"Gender Differences in Bargaining Outcomes: A Field Experiment on Discrimination," with Lise Vesterlund, University of Pittsburgh, Friday, October 7th, 3:40 pm - 5:00 pm, 368A Heady Hall

Lise Vesterlund earned her PhD in economics at the University of Wisconsin. She is an Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Economics at the University of Pittsburgh, and her areas of research include public economics, experimental economics, and applied microeconomics. She is the coeditor of the Journal of Public Economics, the associate editor of the American Economic Review, and a research associate with the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Abstract: We examine gender differences in bargaining outcomes in a highly competitive and commonly used market; the taxi market in Lima, Peru. We find that men face higher initial prices and rejection rates. To explain the inferior treatment of men we conduct an experiment where passengers send a signal on valuation before negotiating. The signal eliminates gender differences and the response is shown only to be consistent with statistical discrimination. In separating the role of statistical and tastebased discrimination within the market, we address the concern that discrimination may be implicit.