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on Experimental Economics |
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Issue of 2021‒12‒06
25 papers chosen by |
| By: | Milos FiÅ¡ar; Tommaso Reggiani; Fabio Sabatini; JiÅ™í Å palek |
| Abstract: | We study the impact of the media negativity bias on tax compliance. Through a framed laboratory experiment, we assess how the exposure to biased news about government action affects compliance in a repeated taxation game. Subjects treated with positive news are signicantly more compliant than the control group. Instead, the exposure to negative news does not prompt any signicant reaction compared to the neutral condition, suggesting that participants may perceive the media negativity bias in the selection and tonality of news as the norm rather than the exception. Overall, our results suggest that biased news provision is a constant source of psychological priming and plays a vital role in taxpayers' compliance decisions. |
| Keywords: | Tax compliance; Media bias; Taxation game; Laboratory experiment |
| JEL: | C91 D70 H26 H31 |
| Date: | 2021–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sap:wpaper:wp211&r= |
| By: | Antinyan, Armenak (Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University.); Corazzini, Luca (Department of Economic Science and VERA, University of Venice) |
| Abstract: | Little is known about the impact of policy interventions other than taxes and bans aimed at reducing the demand for single-use plastic bags. We report results from a natural field experiment conducted in a large supermarket chain to test interventions based on nudges (information provision), financial bonuses (which are assigned through a competitive scheme) and free provision of reusable bags. We manipulate the type of the intervention, i.e., either a financial bonus or a nudge, and the presence of a reusable bag, i.e., either provided for free or not provided. Relative to the baseline with no intervention, both the bonus and the nudge considerably reduce the demand for single-use plastic bags. Free reusable bags are effective when combined with the bonus, albeit not effective when combined with the nudge. Finally, the bonus is more powerful than the nudge, irrespective of the absence or presence of reusable bags. |
| Keywords: | pro-environmental behavior, nudge, financial bonus, reusable bag, single-use plastic bag, randomized controlled trial. |
| JEL: | C93 D12 D91 H23 |
| Date: | 2021–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdf:wpaper:2021/29&r= |
| By: | Romensen, Gert-Jan; Soetevent, Adriaan R. |
| Abstract: | Can the design and intensity of performance feedback be used to improve worker productivity? We analyze two forms of feedback in a sample of 409 drivers at a large Dutch bus company: written peer-comparison reports and in-person coaching by high-achieving peers. We experimentally vary the nature and number of peer-comparison messages that drivers receive in their written feedback report. We exploit the quasi-experimental variation in the in-person coaching program implemented in parallel to the written feedback to analyze its effects. We find no effect of the announcement and introduction of the company's written feedback program on fuel efficiency. Including peer-comparison messages into these reports is generally ineffective in improving either fuel economy or outcomes pertaining to passenger comfort. In-person coaching however generates significant improvements on all dimensions for drivers in the bottom half of the performance distribution for about eight weeks. In-person coaching weakens the impact of written peer-comparison feedback but not vice versa. |
| Keywords: | labor productivity,feedback,peer comparisons,field experiment |
| JEL: | D23 J24 M53 Q55 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:esprep:246811&r= |
| By: | Fabbri, Marco (Universitat Pompeu Fabra); Bigoni, Maria (University of Bologna) |
| Abstract: | We study how distributional preferences are affected by a major property rights reform that transformed informal use-rights over land traditionally characterizing rural Beninese villages in a system akin to private ownership. The design combines the randomized control-trial implementation of the reform across villages with lab-in-the-field experiments eliciting villagers' distributional choices – both when luck is the source of situational inequality and when an unequal distribution is originated by merit considerations. Results show that reforming allocation rules in the direction of impersonal market-alike institutions increases participants' acceptance of inequality determined by luck, while leaving participants' tolerance for inequality generated by merit unaffected. |
| Keywords: | fairness, institutional change, lab-in-the-field experiment, land tenure reform, land titling |
| JEL: | D31 C93 D01 |
| Date: | 2021–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14768&r= |
| By: | Luca Corazzini (University of Venice Ca’ Foscari, Italy, Masaryk University, Lipová 41a, Czech Republic); Christopher Cotton (Queen’s University, Canada); Enrico Longo (University of Venice Ca’ Foscari, Italy); Tommaso Reggiani (Cardiff University, United Kingdom, Masaryk University, Lipová 14a, Czech Republic, IZA, Germany) |
| Abstract: | Experiments involving multiple public goods with contribution thresholds capture many features of charitable giving environments in which donors try to coordinate their contributions across various potential recipients. We present results from a laboratory experiment that introduces endowment and preference differences into such a framework to explore the impact of donor heterogeneity on public good success and payoffs. We observe that wealthier donors tend to provide larger contributions to the public goods, and that the contributions of all other donors are most likely directed to the public good preferred by the wealthiest donor as other group members try to coordinate their donations to ensure public good success. We refer to this collective focus on the preferred good of the wealthiest as the Gates Effect. The Gates Effect can reduce inequality among donors groups that succeed in funding a public good; however, it also affects the philanthropic agenda, reducing the variety of public goods that receive funding. |
| Keywords: | Multiple public goods, Donor heterogeneity, Crowdfunding, Charitable giving, Philanthropy, Lab experiment |
| JEL: | C91 C92 H40 H41 L31 |
| Date: | 2021–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mub:wpaper:2021-13&r= |
| By: | Santorsola, Marco; Caferra, Rocco; Morone, Andrea |
| Abstract: | During the last decade, scholars and policy makers have increasingly concentrated on investors’ excessive risk taking. By conducting an online pair-wise lottery choice experiment, we assess for variations in the level of risk taken when altering the research frame. For instance, in our experimental treatments we affect subjects’ awareness about the risk-taking decision by displaying or not displaying (financial) risk warning messages with different intensity. We also carry out additional robustness checks searching for possible relations between risk aversion, cognitive ability and questionnaire- based risk aversion scores. Our results provide statical evidence for the efficacy of informative and very salient messages in mitigating risky decision, offering several policy implications. The intuitions, deriving from a 177-subject sample, could indeed provide useful insights for designing effective risk reduction policies and maybe be applicable not only to a financial market context but also by extension to other risk-taking activities, i.e., online betting and gambling. |
| Keywords: | Individual decision-making; risk; experimental economics; Information effect; Finance. |
| JEL: | C9 |
| Date: | 2021–11–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:110619&r= |
| By: | Bogliacino, Francesco; Grimalda, Gianluca; Pipke, David |
| Abstract: | The gift exchange hypothesis postulates that workers reciprocate above market-clearing wages with above-minimum effort. This hypothesis has received mixed support in dyadic employer-worker relationships. We present a field-experimental test to assess this hypothesis in the context of a triadic relationship in which only one out of two workers receives a pay increase. We conjecture that inequality aversion motivations may thwart positive reciprocity motivations and analyze the interaction between such motivations theoretically. Across three treatments, the pay increase is justified to workers based on either relative merit or relative need or was arbitrary as no justification was offered. Two conditions in which either none or both workers receive a bonus serve as the reference. In contrast to the gift exchange hypothesis, we find that pay increases lead to a decrease in productivity. Such a decrease is most sizable in the condition where both workers receive the bonus. A post-diction of this result is that workers interpret the monetary bonus as a signal of the employer's contentment with their effort, which makes them feel entitled to reduce their effort. In other treatments, receiving the pay increase while the coworker does not has a positive effect on productivity, especially when the pay increase is based on merit. This result is consistent with statusseeking preferences rather than aversion against advantageous inequality. Conversely, not receiving the pay increase while the coworker does, leads to lower productivity, especially when the pay increase is assigned based on relative needs. |
| Keywords: | Gift exchange,employer-worker relationship,pay inequality,field experiment,reciprocity,labor market,effort provision,fairness,wage inequality |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwkwp:2199&r= |
| By: | Bergolo, Marcelo (IECON, Universidad de la República); Burdin, Gabriel (Leeds University Business School); Burone, Santiago (University of Antwerp); De Rosa, Mauricio (Universidad de la República, Uruguay); Giaccobasso, Matias (University of California, Los Angeles); Leites, Martin (Universidad de la República, Uruguay) |
| Abstract: | Although different approaches and methods have been used to measure inequality aversion, there remains no consensus about its drivers at the individual level. We conducted an experiment on a sample of more than 1800 first-year undergraduate economics and business students in Uruguay to understand why people are inequality averse. We elicited inequality aversion by asking participants to make a sequence of choices between hypothetical societies characterized by varying levels of average income and income inequality. In addition, we use randomized information treatments to prime participants into competing narratives regarding the sources of inequality in society. The main findings are that (1) the prevalence of inequality aversion is high: most participants' choices revealed inequality-averse preferences; (2) the extent of inequality aversion depends on the individual's position in the income distribution; (3) individuals are more likely to accept inequality when it comes from effort rather than luck regardless of their income position; (4) the effect of social mobility on inequality aversion is conditional on individual's income position: preferences for mobility reduces inequality aversion for individuals located at the bottom of the income distribution, where risk aversion cannot play any role. |
| Keywords: | inequality aversion, fairness, risk, effort, luck, redistribution, questionnaire-experiments |
| JEL: | D63 D64 D81 C13 C91 |
| Date: | 2021–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14828&r= |
| By: | Natalia Rigol; Benjamin N. Roth |
| Abstract: | One of the most important puzzles in microfinance is the low rate of borrower graduation to larger, more flexible loans. Utilizing observational and experimental data from a large Chilean microfinance institution, we demonstrate that loan officers impede borrower graduation due to common features of their compensation contracts. Our partner lender offers both microloans and larger, more flexible graduation loans, and relies on loan officer endorsements to determine borrower graduation. Loan officers are rewarded for the size of their portfolio and repayment, and so are implicitly penalized when good borrowers graduate. In an experiment designed to isolate strategic disclosure, we modify compensation to reduce this implicit penalty and document that loan officers withheld endorsements of their most qualified borrowers prior to the shift. Graduated borrowers endorsed after the shift are 34% more profitable for our partner lender than those endorsed beforehand. A back-of-the- envelope calculation suggests that strategic behavior of loan officers accounts for $4.8-29.2 billion in lost social value from forgone borrower graduations in microfinance worldwide. Our experimental design may prove useful for other experiments within firms. |
| JEL: | G21 M52 O16 |
| Date: | 2021–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:29427&r= |
| By: | Heinz, Nicolai; Koessler, Ann-Kathrin; Engel, Stefanie |
| Abstract: | Adverse consequences of climate change often affect people and places far away from those that have the greatest capacity for mitigation. Several correlational and some experimental studies suggest that the willingness to take mitigation actions may diminish with increasing distance. However, the empirical findings are ambiguous. In order to investigate if and how socio-spatial distance to climate change effects plays a role for the willingness to engage in mitigation actions, we conducted an online experiment with a German population sample (n=383). We find that the willingness to sign a petition for climate protection was significantly reduced when a person in India with a name of Indian origin was affected by flooding as compared to a person in Germany with a name of German origin. Distance did not affect donating money to climate protection or approving of mitigation policies. Our results provide evidence for the existence of a negative effect of distance to climate change consequences on the willingness to engage in low-cost mitigation actions. Investigating explanations for such an effect, we find that it can be attributed to the spatial distance dimension, which reduced participants’ perception of being personally affected by climate change. Moreover, we found some cautious evidence that people with strong racist attitudes react differently to the distance manipulations, suggesting a form of environmental racism that could also reduce mitigation action in the case of climate change. |
| Keywords: | psychological distance,social distance,climate change,spatial distance,mitigation,economic experiment,environmental racism |
| JEL: | D91 C93 Q54 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:esprep:246815&r= |
| By: | Florio, Erminia |
| Abstract: | We analyze whether (correct) information provision on immigration is more effective than contact in shaping attitudes towards immigration. We collect data from a randomized experiment in 18 middle- and high-school classes in the city of Rome. Half of the classes meet a refugee from Mauritania and read a book about his story, whereas the rest of them attend a lecture on figures and numbers on immigration in Italy and the world. On average, students develop better attitudes towards immigration (especially in the case of policy preferences and the perceived number of immigrants in their country) and somewhat improve their feelings associated with immigrants after the information treatment more than they do after the contact treatment. Also, students having received the information treatment strongly adjust their knowledge on immigration. However, students' individual characteristics (sex and, to a lesser extent, age) affect treatments' relative effectiveness. |
| Keywords: | Attitudes towards immigration,Information Provision,Contact Theory,Randomized Experiment |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:699pre&r= |
| By: | Bigoni, Maria (University of Bologna); Ploner, Matteo (University of Trento); Vu, Thi-Thanh-Tam (University of Trento) |
| Abstract: | The impact of workers' non-pecuniary motivation on their productivity is a fundamental issue in labor economics. Previous studies indicate that prosocially motivated workers may perform better when assigned to jobs having socially desirable implications – even if effort is non contractible and they are offered a low-powered fixed-compensation scheme – as compared to a standard job with an effort-contingent payment. This suggests that profit maximizing employers should assign workers to different jobs, based on workers' prosociality. We run an experiment to explore the link between workers' prosociality and their level of effort under a prosocial and a standard job, and show that employers actually exploit the information on workers' prosociality to assign them the type of job that would be most profitable from the firm's perspective. |
| Keywords: | dictator game, incentives, laboratory experiment, principal-agent game, real-effort task |
| JEL: | C91 D63 D64 |
| Date: | 2021–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14779&r= |
| By: | Gebrekidan, Tnsue |
| Keywords: | Livestock Production/Industries, Risk and Uncertainty |
| Date: | 2021–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae21:315847&r= |
| By: | Yun Liu; Elvis Cheng Xu |
| Abstract: | Previous research has addressed the effects of corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives on consumer purchase intention (CPI). However, most of the empirical evidence is based on the analysis of mature large-scale firms; much less examines the effects of CSR initiatives on CPI in entrepreneurial contexts. In this study, we address this gap by investigating whether entrepreneurial start-ups' declaration of CSR engagement affects consumers' purchasing intent. We assert that consumers may consider firms' CSR engagement as a signal for unobserved product quality. We exploit a vignette experimental approach to test our theoretical predictions. In our experiment, participants received online invitations to subscribe to an electronic catalog that advertised various products supplied by entrepreneurial start-ups. The invitations are of five types, some of which presenting different CSR-related information on the suppliers to the participants. Overall, we find that the displayed information on CSR engagement promotes participants' willingness to subscribe to the electronic catalog, indicating that consumers will increase their purchase intentions for ethically oriented suppliers. Moreover, we find that among all the initiatives, external CSR initiatives (social contribution and environmental responsibility) promote consumers' intentions to purchase most effectively. To the best of our knowledge, our study is the first to explore the effects of different CSR initiatives on entrepreneurial start-ups in entrepreneurship literature. We highlight the heterogeneous effects of CSR initiatives on CPI, contributing new insights to research on CSR and consumer behavior. |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:feb:framed:00742&r= |
| By: | Powdthavee, Nattavudh (University of Warwick); Riyanto, Yohanes E. (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore); Wong, Erwin (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore); Yeo, Jonathan (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore); Chan, Qi Yu (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore) |
| Abstract: | With the COVID-19 pandemic still raging and the vaccination program still rolling out, there continues to be an immediate need for public health officials to better understand the mechanisms behind the deep and perpetual divide over face masks in America. Using a random sample of Americans (N=615), following a pre-registered experimental design and analysis plan, we first demonstrated that mask wearers were not innately more cooperative as individuals than non-mask wearers in the Prisoners' Dilemma (PD) game when information about their own and the other person's mask usage was not salient. However, we found strong evidence of in-group favouritism among both mask and non-mask wearers when information about the other partner's mask usage was known. Non-mask wearers were 23 percentage points less likely to cooperate than mask wearers when facing a mask-wearing partner, and 26 percentage points more likely to cooperate than mask wearers when facing a non-mask-wearing partner. Our analysis suggests social identity effects as the primary reason behind people's decision whether to wear face masks during the pandemic. |
| Keywords: | face mask, COVID-19, cooperation, social identity, prisoners' dilemma |
| JEL: | C9 I1 |
| Date: | 2021–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14715&r= |
| By: | Daniela Di Cagno (LUISS University); Lorenzo Ferrari (LUISS University); Werner Güth (‡Max Planck Institute for Collective Goods and LUISS University); Vittorio Larocca (LUISS University) |
| Abstract: | Ad-hoc contracting allows to quickly react to changes which could be neglected or noticed too late in case of constant contracting. But always deciding anew, e.g., how much and what to order in commercial and what to buy in private life, is too cumbersome. To capture the cognitive burden of ad-hoc contracting and how it can be avoided by constant contracting, our setup confronts ad-hoc pricing, which is non-revealing, with constantly revealing pricing. The experiment modifies the Acquiring-a-Company game by reversing the responsibility for pricing to the seller who proposes a price together with a cheap-talk value message in case of ad-hoc pricing and, in case of constantly revealing contracting the seller demands a constant surplus share for all periodic interactions. The experiment lets sellers decide between constantly revealing prices and ad-hoc non-revealing prices. Buyers, either aware of the seller’s surplus share or only of the periodic value message and price, can accept or reject trade in each of several successive periods played by the same pair, a seller and a buyer participant. Will sellers opt for constant pricing already without experience or ad-hoc pricing? And will one, when more experienced, opt for what has been more profitable? |
| Keywords: | Bargaining, Experiment, Complete and Incomplete Information |
| JEL: | C73 C92 D82 D90 |
| Date: | 2021–11–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rtv:ceisrp:523&r= |
| By: | Vilhelmsson, Anders (Department of Economics, Lund University) |
| Abstract: | In statistics, samples are drawn from a population in a data generating process (DGP). Standard errors measure the uncertainty in sample estimates of population parameters. In science, evidence is generated to test hypotheses in an evidence generating process (EGP). We claim that EGP variation across researchers adds uncertainty: non-standard errors. To study them, we let 164 teams test six hypotheses on the same sample. We find that non-standard errors are sizeable, on par with standard errors. Their size (i) co-varies only weakly with team merits, reproducibility, or peer rating, (ii) declines significantly after peer-feedback, and (iii) is underestimated by participants. |
| Keywords: | Non-standard; errors |
| JEL: | B26 |
| Date: | 2021–11–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lunewp:2021_017&r= |
| By: | Anastasia A. Anufrieva (National Research University Higher School of Economics); Elena S. Gorbunova (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | The digital environment surrounds us everywhere and influences our cognitive system. However, there is a lack of theoretical models in the human-digital domain, and there are few studies aimed at finding the precise mechanisms of how the digital environment influences cognitive functions, namely attention and working memory. The present work is aimed at a consideration of the theoretical approaches and empirical studies related to the marked domain. Two experiments on working memory and attention were carried out. In the present paper, we have compared the attention and working memory processes under real and digital conditions within the comprehensible task like usage of the organizer (Experiment 1). As a result, we clarified the presence of differences in attention and WM within these two environments of performance. After that, the focus was shifted on digital properties: Experiment 2 focuses on such digital properties as saturation and were aimed at clarifying the attention process (shifting and sustainability of attention) under digital conditions. So if the digital system has feedback, the rates of attention sustainability will be higher than in the absence of feedback. Thus, within the result of the second experiment, it can be supposed that the digital environment might be considered as a system of cues improving the performance of complex tasks |
| Keywords: | a digital system, a cognitive system, attention sustainability, attention shifting, working memory, the complexity of the digital system |
| JEL: | Z |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:129psy2021&r= |
| By: | Lei Wang; Yiwei Qian; Nele Warrinnier; Orazio Attanasio; Scott Rozelle; Sean Sylvia |
| Abstract: | We present evidence from a randomized experiment testing the impacts of a six-month early childhood home-visiting program on child outcomes at school entry. Two and a half years after completion of the program, we find persistent effects on child working memory - a key skill of executive functioning that plays a central role in children’s development of cognitive and socio-emotional skills. We also find that the program had persistent effects on parental time investments and preschool enrolment decisions. Children were enrolled earlier and in higher quality preschools, the latter reflecting a shift in preferences over preschool attributes toward quality. Our findings imply an important role for the availability of high-quality subsequent schooling in sustaining the impacts of early intervention programs. |
| Keywords: | Early Childhood Development, Parenting, China, Poverty |
| JEL: | J13 I21 I28 H11 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lic:licosd:42721&r= |
| By: | Hailemariam Ayalew (Department of Economics, Trinity College Dublin and International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Ethiopia); Chamberlin Jordan (International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Kenya); Carol Newman (Department of Economics, Trinity College Dublin) |
| Abstract: | Smallholder farmers in Africa typically only have access to blanket fertilizer recommendations which may not be optimal for local production conditions. The response to such recommendations has generally been poor. Using a randomized control trial in Ethiopia, we explore whether targeted recommendations lead farmers to align fertilizer usage to recommended levels and whether this impacts productivity. Results show that targeted recommendations closed the gap between the he recommended and actual amounts of fertilizer used and that this in turn increased productivity. We also consider whether coupling these recommendations with agricultural insurance further encourages fertilizer investment but find no differential effect. |
| Keywords: | advisory services, smallholder agriculture, agricultural extension, ICT, fertilizer, agriculture |
| JEL: | O12 O13 Q12 Q16 |
| Date: | 2020–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tcd:tcduee:tep0620&r= |
| By: | Massimo Finocchiaro Castro (Università Mediterranea di Reggio Calabria e Health Econometrics and Data Group, University of York (UK)); Domenica Romeo (Università di Catania e Health Econometrics and Data Group, University of York (UK)) |
| JEL: | C93 D91 I12 K13 |
| Date: | 2021–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipu:wpaper:106&r= |
| By: | Menkveld, A.; Dreber, A.; Holzmeister, F.; Huber, J.; Johannesson, M.; Kirchler, M.; Neusüss, S.; Razen, M.; Neusüss, S.; Neusüss, S. |
| Abstract: | In statistics, samples are drawn from a population in a data generating process (DGP). Standard errors measure the uncertainty in sample estimates of population parameters. In science, evidence is generated to test hypotheses in an evidence generating process (EGP). We claim that EGP variation across researchers adds uncertainty: non-standard errors. To study them, we let 164 teams test six hypotheses on the same sample. We find that non-standard errors are sizeable, on par with standard errors. Their size (i) co-varies only weakly with team merits, reproducibility, or peer rating, (ii) declines significantly after peer-feedback, and (iii) is underestimated by participants. Online appendix available at https://bit.ly/3DIQKrB . Please note a full list of authors is available in the working paper. |
| Keywords: | Market Efficiency, P-hacking, Publication bias |
| JEL: | A14 C10 C12 C59 C90 G14 G40 |
| Date: | 2021–11–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cam:camdae:2182&r= |
| By: | Carl Singleton (Department of Economics, University of Reading); J. James Reade (Department of Economics, University of Reading); Dominik Schreyer (Wissenschaftliche Hochschule für Unternehmensführung (WHU)) |
| Abstract: | In less than a decade, the Egyptian Premier League has experienced three distinct changes between periods of competition in either crowded or empty stadiums. We exploit this unique sequence of natural experiments, to answer two questions neglected by the still emerging literature on the effects of social pressure on behaviour and decision-making. First, does reinstating a supportive crowd after a long period of absence affect performances on the pitch? Second, is any reduced home advantage from competing in empty stadiums robust to repeating such an experiment? We find that eliminating social pressure from crowds decreased or even reversed home advantage after an incident of extreme crowd violence in 2012, but there were no significant effects when crowds were reinstated in 2018 and once more excluded in 2020. These results suggest that not all home crowds benefit the home team. |
| Keywords: | Attendance, COVID-19, Football, Home advantage, Natural Experiments, Referee Bias, Social Pressure |
| JEL: | C90 D91 L83 Z2 |
| Date: | 2021–11–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rdg:emxxdp:em-dp2021-21&r= |
| By: | Sokbae Lee; Martin Weidner |
| Abstract: | We provide novel bounds on average treatment effects (on the treated) that are valid under an unconfoundedness assumption. Our bounds are designed to be robust in challenging situations, for example, when the conditioning variables take on a large number of different values in the observed sample, or when the overlap condition is violated. This robustness is achieved by only using limited "pooling" of information across observations. Namely, the bounds are constructed as sample averages over functions of the observed outcomes such that the contribution of each outcome only depends on the treatment status of a limited number of observations. No information pooling across observations leads to so-called "Manski bounds", while unlimited information pooling leads to standard inverse propensity score weighting. We explore the intermediate range between these two extremes and provide corresponding inference methods. We show in Monte Carlo experiments and through an empirical application that our bounds are indeed robust and informative in practice. |
| Date: | 2021–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2111.05243&r= |
| By: | Nicolas Pastrian |
| Abstract: | We examine the surplus extraction problem in a mechanism design setting with behavioral types. In our model behavioral types always perfectly reveal their private information. We characterize the sufficient conditions that guarantee full extraction in a finite version of the reduced form environment of McAfee and Reny (1992). We found that the standard convex independence condition identified in Cremer and McLean (1988) is required only among the beliefs of strategic types, while a weaker condition is required for the beliefs of behavioral types. |
| Date: | 2021–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2111.00061&r= |