Unnatural experiments: the case of television game shows
Economists often use television game shows as 'natural experiments' to test theories on risk aversion. This article demonstrates that some of these natural experiments may not be so natural after all. Using data from Jeopardy!, we show that contestants are chosen to maintain a gender balance, with the result that men outperform women across several dimensions. This selection bias suggests that caution should be exercised in generalizing findings based on these shows to the population as a whole.
Year of publication: |
2011
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Authors: | Reback, Charles ; Stowe, Kristin |
Published in: |
Applied Economics Letters. - Taylor & Francis Journals, ISSN 1350-4851. - Vol. 18.2011, 10, p. 919-923
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Publisher: |
Taylor & Francis Journals |
Saved in:
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