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Empowering Girls Triggers Their Brothers to Compete: Evidence from a Lab-in-the-Field Experiment in Uganda

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dc.contributor.authorBuehren, Niklas
dc.contributor.authorGoldstein, Markus
dc.contributor.authorLeonard, Kenneth
dc.contributor.authorMontalvao, Joao
dc.contributor.authorVasilaky, Kathryn
dc.date.accessioned2016-11-28T18:35:52Z
dc.date.available2016-11-28T18:35:52Z
dc.date.issued2016-10
dc.description.abstractThis brief has key messages through an experiment in Uganda, we find that empowering adolescent girls triggers a surge in their brothers’ competitiveness.Understanding preferences for competition is important because competitiveness is a predictor of labor market outcomes. To examine gender differences in preference for competition, the World Bank’s Africa GenderInnovation Lab, in collaboration with researchers from the University of Maryland and ColumbiaUniversity, launched a lab-in-the-field experiment within a randomized control trial of BRAC’scommunity-based Empowerment and Livelihood for Adolescents (ELA) program in Uganda.The ELA program simultaneously provided vocational and life skills training for girls aged 14 to 20. An impact evaluation of ELA showed that it empowered girls along economic and social dimensions: the program increased girls’ participation in self employment, improved girls’ control over their bodies, and shifted deep rooted gender norms held by adolescent girls in communities that participated in the program. Four years after the implementation began, we used a lab-in-the-field experiment to compare communities that received ELA with those that did not. The aim of this experiment was to test whether girl’s empowerment would have a direct impact on girls’ or boys’ competitiveness. To measure preferences for competition, we implemented the experimental protocol of Niederle and Vesterlund (2007). More specifically, participants were asked to select a compensation scheme before performing a simple task, from which we identified their taste to compete. They either chose to be paid according to a competitive tournament scheme or a non competitive piece-rate scheme. The experiment was designed to control for a host of factors such as individual differences in ability, overconfidence, risk aversion, and altruism. Our findings highlight the impact of gender equality on gender differences in competitiveness: when boys are faced with more empowered sisters, they increase their competitiveness. This suggests that the benefits of adolescent girls’ empowerment programs may spill over beyond the participating girls themselves to their brothers. More work needs to be done to understand if the changed behavior in brothers will have persistent effects on girls in the future.en
dc.identifierhttp://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/978131476955244331/Empowering-girls-triggers-their-brothers-to-compete-Evidence-from-a-lab-in-the-field-experiment-in-Uganda
dc.identifier.doi10.1596/25447
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10986/25447
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoen_US
dc.publisherWorld Bank, Washington, DC
dc.relation.ispartofseriesGender Innovation Lab Policy Brief;No. 18
dc.rightsCC BY 3.0 IGO
dc.rights.holderWorld Bank
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/
dc.subjectadolescent girls
dc.subjectsibling competition
dc.subjectskills training
dc.subjectempowerment
dc.subjectWOMEN AND YOUTH EMPLOYMENT
dc.subjectGENDER INNOVATION LAB
dc.subjectAFRICA GENDER POLICY
dc.titleEmpowering Girls Triggers Their Brothers to Competeen
dc.title.subtitleEvidence from a Lab-in-the-Field Experiment in Ugandaen
dc.typeBriefen
dc.typeFichefr
dc.typeResumenes
dspace.entity.typePublication
okr.crossref.titleEmpowering Girls Triggers Their Brothers to Compete: Evidence from a Lab-in-the-Field Experiment in Uganda
okr.date.disclosure2016-10-19
okr.doctypePublications & Research
okr.doctypePublications & Research::Brief
okr.docurlhttp://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/978131476955244331/Empowering-girls-triggers-their-brothers-to-compete-Evidence-from-a-lab-in-the-field-experiment-in-Uganda
okr.guid978131476955244331
okr.identifier.doi10.1596/25447
okr.identifier.externaldocumentum090224b08464f6af_1_0
okr.identifier.internaldocumentum26877775
okr.identifier.report109367
okr.importedtrue
okr.language.supporteden
okr.pdfurlhttp://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/978131476955244331/pdf/109367-BRI-policy-brief-18-PUBLIC-EmpoweringGirlsTriggerstheirBrotherstoCompete.pdfen
okr.region.administrativeAfrica
okr.region.countryUganda
okr.topicGender::Gender and Development
okr.topicGender::Gender and Education
okr.topicSocial Protections and Labor::Skills Development and Labor Force Training
okr.topicEducation::Early Childhood Development
okr.unitGender - CCSA - IBRD (GCGDR)
relation.isAuthorOfPublication442e6ddc-d567-5db8-8fea-62f71781ad6a
relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscovery442e6ddc-d567-5db8-8fea-62f71781ad6a
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