Game, Set, and Match: Do Women and Men Perform Differently in Competitive Situations?
29 Pages Posted: 27 Mar 2015 Last revised: 14 Apr 2015
There are 2 versions of this paper
Game, Set, and Match: Do Women and Men Perform Differently in Competitive Situations?
Game, Set, and Match: Do Women and Men Perform Differently in Competitive Situations?
Date Written: March 16, 2015
Abstract
This paper analyzes potential gender differences in competitive environments using a sample of over 100,000 professional tennis matches. Focusing on two phenomena of the labor and sports economics literature, we find robust evidence for (i) the hot-hand effect (an additional win in the most recent ten matches raises the likelihood of winning by 3.1 to 3.3 percent) and (ii) the clutch-player effect, as top players are excelling in Grand Slam tournaments, the most important events. Overall, we find virtually no gender differences for the hot-hand effect and only minor distinctions for the clutch-player effect.
Keywords: gender gap, competition, hot hand, clutch player, tennis
JEL Classification: J24, L83, D84
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation