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on Experimental Economics |
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Issue of 2020‒09‒07
33 papers chosen by |
| By: | De Paola, Maria (University of Calabria); Gioia, Francesca (University of Milan); Pupo, Valeria (University of Calabria) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we investigate whether the framing of the incentives used to foster participation into contexts characterized by high degrees of time pressure affects individuals' self-selection. At this aim we run a lab-in-the-field experiment structured in two parts. The first part investigates individual characteristics that affect performance under time pressure, while the second is devoted to analyze how the decision to work under time pressure is affected by the reward/punishment framing of incentives. We find that individuals characterized by a high degree of risk aversion perform worse under time pressure. Nonetheless, when facing a penalty incentive scheme these individuals are more likely to choose to work with strict term limits, suggesting that penalty contracts might generate adverse selection problems. |
| Keywords: | time pressure, bonus, penalty, incentive schemes, framing, selection, lab-in-the-field experiment |
| JEL: | C9 C91 D01 D91 J33 |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13474&r=all |
| By: | Irene Maria Buso; Daniela Di Cagno; Sofia De Caprariis; Lorenzo Ferrari; Vittorio Larocca; Francesca Marazzi; Luca Panaccione; Lorenzo Spadoni |
| Abstract: | Given the impossibility of having participants in the lab during the COVID-19 lockdown, we introduce a novel methodology based on a multi-platform architecture that brings experimental subjects in a “Lab on the Web”. This methodology allows us to study the effects of Covid-19 lockdown in Italy on preferences for fairness and cooperation. Results from sessions of standard Ultimatum and linear Public Good games validate our methodology. Moreover, we show that the circumstances in which participants lived the lockdown significantly affect their behavior in the two games. In particular, participants are more selfish in the ultimatum bargaining and contribute more to public good when lockdown is longer and social isolation is stronger. We interpret these results as evidence of “social embeddedness” to compensate for “social distancing”. |
| Keywords: | Covid-19, economic experiment, fairness, voluntary contribution mechanism, cooperation |
| JEL: | C92 H41 C73 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lui:cesare:2002&r=all |
| By: | John Duffy (University of California, Irvine); Janet Hua Jiang (Bank of Canada); Huan Xie (Concordia University, CIREQ) |
| Abstract: | We study the trade of indefinitely-lived assets in experimental markets. The traded prices of these assets are on average more than 40% below the risk-neutral fundamental value under the expected utility assumption. We examine the effects of three interrelated factors for the traded price, payoff uncertainty about the asset’s dividend payments, horizon uncertainty about the duration of trade, and the expected utility assumption. Our results suggest that horizon uncertainty does not significantly affect the traded price. Incorporating risk aversion into non-expected utility models with re-cursive preferences and probability weighting can rationalize the low prices observed in our indefinite-horizon asset markets. |
| Keywords: | asset pricing, behavioral finance, experiments, indefinite horizon, random termination, risk and uncertainty, expected utility, Epstein-Zin recursive preferences, probability weighting |
| JEL: | C91 C92 D81 G12 |
| Date: | 2019–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mtl:montec:08-2019&r=all |
| By: | Fatas, Enrique (Center for Social Norms and Behavioral Dynamics, University of Pennsylvania and School of Management, Universidad ICESI); Morales, Antonio J. (School of Economics, University of Malaga); Sonntag, Axel (Institute for Advanced Studies Vienna and Vienna Center for Experimental Economics, University of Vienna) |
| Abstract: | We analyze corporate tax avoidance in a theoretical model and in a stylized experimental Bertrand setting in which symmetric firms and consumers sell and buy a homogeneous product, when human participants make decisions as firms and consumers. We investigate how market power and information disclosure of firms’ tax avoidance behavior impacts corporate tax avoidance and market competition. By imposing a tax rating, corporate tax behavior becomes more transparent, and consumers actively and costly boycott firms that do not pay their taxes. Firms adapt and anticipate consumer boycotts and increase tax payments, and prices. When rating disclosure is voluntary, the positive effect on corporate tax compliance vanishes in large markets. |
| Keywords: | tax avoidance, policy measure, tax rating, transparency, lab experiment |
| JEL: | H26 C92 D78 D82 L15 |
| Date: | 2020–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ihs:ihswps:21&r=all |
| By: | Deo-Gracias Houndolo Author-Name: Assogba Hodonou Author-Name: Dislène Senan Sossou Author-Name: Rahamatou Hamidou Yacoubou |
| Abstract: | We tested a novel way of encouraging the adoption of improved maize seeds in Benin. In the treatment group, farmers were provided with intensive agricultural-extension support and a full package of inputs to test on one of their plots. In the control group, farmers were offered improved seeds, and agricultural-extension agents gave them only limited support. Our treatment was designed to encourage farmers to experiment with improved seeds by providing intensive technical support and free inputs throughout the maize crop season. Using a cluster randomized design and data on farmers’ experimental plots, we found a 23% increase in maize yields with our intervention as compared to the less resource-intensive policy solution. Further analyses suggested that it was not enough to expose farmers to a one-time resource-intensive model because the impact on their production was not long-lasting. |
| Keywords: | Adoption, agricultural technologies, maize production, randomized control trial, Benin |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lvl:piercr:2020-15&r=all |
| By: | Lisa Bruttel (University of Potsdam); Werner Güth (LUISS Guido Carli, Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods); Juri Nithammer (University of Potsdam); Andreas Orland (University of Potsdam) |
| Abstract: | Stochastic uncertainty can cause difficult coordination problems that may hinder mutually beneficial cooperation. We propose a mechanism of ex-post voluntary transfers designed to circumvent these coordination problems and ask whether it can do so. To test this, we implement a controlled laboratory experiment based on a repeatedly played Ultimatum Game with a stochastic endowment. Contrary to our hypothesis, we find that allowing voluntary transfers does not entail an efficiency increase. We suggest and analyze two main reasons for this finding: First, the stochastic uncertainty forces proposers to accept high strategic uncertainty if they intend to cooperate by claiming a low amount (which many proposers do not). Second, many responders behave only incompletely conditionally cooperative by transferring too little (which hinders cooperation in future periods). |
| Keywords: | stochastic uncertainty, strategic uncertainty, cooperation, Ultimatum Game, experiment |
| JEL: | C78 C92 D74 |
| Date: | 2020–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pot:cepadp:20&r=all |
| By: | Ebert, Cara; Heesemann, Esther Luise; Vollmer, Sebastian |
| Abstract: | The lottery of birth draws some children into deprived environments and others into environments where they thrive. In a field experiment in rural India with 10-20 months old children we test two scalable interventions to reduce early disadvantages in health and mental development. We distribute a durable device for home iron fortification of meals, called the Lucky Iron Leaf, and picture books together with a training for caregivers in dialogic reading. We find no significant average impact of either intervention on anemia or mental development. However, we find a cross-productivity of children's baseline health and the interventions' effectiveness. Children, who are non-anemic at baseline, improve in receptive language skills by half a standard deviation one year after implementation. |
| Keywords: | early childhood,parental investment,nutrition,health behavior,human capital |
| JEL: | D04 I12 I15 J13 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:rwirep:856&r=all |
| By: | Brice Corgnet (EMLYON Business School); Cary Deck (University of Alabama & Chapman University); Mark DeSantis (Chapman University); David Porter (Chapman University) |
| Abstract: | Using experimental asset markets, we study the situation of a financial analyst who is trying to infer the fundamental value of an asset by observing the market’s history. We find that such capacity requires both standard cognitive skills (IQ) as well as social and emotional skills. However, forecasters with high emotional skills tend to perform worse when market mispricing is high as they tend to give too much emphasis to the noisy signals from market data. By contrast, forecasters with high social skills perform especially well in markets with high levels of mispricing in which their skills could help them detect possible manipulation attempts. Finally, males outperform females in the forecasting task after controlling for a large number of relevant individual characteristics such as risk attitudes, cognitive skills, emotional intelligence, and personality traits. |
| Keywords: | Forecasting, experimental asset markets, theory of mind, personality traits, cognitive skills |
| JEL: | C92 G17 D91 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:chu:wpaper:20-27&r=all |
| By: | Justin E. Holz; John A. List; Alejandro Zentner; Marvin Cardoza; Joaquin Zentner |
| Abstract: | This paper uses a natural field experiment to examine the effectiveness of specific nudges on tax compliance amongst firms and the self-employed in the Dominican Republic. In collaboration with the Dominican Republic’s tax authority, we designed messages for more than 28,000 self-employed workers and over 56,000 firms. Leveraging administrative tax data, we find evidence that our nudges (increasing the salience of prison sentences or public disclosure of tax evaders) have large effects on increasing tax compliance, primarily working through the channel of decreasing claimed tax exemptions. Interestingly, we find that firms are more impacted than the self-employed, and that firm size is critically linked to nudge effectiveness: larger firms are considerably more influenced by nudges than smaller firms. We find this latter result noteworthy given the paucity of evidence showing significant behavioral impacts of nudges amongst the largest players in a market. Overall, our messages increased tax revenue by $193 million (roughly 0.23% of the Dominican Republic’s GDP in 2018), with over $100 million constituting income that the government would not have received without our field experimental nudges. |
| JEL: | C93 H2 H26 |
| Date: | 2020–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:27666&r=all |
| By: | Gosnell, Greer |
| Abstract: | In a large-scale natural field experiment comprising 38,654 customers of a renewable energy supplier in the United Kingdom, we randomize environmental information and dissonance-inducing messaging to promote an active switch from paper to online billing. We find that environmental information and imagery is ineffective in inducing behavior change. Interestingly, the dissonance-inducing messaging weakly improves uptake by 1.2 percentage points among our main sample but backfires among a subsample of individuals with doctoral educations, decreasing uptake by 6.2 percentage points relative to a control group. Contrary to the majority of the literature on gender and environmental behavior, females in our sample are less likely to switch to paperless billing. |
| Keywords: | Natural field experiment; message framing; cognitive dissonance; information provision; imagery; resource use; paperless billing; ES/K006576/1 |
| JEL: | D12 D83 L21 Q29 |
| Date: | 2018–12–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:89815&r=all |
| By: | Brice Corgnet (emlyon business school, GATE Lyon Saint-Étienne - Groupe d'analyse et de théorie économique - ENS Lyon - École normale supérieure - Lyon - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - UCBL - Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 - Université de Lyon - UJM - Université Jean Monnet [Saint-Étienne] - Université de Lyon - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Cary Deck (UA - University of Alabama [Tuscaloosa]); Mark Desantis (Chapman University); David Porter (Chapman University) |
| Abstract: | Using experimental asset markets, we study the situation of a financial analyst who is trying to infer the fundamental value of an asset by observing the market's history. We find that such capacity requires both standard cognitive skills (IQ) as well as social and emotional skills. However, forecasters with high emotional skills tend to perform worse when market mispricing is high as they tend to give too much emphasis to the noisy signals from market data. By contrast, forecasters with high social skills perform especially well in markets with high levels of mispricing in which their skills could help them detect possible manipulation attempts. Finally, males outperform females in the forecasting task after controlling for a large number of relevant individual characteristics such as risk attitudes, cognitive skills, emotional intelligence, and personality traits. |
| Keywords: | personality traits,cognitive skills,theory of mind,experimental asset markets,Forecasting |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-02893291&r=all |
| By: | Delfgaauw, Josse (Erasmus University Rotterdam); Dur, Robert (Erasmus University Rotterdam); Onemu, Oke (Leiden University); Sol, Joeri (University of Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | We conduct a field experiment in a Dutch retail chain of 122 stores to study the interaction between team incentives, team social cohesion, and team performance. Theory predicts that the effect of team incentives on team performance increases with the team's social cohesion, because social cohesion reduces free-riding behavior. In addition, team incentives may lead to more co-worker support or to higher peer pressure and thereby can affect the team's social cohesion. We introduce short-term team incentives in a randomly selected subset of stores and measure for all stores, both before and after the intervention, the team's sales performance, the team's social cohesion as well as co-worker support and peer pressure. The average treatment effect of the team incentive on sales is 1.5 percentage points, which does not differ significantly from zero. In line with theory, the estimated treatment effect increases with social cohesion as measured before the intervention. Social cohesion itself is not affected by the team incentives. |
| Keywords: | field experiment, team incentives, social cohesion, peer pressure, co-worker support, sales performance |
| JEL: | C93 M52 |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13498&r=all |
| By: | Barone, Carlo (Sciences Po, Paris); Fougère, Denis (Sciences Po, Paris); Martel, Karine (INSHEA) |
| Abstract: | This study presents the results of a randomized controlled trial assessing the impact of a shared-book reading (SBR) intervention that targeted children aged 4 living in socially mixed neighborhoods of the city of Paris. We selected a large, random sample of families and provided parents with free books, information on the benefits of SBR and tips for effective reading practices. We measured SBR frequency and children's vocabulary before and after this intervention, among treated and control children. The intervention had a large effect on SBR frequency. At the pre-test, SBR on a daily basis involved 41.2% of the families, and the treatment fostered this practice by 8 percentage points. SBR on a weekly basis was fostered by 14 percentage points. The intervention fostered SBR frequency only in low-educated households. This equalising impact is an important finding against the background of previous research reporting that disadvantaged families tend to benefit less from SBR programs. The intervention also significantly enhanced children's language skills measured with standardized tests of receptive vocabulary. The effect size for the main treatment effect ranges from 0.12 at the post-test to 0.16 at the follow-up. Treatment effects are persistent six months after the end of the intervention. Children from low-educated and immigrant families improved their vocabulary as much as those from high-educated, native families. Moreover, the persisting positive impacts on vocabulary growth detected at the follow-up also involve children from disadvantaged families. Furthermore, these children more often attend schools with lower educational resources. It is therefore encouraging that the intervention has strong impacts in schools with initially low involvement in reading-related activities and with low educational resources. |
| Keywords: | early childhood, language skills, parental reading, field experiment |
| JEL: | I21 I24 J13 C93 |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13458&r=all |
| By: | Arianna Degan (UQAM and CDER); Ming Li (Concordia University, CIRANO and CIREQ); Huan Xie (Concordia University, CIRANO and CIREQ) |
| Abstract: | We experimentally test a game theoretical model of researcher-evaluator interaction à la Di Tillio, Ottaviani, and Sørensen (2017a). Researcher may strategically manipulate sample selection using his private information in order to achieve favourable research outcomes and thereby obtain approval from Evaluator. Our experimental results confirm the theoretical predictions for Researcher’s behaviour but find significant deviations from them about Evaluator’s behaviour. However, comparative statics are mostly consistent with the theoretical predictions. In the welfare analysis, we find that Researcher always benefits from the possibility of manipulation, in contrast to the theoretical prediction that he some-times is hurt by it. Consistent with theoretical predictions, Evaluator benefits from the possibility of Researcher’s manipulation when she leans towards approval or is approximately neutral but is hurt by that possibility when she leans against approval. |
| Keywords: | persuasion bias, research conduct, manipulation, sample selection, experiment, randomized controlled trials |
| JEL: | C72 C92 D83 |
| Date: | 2019–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mtl:montec:14-2019&r=all |
| By: | Mikhail Anufriev; Aleksei Chernulich; Jan Tuinstra (Division of Social Science) |
| Abstract: | We study the effects of the investment horizon on asset price volatility using a Learning to Forecast experiment. We find that, for short investment horizons, participants coordinate on self-fulfilling trend extrapolating predictions. Price deviations are then reinforced and amplified, possibly leading to large bubbles and crashes in asset prices. For longer investment horizons such bubbles do not emerge and price volatility tends to be lower. This is due to the fact that, for longer horizons, there is more dispersion in participants' forecasts, and participants extrapolate trends in past prices to a lesser extent. We also show that, independent of the investment horizon, if the initial history of asset prices is already relatively stable before participants start their prediction task, price volatility remains small, with prices close to their fundamental values for the duration of the experiment. |
| Date: | 2020–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nad:wpaper:20200053&r=all |
| By: | Chowdhury, Shyamal (University of Sydney); Sutter, Matthias (Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods); Zimmermann, Klaus F. (University of Bonn) |
| Abstract: | Economic preferences are important for lifetime outcomes such as educational achievements, health status, or labor market success. We present a holistic view of how economic preferences are related within families. In an experiment with 544 families (and 1,999 individuals) from rural Bangladesh we find a large degree of intergenerational persistence of economic preferences. Both mothers' and fathers' risk, time and social preferences are significantly (and largely to the same degree) positively correlated with their children's economic preferences, even when controlling for personality traits and socio-economic background data. We discuss possible transmission channels for these relationships within families and find indications that there is more than pure genetics at work. Moving beyond an individual level analysis, we are the first to classify a whole family into one of two clusters, with either relatively patient, risktolerant and pro-social members or relatively impatient, risk averse and spiteful members. Socio-economic background variables correlate with the cluster to which a family belongs to. |
| Keywords: | economic preferences within families, intergenerational transmission of preferences, time preferences, risk preferences, social preferences, family clusters, socio-economic status, Bangladesh, experiment |
| JEL: | C90 D1 D90 D81 D64 J13 J24 J62 |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13451&r=all |
| By: | Charles Bellemare; Marion Goussé; Guy Lacroix; Steeve Marchand |
| Abstract: | We evaluate the efficiency of video resumes using a large scale field experiment. We randomly sent applications to 2021 private firms posting vacancies across the province of Québec (Canada). A subset of these applications included a link inviting firms to view a video resume. We find that video resumes increase callback rates by more than 10 percentage points. We also evaluate the service for individuals with acute visible disabilities (wheelchair users). Although our results support the presence of discrimination in the labor market, we show that they benefit from video resumes as much as applicants without a disability. |
| Keywords: | Video Resume,Job Search,Disabilities,Discrimination, |
| JEL: | J71 J68 |
| Date: | 2020–08–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cir:cirwor:2020s-45&r=all |
| By: | Matilde Giaccherini; David Herberich; David Jimenez-Gomez; John List; Giovanni Ponti; Michael Price |
| Abstract: | This paper uses a field experiment to estimate the effects of prices and social norms on the decision to adopt and efficient technology. We find that prices and social norms influence the adoption and decision along different margins: while prices operate on both the extensive and intensive margins, social norms operate mostly through the extensive margin. This has both positive and normative implications, and suggests that economics and psychology may be strong complements in the diffusion process. To complement the reduced form results, we estimate a structural model that points to important household heterogeneity: whereas some consumers welcome the opportunity to purchase and learn about the new technology, for others the inconvenience and social pressure of the ask results in negative welfare. As a whole, our findings highlight that the design of optimal technological diffusion policies will require multiple instruments and a recognition of household heterogeneity. |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:feb:natura:00713&r=all |
| By: | Burn, Ian (University of Liverpool); Button, Patrick (Tulane University); Munguia Corella, Luis (University of California, Irvine); Neumark, David (University of California, Irvine) |
| Abstract: | We study the relationships between ageist stereotypes – as reflected in the language used in job ads – and age discrimination in hiring, exploiting the text of job ads and differences in callbacks to older and younger job applicants from a resume (correspondence study) field experiment (Neumark, Burn, and Button, 2019). Our analysis uses methods from computational linguistics and machine learning to directly identify, in a field-experiment setting, ageist stereotypes that underlie age discrimination in hiring. The methods we develop provide a framework for applied researchers analyzing textual data, highlighting the usefulness of various computer science techniques for empirical economics research. We find evidence that language related to stereotypes of older workers sometimes predicts discrimination against older workers. For men, our evidence points to age stereotypes about all three categories we consider – health, personality, and skill – predicting age discrimination, and for women, age stereotypes about personality. In general, the evidence is much stronger for men, and our results for men are quite consistent with the industrial psychology literature on age stereotypes. |
| Keywords: | ageist stereotypes, age discrimination, job ads, machine learning |
| JEL: | J14 J7 |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13506&r=all |
| By: | Ana Dammert; Aisha Nansamba |
| Abstract: | This paper explores whether skills training in business performance and customer practices was a promising way to increase business outcomes among self-employed workers who operate small businesses in developing countries. We randomized training in business-management skills and business and inter-personal skills among BRAC’s Small Enterprise Programme firm owners in Liberia. We found that firm owners who received either training experienced an increase in attention to customers, which consequently enhanced the performance of the businesses, including higher average monthly revenue, less loss of customers, and a smaller likelihood of encountering business losses. Customers, however, reported no effect on their customer experiences. |
| Keywords: | RCT, SME, Liberia |
| JEL: | C93 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lvl:piercr:2019-24&r=all |
| By: | Massimiliano Ferraresi (European Commission Joint Research Centre); Gianluca Gucciardi (European Commission Joint Research Centre and Ispra) |
| Abstract: | We exploit the natural experimental setting provided by the Covid-19 lockdown to analyse how performance is affected by a friendly audience. Specifically, we use data on all football matches in the top-level competitions across France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom over the 2019/2020 season. We compare the difference between the number of points gained by teams playing at home and teams competing away before the Covid-19 outbreak, when supporters could attend any match, with the same difference after the lockdown, when all matches took place behind closed doors. We find that the performance of the home team is halved when stadiums are empty, with this effect being more marked for teams whose attendance rate was very high and for those that do not have international experience. Taken together, these results may play a key role in the design of the future workplace as ‘smart working’—an organisational model where the perception of being observed is less pronounced—is becoming increasingly important. |
| Keywords: | team performance, home advantage, choking, lockdown, natural experiment |
| JEL: | J2 D8 M54 |
| Date: | 2020–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipu:wpaper:94&r=all |
| By: | Pascaline Dupas; Basimenye Nhlema; Zachary Wagner; Aaron Wolf; Emily Wroe |
| Abstract: | Using data from an 18-month randomized trial, we estimate large and sustained impacts on water purification and child health of a program providing monthly coupons for free water treatment solution (diluted chlorine) to households with young children. The program is more effective and much more cost-effective than asking Community Health Workers (CHWs) to distribute free chlorine to households during routine monthly visits. That is because only 40% of households make use of free chlorine, targeting through CHWs is worse than self-targeting through coupon redemption, and water treatment promotion by CHWs does not increase chlorine use among free chlorine beneficiaries. Non- use of free chlorine is driven by households who have a protected water source and those who report that chlorine makes water taste bad. |
| JEL: | D10 D12 I11 I12 |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:27570&r=all |
| By: | Jorge M. Agüero (University of Connecticut); Veronica Frisancho (Inter-American Development Bank) |
| Abstract: | The prevalence of intimate partner violence is a central indicator of the Sustainable Development Goals for women's agency. However, measuring this indicator largely relies on self-reports that could suffer from severe misreporting if women face high costs of revealing their victim status. We study the degree of misreporting in surveys that have been identified as the best source of data, such as the widely used Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS). Focusing on a sample of women in impoverished urban areas of Lima, Peru, we conduct an experiment that replicates direct measures from these surveys and compares them against list experiments, a method that provides greater privacy to respondents. We find no significant differences across direct and indirect methods in any of the seven acts of physical and sexual violence considered. This result largely persists when testing across sixteen different subgroups and accounting for multiple hypothesis testing. |
| Keywords: | Women’s agency, intimate partner violence, measurement, list experiments, direct elicitation |
| JEL: | I12 C83 C21 |
| Date: | 2020–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uct:uconnp:2020-14&r=all |
| By: | Guillermo Cruces Author-Name: Hamidou Jawara Author-Name: Adama Touray Author-Name: Fatoumata Singhateh |
| Abstract: | Mobile money has been heralded as a way to foster financial inclusion. While it has become popular in developing countries, most notably in African nations, there are still strong barriers to its adoption and usage. The purpose of this study is to examine the extent to which a lack of information and high prices are limiting factors in the adoption of mobile money. We implemented a simple randomized controlled trial among a group of difficult-to- access potential users: mobile phone users in The Gambia who had opened mobile money wallets but had not made a transaction. We offered meaningful price discounts on withdrawal charges, and made these discounts salient by reminding users about them every month for a period of six months. Our analysis measures different dimensions of mobile money use by drawing from administrative mobile phone company records. We also carried out a post- treatment survey to gauge knowledge about, and attitudes towards, mobile money. Our results indicate that treated individuals were substantially more aware than controls about the uses of mobile wallets and about the meaningful discounts of 15% and 30% offered. However, only a small fraction of treated individuals started using mobile wallets, and the difference was not statistically significant. Perceptions of safety, trust in the platform, and service reliability were not significantly different between treated and controls. However, treated individuals were more likely to perceive the service charges to be expensive. We interpret this as evidence that our population of interest was uninformed about the platform at large. While our treatment increased awareness about its capabilities and operation, potentially fostering its adoption, it also increased awareness of the relatively high fees it involves, which in turn limited usage. Both a lack of information and high prices need to be addressed to foster the adoption and usage of mobile money in developing countries. |
| Keywords: | Mobile wallet, barriers to adoption and usage, developing countries, Gambia |
| JEL: | D13 G21 O16 P34 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lvl:piercr:2020-17&r=all |
| By: | Levison Chiwaula Author-Name: Mirriam Matita Author-Name: Tayamika Kamwanja Author-Name: Lucius Cassim Author-Name: Marcos Agurto |
| Abstract: | Mobile money is increasingly promoted as a strategy to improve financial outcomes and livelihoods in low-income countries. However, its adoption and use among the poor remains low. We exploited a randomized experiment that exposed members of Village Savings and Loan Associations in Malawi to a financial-literacy and mobile-money training program, which was reinforced by weekly text-message reminders. We analyzed the impact of our intervention using survey data collected in the field as well as administrative data from the main telecommunications operators in the area. We found that treated individuals were more likely to have greater knowledge of mobile-money transactions than non-treated ones. They were also more likely to report receiving and saving money using mobile money and were more likely to report that they kept their savings in a formal financial institution. Interestingly, these effects were concentrated in relatively less economically developed areas. We used administrative data to analyze the effects of our intervention on the volume of mobile-money transactions. While the estimated effect had the expected positive sign, it was not statistically significant. We hypothesized that this result may be related to the fact that individuals also relied on local agents to perform mobile-money transactions; such behavior was not captured in administrative data. This is among the first studies to provide rigorous field-based evidence regarding how financial training supported by text-message reminders can influence mobile-money behavior. It is also among the very first to study the effects of such an intervention among members of Village Savings and Loan Associations. |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lvl:piercr:2020-10&r=all |
| By: | Diego Aycinena (Department of Economics, Universidad del Rosario; Economic Science Institute, Chapman University); Alexander Elbittar (Department of Economics, CIDE); Andrei Gomberg (Department of Economics, ITAM; gomberg@itam.mx); Lucas Rentschler (Utah State University; lucas.rentschler@usu.edu) |
| Abstract: | We consider the issue of how timing of provision of additional information affects information-acquisition incentives. In environments with costly attention, a sufï¬ ciently conï¬ dent agent may choose to act based on the prior, without incurring those costs. However, a promise of additional information in the future may be used to encourage additional attentional effort. This may be viewed as a novel empirical implication of rational inattention. In a lab experiment designed to test this theoretical prediction, we show that promise of future “free†information induces subjects to acquire information which they would not be acquiring without such a promise. |
| Keywords: | Information Acquisition; Rational Ignorance; Experiments |
| JEL: | C72 C90 D44 D80 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:chu:wpaper:20-26&r=all |
| By: | Liam Wren-Lewis (PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Luis Becerra-Valbuena (INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Kenneth Houngbedji (LEDa - Laboratoire d'Economie de Dauphine - IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - Université Paris Dauphine-PSL - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement) |
| Abstract: | Many countries are formalizing customary land rights systems with the aim of improving agricultural productivity and facilitating community forest management. This paper evaluates the impact on tree cover loss of the first randomized control trial of such a program. Around 70,000 landholdings were demarcated and registered in randomly chosen villages in Benin, a country with a high rate of deforestation driven by demand for agricultural land. We estimate that the program reduced the area of forest loss in treated villages, with no evidence of anticipatory deforestation or negative spillovers to other areas. Surveys indicate that possible mechanisms include an increase in tenure security and an improvement in the effectiveness of community forest management. Overall, our results suggest that formalizing customary land rights in rural areas can be an effective way to reduce forest loss while improving agricultural investments. |
| Keywords: | deforestation,Community Forest Management,agricultural investments |
| Date: | 2020–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02898187&r=all |
| By: | Rocco Macchiavello; Andreas Menzel; Atonu Rabbani; Christopher Woodruff |
| Abstract: | Women remain disadvantaged in access to management positions around the world. We conduct a field experiment with 24 large garment factories in Bangladesh to test for inefficient representation of women among line supervisors. We identify the marginal female and male candidates for supervisory positions and randomly assign them to manage production lines. Three sets of results emerge: (i) extensive diagnostic testing at baseline reveal few skill differences between marginal female and male supervisor candidates; (ii) initially, marginal female candidates have lower productivity and evaluations from sub-ordinate workers, though after four to six months, these gaps disappear; and (iii) the share of the female candidates retained as line supervisor after the trial is significantly higher than the share of female supervisors in the factories at baseline. This suggests that factories previously promoted fewer women than would have been optimal. Additional surveys and a lab-in-the-field experiment suggest that the initially worse performance stems from negative beliefs of workers about the abilities of female supervisors. |
| JEL: | J16 J71 M51 M54 O14 O15 |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:27606&r=all |
| By: | Alessandra Casella (Columbia University [New York]); Antonin Macé (PSE - Paris School of Economics, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement) |
| Abstract: | Voters have strong incentives to increase their inuence by trading votes, a practice indeed believed to be common. But is vote trading welfare-improving or welfare-decreasing? We review the theoretical literature and, when available, its related experimental tests. We begin with the analysis of logrolling { the exchange of votes for votes, considering both explicit vote exchanges and implicit vote trades engineered by bundling issues in a single bill. We then focus on vote markets, where votes can be traded against a numeraire. We cover competitive markets, strategic market games, decentralized bargaining, and more centralized mechanisms, such as quadratic voting, where votes can be bought at a quadratic cost. We conclude with procedures allowing voters to shift votes across decisions { to trade votes with oneself only { such as storable votes or a modi_ed form of quadratic voting. We _nd that vote trading and vote markets are typically ine_cient; more encouraging results are obtained by allowing voters to allocate votes across decisions. |
| Keywords: | logrolling,vote trading,storable votes,quadratic voting,bundling,vote markets |
| Date: | 2020–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:psewpa:halshs-02922012&r=all |
| By: | Lippens, Louis (Ghent University); Baert, Stijn (Ghent University); Ghekiere, Abel (Free University of Brussels); Verhaeghe, Pieter-Paul (Free University of Brussels); Derous, Eva (Ghent University) |
| Abstract: | Scholars have gone to great lengths to chart the incidence of ethnic labour market discrimination. To effectively mitigate this discrimination, however, we need to understand its underlying mechanisms because different mechanisms lead to different counteracting measures. To this end, we reviewed the recent literature that confronts the seminal theories of taste-based and statistical discrimination against the empirical reality. First, we observed that the measurement operationalisation of the mechanisms varied greatly between studies, necessitating the development of a measurement standard. Second, we found that 20 out of 30 studies examining taste-based discrimination and 18 out of 34 studies assessing statistical discrimination produced supportive evidence for said mechanisms. However, (field) experimental research, which predominantly focuses on hiring outcomes, yielded more evidence in favour of taste-based vis-à-vis statistical discrimination, suggesting that the taste-based mechanism might better explain ethnic discrimination in hiring. |
| Keywords: | taste-based discrimination, statistical discrimination, ethnicity, race, labour market, systematic review |
| JEL: | J71 J15 J23 |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13523&r=all |
| By: | Douadia Bougherara (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - FRE2010 - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Margaux Lapierre (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - FRE2010 - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Raphaële Préget (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - FRE2010 - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Alexandre Sauquet (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - FRE2010 - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement) |
| Abstract: | Nearly all Agri-Environmental Schemes (AES) offer stable annual payments over theduration of the contract. Yet AES are often intended to be a transition tool, designed totrigger changes in farming practices rather than to support them indefinitely. A decreasingsequence of payments thus appears particularly attractive as a reward structure for AES.The standard discounted utility model supports this notion by predicting that individualsshould prefer a decreasing sequence of payments if the total sum of outcomes is con-stant. Nevertheless, the literature shows that numerous mechanisms, such as increasingproductivity, anticipatory pleasure, and loss aversion, can, by contrast, incline individualsto favor an increasing sequence of payments. To understand the preferences of farmersfor different payment sequences, we propose a review of the mechanisms highlighted bythe literature in psychology and economics. We then test farmers' preferences for stable,increasing or decreasing payments through a choice experiment (CE) survey. In this sur-vey, farmers are offered hypothetical contracts rewarding the planting of cover crops. Toreduce hypothetical bias, the choice cards were designed following repeated interactionswith local stakeholders. One hundred twenty-three French farmers, about 15% of thosecontacted, responded to the survey. Overall, farmers do not present a clear willingnessto depart from the usual stable payments. Nevertheless, 17% declare a preference for in-creasing sequences of payment. Moreover, we find a significant rejection of decreasingpayments by farmers with a lower discount rate or farmers more willing to take risks thanthe median farmer, contradicting the discounted utility model |
| Keywords: | Choice experiment,Cover crops,Farming practices,Sequences of outcomes,Agri-Environmental Schemes,Discounted utility |
| Date: | 2020–07–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-02892858&r=all |
| By: | Timothy N. Cason; Daniel Friedman; Ed Hopkins |
| JEL: | C73 C92 D83 |
| Date: | 2020–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pur:prukra:1324&r=all |
| By: | Lawrence Choo (Nuremberg Germany); Todd R. Kaplan (Haifa); Ro’i Zultan (BGU) |
| Keywords: | prediction markets, policy, experiment |
| JEL: | C92 D53 D8 G14 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bgu:wpaper:2012&r=all |