Hidden Barriers to Competition: The Role of Digital Inequality

Abstract

This paper explores how different levels of digital inequality affect individuals' willingness to compete (WTC). Based on a lab-in-field experiment and a digital survey, we conducted logit regressions and employed three additional methods to address endogeneity issues. We also performed mechanism and gender heterogeneity analyses. The key findings include: First, digital inequality significantly impacts WTC. Second, WTC increases significantly only when individuals overcome both first- and second-levels of digital inequality. This means that simply accessing general information (crossing the first level) is not enough to change WTC; accessing high-quality, useful information (crossing the second level) is necessary for behavior change. Third, the impact of digital inequality on WTC is significant only for male participants, suggesting a potential gender-based digital inequality. These findings suggest that digital inequality creates hidden barriers to competitive willingness, potentially leading to long-term disparities in personal development. Additionally, the results reveal gender-specific effects that require targeted interventions.

Keywords: Willingness to compete, A lab-in-field experiment, Gender difference