That's Just - Not Fair: Gender Differences in Notions of Justice

Tinbergen Institute Discussion Paper 15-103/I

72 Pages Posted: 27 Aug 2015

See all articles by Nicole Becker

Nicole Becker

University of Dortmund - Ruhr Graduate School in Economics; Technical University of Dortmund

Kirsten Häger

Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena - School of Economics and Business Administration

Jan Heufer

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Department of Applied Economics; Tinbergen Institute

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Date Written: August 26, 2015

Abstract

In Becker et al. (2013a, b), we proposed a theory to explain giving behaviour in dictator experiments by a combination of selfishness and a notion of justice. The theory was tested using dictator, social planner, and veil of ignorance experiments. Here we analyse gender differences in preferences for giving and notions of justice in experiments using the same data. Similar to Andreoni and Vesterlund (2001), we find some differences in giving behaviour. We find even stronger differences in the notion of justice between men and women; women tend to be far more egalitarian. Using our preference decomposition approach from Becker et al. (2013a) and parametric estimates, we show that differences in the giving behaviour between men and women in dictator experiments are explained by differences in their notion of justice and not by different levels of selfishness.

We employ both parametric and non-parametric techniques, and both methods confirm the result.

Keywords: Altruism, Dictator Games, Distribution, Experimental Economics, Gender Differences, Justice, Social Preferences

JEL Classification: C91, D12, D61, D63, D64, J16

Suggested Citation

Becker, Nicole and Häger, Kirsten and Heufer, Jan, That's Just - Not Fair: Gender Differences in Notions of Justice (August 26, 2015). Tinbergen Institute Discussion Paper 15-103/I, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2652113 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2652113

Nicole Becker (Contact Author)

University of Dortmund - Ruhr Graduate School in Economics ( email )

Hohenzollernstr. 1-3
Essen, NRW 45128
Germany

Technical University of Dortmund ( email )

Emil-Figge-Straße 50
Dortmund, 44227
Germany

Kirsten Häger

Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena - School of Economics and Business Administration ( email )

Carl-Zeiss-Str. 3
D-07743 Jena
Germany

Jan Heufer

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Department of Applied Economics ( email )

Netherlands

Tinbergen Institute ( email )

P.O. Box 1738
3000 DR Rotterdam
Netherlands

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