Gender and risk taking: evidence from jumping competitions

We analyse whether female athletes differ from male athletes in their risk-taking behaviour in a competitive setting. Data from high jump and pole vault competitions allow us to identify risky strategies. We estimate whether female athletes use risky strategies as often as male athletes and whether or not their returns to risky strategies differ. Returns to risky strategies are identified via an instrumental variable approach where we use competitive pressure to instrument individual risk taking. Female athletes take fewer risky decisions than men and could improve their outcomes by incurring more risk. We show that competitive pressure results in more risky decisions by both men and women; however, men react stronger to competitive pressure.