This study explores the relationship between competitiveness and stress. In Experiment 1, we examine the response of cortisol, the primary stress hormone, during both piece-rate and tournament tasks. We find that the more competitive tournament task induces a higher cortisol response than the...

This study examines whether competitive experience affects gender difference in the economic preference and academic performance. By utilizing the provincial differences in college admission rates as an indication of competitive experience for students, we assess the effects on risk preference,...

This paper examines how female and male examination performance are differentially affected by the degree of competitive pressure faced. Our setting is China's National College Entrance Exam (Gaokao) which is widely regarded as the world's most competitive exam. We show that compared to male...

In the stylized design of Niederle and Vesterlund (2007), subjects choose between a piece-rate and a tournament scheme after performing under both schemes. We examine whether the well-replicated gender difference in competitiveness elicited using this design may be influenced by the visceral...

Building on the much-celebrated sex-specific hypothesis on visceral responses, here we examine whether the well-replicated gender difference in competitiveness may be influenced by the visceral responses. In the first experiment, we show that the gender difference in competitiveness is partially...

This paper studies the market for monopolistically supplied sweepstakes. We derive equilibrium demands for fixed-prize and variable-prize sweepstakes and determine the profit maximizing prize level and payout ratio respectively. It can be profitable to offer each type of sweepstake when there...