GENDER AND FREE RIDING IN A THRESHOLD PUBLIC-GOODS GAME - EXPERIMENTAL-EVIDENCE

This paper examines experimentally the effect of gender on contributio ns in a threshold public good framework which permits both strong free -riding and cooperative threshold equilibria. Subjects are recruited f rom a randomly selected sample of students, Females initially contribu te significantly more than males, but significance vanishes as the gam e evolves. However, female groups are significantly better able to coo rdinate around a selected equilibrium. Such coordination does not impl y greater efficiency at avoiding wasteful contributions. It does seem related to a tendency of females to behave more like each other throug hout the game. Results are compared with the continuous provision fram ework. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.