RESEARCH

WORKING PAPERS

Once a Competitor, Always a Competitor? [Latest Working Draft - coming soon!]

Abstract: Using two experimental studies, this paper investigates whether the nature of the prior interaction between two individuals, specifically, competition or collaboration, affects their subsequent interactions with each other. Both experiments have the same two-part structure. Participants are paired up randomly and anonymously, and interact with the same matched participant throughout the experiment. In Part 1, participants either competed with their matched participant or collaborated with their matched participant. In Part 2, participants interact with that same matched participant in a series of scenarios unrelated to their prior competition or collaboration. On the whole, compared to people they had collaborated with, I find that individuals are less prosocial and more antisocial towards people they had competed with in their subsequent interactions. Consistent with previous studies, I also find that individuals have more negative beliefs about the behaviour of a past competitor.

Competition-Induced Psyche Change and Sabotage at the Workplace [Latest Working Draft - coming soon!]

Abstract: Using two experimental studies, this paper investigates (1) whether being in a competition alters an individual's psyche, leading to an increased willingness to sabotage (i.e., hurt) a co-worker in order to benefit one's self, and (2) if individuals are willing to pay to avoid work settings with opportunities to sabotage and be sabotaged. Study 1 finds that, despite having a similar monetary incentive to sabotage a co-worker, individuals in a competitive setting sabotage more, with the increase mainly occurring on the intensive margin. Women were observed to sabotage less than men, on the intensive margin. More altruistic individuals were also found to be less willing to engage in any sabotage. Study 2 finds that on the whole, there is variance in individuals' willingness to pay to avoid sabotage. Some individuals were willing to pay to avoid work settings where co-workers can sabotage one another while others were willing to pay to be in such settings. Women had a greater willingness to pay to avoid work settings with sabotage compared to men. However, this willingness to pay to avoid sabotage does not seem to differ across individuals with different levels of altruism. I also do not find that women have a higher willingness to pay to avoid competitive work settings which is different from past studies that find that women tend to shy away from competition.

PUBLICATIONS

Go Vegan? Prejudice, (Blind) Experimentation, and Food Choices (with Michèle Belot)

AEA Papers and Proceedings Vol. 141 (666-71), 2024