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May 30, 2012

Seminar

Every Man for Himself! Gender, Norms and Survival in Maritime Disasters
Leibniz Seminar für Arbeitsmarktforschung (BeNA)

Date

May 30, 2012
6.30 - 8.00 pm

Location

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Room 125
Spandauer Str. 1
10178 Berlin

Speakers

Mikael Elinder, Uppsala University
Abstract: Since the sinking of the Titanic, there has been a widespread belief that the social norm of ‘women and children first' gives women a survival advantage over men in maritime disasters, and that captains and crew give priority to passengers. We analyze a database of 18 maritime disasters spanning three centuries, covering the fate of over 15,000 individuals of more than 30 nationalities. Our results provide a new picture of maritime disasters. Women have a distinct survival disadvantage compared to men. Captains and crew survive at a significantly higher rate than passengers. We also find that the captain has the power to enforce normative behavior, that the gender gap in survival rates has declined, that women have a larger disadvantage in British shipwrecks, and that there seems to be no association between duration of a disaster and the impact of social norms. Taken together, our findings show that behavior in life-and-death situation is best captured by the expression ‘Every man for himself'. (joint work with Oscar Erixson)

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