TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Dupuy, Arnaud
        TI  - An Economic Model of the Evolution of the Gender Performance Ratio in Individual Sports
        PY  - 2010/Mar/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 4838
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/index.php/publications/dp4838
        AB  - This paper shows that the gender world record ratio in four disciplines, i.e. marathon, triple jump, pole vault and 800 meters, follows an S-shape over time. It is argued that this pattern is initiated by a sudden drop in the social barrier for women to participate in these disciplines. This drop in social barrier materializes – later – by the authorization for women to participate at major events, such as the Olympic Games, in these disciplines. The paper builds a simple economic model of sector self-selection and human capital accumulation with intrinsic disutility (social barriers) to participate in some sectors. As social barriers are removed in a sector, the Gender Performance Ratio is shown to follow an S-shape over time under very basic assumptions and calibrations. Ability self-selection, measured as the difference between mean ability of women in that sector and population mean, becomes more positive after removal of the social barrier.
        KW  - human capital investments
KW  - sector self-selection
KW  - gender performance ratio
        ER  -