian Oud & Daniel Schunk, 2012. "Egalitarian Envy: Cross-cultural Variation in the Development of Envy in Children," Jena Economics Research Papers 2012-059, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    5. Handberg, Øyvind Nystad & Angelsen, Arild, 2015. "Experimental tests of tropical forest conservation measures," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 346-359.
    6. Cárdenas, Juan-Camilo & Dreber, Anna & von Essen, Emma & Ranehill, Eva, 2012. "Gender differences in competitiveness and risk taking: Comparing children in Colombia and Sweden," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 83(1), pages 11-23.
    7. Horn, Dániel & Kiss, Hubert János & Lénárd, Tünde, 2022. "Gender differences in preferences of adolescents: Evidence from a large-scale classroom experiment," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 194(C), pages 478-522.
    8. Handberg, Øyvind Nystad & Angelsen, Arild, 2019. "Pay little, get little; pay more, get a little more: A framed forest experiment in Tanzania," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 454-467.
    9. Lergetporer, Philipp & Angerer, Silvia & Glätzle-Rützler, Daniela & Sutter, Matthias, 2015. "Children's cooperation and discrimination in a bilingual province," VfS Annual Conference 2015 (Muenster): Economic Development - Theory and Policy 112843, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    10. Martin G. Kocher, 2015. "How Trust in Social Dilemmas Evolves with Age," CESifo Working Paper Series 5447, CESifo.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    cooperation; children; gender differences; experiment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
    • D03 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Behavioral Microeconomics: Underlying Principles
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

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