Gender and free riding in a threshold public goods game: Experimental evidence

Abstract

This paper examines experimentally the effect of gender on contributions in a threshold public good framework which permits both strong free-riding and cooperative threshold equilibria. Subjects are recruited from a randomly selected sample of students. Females initially contribute significantly more than males, but significance vanishes as the game evolves. However, female groups are significantly better able to coordinate around a selected equilibrium. Such coordination does not imply greater efficiency at avoiding wasteful contributions. It does seem related to a tendency of females to behave more like each other throughout the game. Results are compared with the continuous provision framework.