Recent results in experimental and personnel economics indicate that women do not like competitive
environments as much as men. This article presents an experimental design which gives participants
the opportunity to enter a tournament as part of a team rather than alone. While a large and significant
gender gap in entry in the individual tournament is found in line with the literature, no gender gap is
found in entry in the team tournament. Women do not enter the tournament significantly more often
when it is team-based, but men enter significantly less when they are part of a team rather than alone.
The main reason for men’s disaffection for the team competition appears to be linked to the uncertainty
of their teammate’s ability. More precisely, high-performing men fear to be the victims of the free-riding
behavior of their teammate.
