RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Peers, Pressure, and Performance at the National Spelling Bee
JF Journal of Human Resources
JO J Hum Resour
FD University of Wisconsin Press
SP 265
OP 285
DO 10.3368/jhr.48.2.265
VO 48
IS 2
A1 Jonathan Smith
YR 2013
UL http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/48/2/265.abstract
AB This paper investigates how individuals’ performances of a cognitive task in a high-pressure competition are affected by their peers’ performances. To do so, I use novel data from the National Spelling Bee, in which students attempt to spell words correctly in a tournament setting. Across OLS and instrumental variables approaches, I find that when the immediate predecessor is correct, a speller has a 13 to 64 percent greater probability of making a mistake, relative to the predecessor being incorrect. There is no evidence that the effect differs by gender and marginal evidence that it differs by experience.