The influence of hormonal changes on decision-making of women in economic games

The diploma thesis deals with the issue of influence of hormonal changes on women's decision-making in economic games. Its aim is to analyze feminine decision-making and to verify the hypothesis that the natural menstrual cycle fundamentally influences their decisions. In the theoretical part I deal mainly with a brief introduction to the issue of female hormonal changes, research of existing literature in the field, and economic theoretical concepts, namely, behavioral economics, dictator game, related altruism, unselfish preferences and also the perception of possible volatility in decision-making of women. In the practical part I deal with econometric regression analysis of experimental data using Stata software. I conclude that women in general (regardless of the use of hormonal contraceptives or not) are the most altruistic in the menstrual phase and least in the ovulatory and luteal phase. The results for women without contraception are insignificant, as opposed to those for women with contraception that were marginally significant, although not robust. Men are generally less altruistic than women. The biggest altruism compared to men has been shown in the follicular phase for women with natural menstrual cycle, and for women with hormonal contraceptive in the menstrual phase. There were no statistical differences in the decision-making of women in the ovulatory and luteal phases compared to the decisions of men. Understanding of certain volatility in decision-making can be a comparative advantage of a woman in given situations. There may also be a role of the decision of woman whether or not to take the contraception.