Gender, Race, and Competition: Driving Speed with Randomized Passengers

Last registered on February 22, 2018
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Gender, Race, and Competition: Driving Speed with Randomized Passengers
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0002747
Initial registration date
February 21, 2018

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
February 22, 2018, 12:40 PM EST

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country
United States of America
Region
Washington, D.C.

Primary Investigator

Name
Shane Thompson
Affiliation
Summit Consulting
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2016-05-02
End date
2017-06-30
Keywords
Labor
Additional Keywords
Gender, Race, Competition
JEL code(s)
J10, J16
Secondary IDs
Abstract
Using a sample of over 200 carpools randomized on gender and race, I find that race, in addition to gender, is a significant factor in competitive behavior. Competition-averse preferences, often attributed to females generally, may actually be concentrated among white females. On the aggregate, female drivers do indeed drive slower than male drivers in carpools. Disaggregating the effect by race, however, reveals that white females are responsible for the result, as there are no differences in driving speeds between male drivers and non-white female drivers. These results suggest that competition and gender research may be incomplete without accounting for race.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Thompson, Shane. 2018. "Gender, Race, and Competition: Driving Speed with Randomized Passengers." AEA RCT Registry. February 22. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.2747-1.0
Former Citation
Thompson, Shane. 2018. "Gender, Race, and Competition: Driving Speed with Randomized Passengers." AEA RCT Registry. February 22. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/2747/history/26008
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2016-05-02
Intervention End Date
2017-06-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Driving speed, specifically whether the gender and racial composition of carpools affects driving speeds.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The slugging commuting process in Washington DC naturally randomizes carpools on gender and race. I measure the effects of various carpool groupings on driving speed.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Natural randomization. Nature chooses the carpool groupings based on who is next in line.
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
Roughly 150-175 individuals
Sample size: planned number of observations
200 carpools
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Roughly 8 gender/race, driver/passenger combinations, or 25 in each grouping.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Yes
Data Collection Completion Date
June 30, 2017, 12:00 +00:00
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)
Was attrition correlated with treatment status?
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials