Does balancing gender composition lead to more prosocial outcomes? Experimental evidence of equality in public goods and extraction games from rural Kenya

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cg.authorship.typesCGIAR single centreen
cg.contributor.affiliationInternational Food Policy Research Instituteen
cg.contributor.crpPolicies, Institutions, and Markets
cg.contributor.crpWater, Land and Ecosystems
cg.coverage.countryKenya
cg.coverage.iso3166-alpha2KE
cg.coverage.regionEastern Africa
cg.coverage.regionSub-Saharan Africa
cg.coverage.regionAfrica
cg.creator.identifierWei Zhang: 0000-0002-2933-6275
cg.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2022.105923en
cg.identifier.projectIFPRI - Environment and Production Technology Division
cg.identifier.publicationRankA
cg.isijournalISI Journalen
cg.issn0305-750Xen
cg.issueAugust 2022en
cg.journalWorld Developmenten
cg.reviewStatusPeer Reviewen
cg.volume156en
dc.contributor.authorMasuda, Yuta J.en
dc.contributor.authorWaterfield, Ginaen
dc.contributor.authorCastilla, Carolinaen
dc.contributor.authorKang, Shitengen
dc.contributor.authorZhang, Weien
dc.date.accessioned2024-04-12T13:37:28Zen
dc.date.available2024-04-12T13:37:28Zen
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/141208
dc.titleDoes balancing gender composition lead to more prosocial outcomes? Experimental evidence of equality in public goods and extraction games from rural Kenyaen
dcterms.abstractThere is resurging interest in community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) as an approach for achieving global biodiversity conservation goals. Yet, CBNRM remains dominated by men, elevating the importance of designing programs that give voice and agency to women. Arguments for increasing gender balance within CBNRM often assume women have strong preferences for equality and altruism and would therefore be better environmental stewards. Evidence on the effect of gender balance on commons management, however, remains mixed. We report on two framed field experimental games with community members directly engaged in the use and management of natural resources in rural Kenya. Participants were randomly assigned to single-gender (all male n = 23; all female n = 28) or mixed gender groups (n = 36) to assess the role of gender composition on group and individual decisions. The two games provide unique insights into the give (public good games) and take (extraction games) decisions common in natural resource management. We find mixed gender groups tend to achieve more socially optimal outcomes than single-gender groups in the public goods game context, but all male groups tended to conserve the most in the extraction game. Women are not necessarily more likely to make prosocial decisions than men, and factors such as framing and social relations affect decisions. Our results indicate gender composition affects group decision-making and is therefore important for commons management, and that mixed gender groups can be more effective than single-gender groups. Improving gender balance in CBNRM may help achieve more desirable outcomes from a social and conservation perspective but understanding decision-making contexts is critical.en
dcterms.accessRightsOpen Access
dcterms.bibliographicCitationMasuda, Yuta J.; Waterfield, Gina; Castilla, Carolina; Kang, Shiteng; and Zhang, Wei. 2022. Does balancing gender composition lead to more prosocial outcomes? Experimental evidence of equality in public goods and extraction games from rural Kenya. World Development 156(August 2022): 105923. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2022.105923en
dcterms.issued2022-08-01
dcterms.languageen
dcterms.licenseCC-BY-NC-ND-4.0
dcterms.publisherElsevieren
dcterms.replaceshttps://ebrary.ifpri.org/digital/collection/p15738coll5/id/8225en
dcterms.subjectgenderen
dcterms.subjectpublic good gamesen
dcterms.subjectpublic goodsen
dcterms.subjectextractionen
dcterms.subjectexperimentationen
dcterms.subjectequalityen
dcterms.subjectcommunitiesen
dcterms.typeJournal Article

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