TY - JOUR
T1 - Heterogeneous gender effects under loss aversion in the economics classroom
T2 - A field experiment
AU - Apostolova-Mihaylova, Maria
AU - Cooper, William
AU - Hoyt, Gail
AU - Marshall, Emily C.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 by the Southern Economic Association.
PY - 2015/4/1
Y1 - 2015/4/1
N2 - This article evaluates the impact of loss aversion as a behavioral motivator on students' classroom performance. Conducting an experiment with University of Kentucky undergraduate students, the authors framed student grades as a loss and gain. In treatment sections, the students began with full marks and lost points as the semester progressed, whereas in control sections, under a traditional grading scheme, students accumulated points throughout the semester. We find that treated individuals, on average, do not have a statistically different final grade than individuals in the control class. However, we uncover a heterogeneous gender effect. On average, a male in the treatment class scores between 3.17 and 4.05 percentage points higher on the final grade than a male in the control class, ceteris paribus. Conversely, a female in the treatment class scores between 3.61 and 4.36 percentage points lower on the final grade than a comparable female in the control class.
AB - This article evaluates the impact of loss aversion as a behavioral motivator on students' classroom performance. Conducting an experiment with University of Kentucky undergraduate students, the authors framed student grades as a loss and gain. In treatment sections, the students began with full marks and lost points as the semester progressed, whereas in control sections, under a traditional grading scheme, students accumulated points throughout the semester. We find that treated individuals, on average, do not have a statistically different final grade than individuals in the control class. However, we uncover a heterogeneous gender effect. On average, a male in the treatment class scores between 3.17 and 4.05 percentage points higher on the final grade than a male in the control class, ceteris paribus. Conversely, a female in the treatment class scores between 3.61 and 4.36 percentage points lower on the final grade than a comparable female in the control class.
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U2 - 10.1002/soej.12068
DO - 10.1002/soej.12068
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84956606299
SN - 0038-4038
VL - 81
SP - 980
EP - 994
JO - Southern Economic Journal
JF - Southern Economic Journal
IS - 4
ER -