Peers, Pressure, and Performance at the National Spelling Bee
利用全国拼字比赛数据，研究发现前一位选手拼对时，当前选手犯错概率增加13%至64%，且该效应不受性别影响，但可能受经验影响。
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.