Research

Job Market Paper

Absence of Female Leaders: Do group dynamics play a role? (available upon request)

Abstract:

It is well-known that the proportion of women in executive positions is substantially lower relative to men. I investigate whether group dynamics undermine women's chances to become leaders since leader positions are generally appointed by group decision. This experimental study aims to shed light on determinants of voting behavior and the impact of candidate gender on the voting decision in a group setting, with a focus on conformity behavior. Consistent with the predictions of a simple model, subjects tend to vote for candidates who exhibit similar (risk) preferences. There is gender bias in voting decisions since the revelation of the candidates' gender shifts the vote distribution favorably for the male candidate. However, the extent of the bias is not sufficient to swing the vote decision. The results also confirm that conformity behavior is one of the leading determinants in group decision making. Although not conclusive, there is evidence for women being more prone to conform. Conformity is found as being motivated more by taste than social learning.

Publications

The Role of Verifiability and Privacy in the Strategic Provision of Performance Feedback: Theory and Experimental Evidence (with Seda Ertac and Levent Koçkesen), Games and Economic Behavior (2016), 100, 24-45.

Abstract:

We theoretically and experimentally analyze the role of verifiability and privacy in strategic performance feedback using a "one principal-two agent" context with real effort. We confirm the theoretical prediction that information transmission occurs only in verifiable feedback mechanisms and private-verifiable feedback is the most informative mechanism. Yet, subjects also exhibit some behavior that cannot be explained by our baseline model, such as telling the truth even when this will definitely hurt them, interpreting "no feedback" more optimistically than they should, and being influenced by feedback given to the other agents. We show that a model with individual-specific lying costs and naive agents can account for some, but not all, of these findings. We conclude that although agents do take into account the principal's strategic behavior to form beliefs in a Bayesian fashion, they are overly optimistic and interpret positive feedback to the other agent more pessimistically than they should.

Working Papers

Self and Group Risk Preferences of the Elected Leaders: An Experimental Approach (available upon request)

Abstract:

Existing studies comparing the risk-taking behavior for oneself and for others indicate a shift in risk preferences, but the evidence is mixed on the direction of this shift. Moreover, the mechanism driving this change in preferences remains unexplored. This experimental study aims to uncover this mechanism by investigating individual and (on behalf of) group risk behavior of an elected leader. Elected leaders significantly increase their allocation to risky option when acting on behalf of a group compared to their individual allocations. The results suggest that meeting the expectations of group members is the main driver of this observed behavioral change. When leaders are allowed to observe their competitors’ risk preferences, they tend to take more risk. The psychological effect of being elected creates only a small change in risk behavior. The motivation for the shift in risk attitude seems driven by the psychological effects of leadership among male leaders, whereas it is due to concerns for the group's preference among female leaders.

Work-in-progress

The Role of Social Identity for Learning in Networks (with Veronika Grimm, Friederike Mengel and Xiaoyu Zhou)

Ethics of Fact-checking (with Hande Erkut and Anna Zseleva)

Altruism, Discrimination and Political Identity (with Hande Erkut)