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on Experimental Economics |
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Issue of 2023‒02‒13
34 papers chosen by |
| By: | Ivan Soraperra; Joël van der Weele; Marie Claire Villeval (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); Shaul Shalvi |
| Abstract: | We experimentally study the social transmission of \inconvenient" information about the externalities generated by one's own decision. In the laboratory, we pair uninformed decision makers with informed senders. Compared to a setting where subjects can choose their information directly, we find that social interactions increase selfi sh decisions. On the supply side, senders suppress almost 30 percent of \inconvenient" information, driven by their own preferences for information and their beliefs about the decision maker's preferences. On the demand side, about one-third of decision makers avoids senders who transmit inconvenient information (\shooting the messenger"), which leads to assortative matching between information-suppressing senders and information-avoiding decision makers. Having more control over information generates opposing effects on behavior: sel sh decision makers remain ignorant more often and donate less, while altruistic decision makers seek out informative senders and give more. We discuss applications to information sharing in social networks and to organizational design. |
| Keywords: | Social interactions, Information avoidance, Assortative matching, Ethical behavior, experiment |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03899658&r=exp |
| By: | Apoorva Lal; Wenjing Zheng; Simon Ejdemyr |
| Abstract: | Randomized experiments are an excellent tool for estimating internally valid causal effects with the sample at hand, but their external validity is frequently debated. While classical results on the estimation of Population Average Treatment Effects (PATE) implicitly assume random selection into experiments, this is typically far from true in many medical, social-scientific, and industry experiments. When the experimental sample is different from the target sample along observable or unobservable dimensions, experimental estimates may be of limited use for policy decisions. We begin by decomposing the extrapolation bias from estimating the Target Average Treatment Effect (TATE) using the Sample Average Treatment Effect (SATE) into covariate shift, overlap, and effect modification components, which researchers can reason about in order to diagnose the severity of extrapolation bias. Next, We cast covariate shift as a sample selection problem and propose estimators that re-weight the doubly-robust scores from experimental subjects to estimate treatment effects in the overall sample (=: generalization) or in an alternate target sample (=: transportation). We implement these estimators in the open-source R package causalTransportR and illustrate its performance in a simulation study and discuss diagnostics to evaluate its performance. |
| Date: | 2023–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2301.04776&r=exp |
| By: | Urs Fischbacher; Dorothea Kübler; Robert Stüber |
| Abstract: | Many occupations and industries are highly segregated with respect to gender. This segregation could be due to perceived job-specific productivity differences between men and women. It could also result from the belief that single-gender teams perform better. We investigate the two explanations in a lab experiment with students and in an online experiment with personnel managers. The subjects bet on the productivity of teams of different gender compositions in tasks that differ with respect to gender stereotypes. We obtain similar results in both samples. Women are picked more often for the stereotypically female task and men more often for the stereotypically male task. Subjects do not believe that homogeneous teams perform better but bet more on diverse teams, especially in the task with complementarities. Elicited expectations about the bets of others reveal that subjects expect the effect of the gender stereotypes of tasks but underestimate others’ bets on diversity. |
| Keywords: | gender segregation, hiring decisions, teams, discrimination, stereotypes |
| JEL: | C91 D90 J16 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10187&r=exp |
| By: | Holden, Stein T. (Centre for Land Tenure Studies, Norwegian University of Life Sciences); Tilahun, Mesfin (Centre for Land Tenure Studies, Norwegian University of Life Sciences) |
| Abstract: | While economists in the past tended to assume that individual preferences, including risk preferences, are stable over time, a recent literature has developed and indicates that risk preferences respond to shocks. This paper utilizes a natural experiment with covariate (drought) and idiosyncratic shocks in combination with an independent field risk experiment. The risk experiment uses a Certainty Equivalent - Multiple Choice List (CE-MCL) approach and is played 1-2 years after the subjects were (to a varying degree) exposed to a covariate drought shock or idiosyncratic shocks. The experimental approach facilitated a comprehensive assessment of shock effects on experimental risk premiums with varying probabilities of good and bad outcomes. The experiment also facilitates the estimation of the utility curvature in an Expected Utility (EU) model, and alternatively, separate estimation of probability weighting and utility curvature in three different Rank Dependent Utility (RDU) models with a two-parameter Prelec probability weighting function. Our study is the first to comprehensively test the theoretical predictions of Gollin and Pratt (1996) versus Quiggin (2003). Gollin and Pratt (1996) build on EU theory and state that an increase in background risk will make subjects more risk averse while Quiggin (2003) states that an increase in background risk can enhance risk-taking in certain types of non-EU models. We find strong evidence that such non-EU preferences dominate in our sample and can explain the surprising result. In our sample of resource-poor young adults living in a risky semiarid rural environment in Sub-Saharan Africa, we find that the covariate drought shock had negative effects on risk premiums and the utility curvature and caused an upward shift in the probability weighting function. To our knowledge, this is the first paper to carry out such a rigorous test of a shock effect on utility curvature and probability weighting. |
| Keywords: | Covariate shocks; Idiosyncratic shocks; Stability of risk preference parameters; Field experiment; Ethiopia |
| JEL: | C93 D81 |
| Date: | 2023–01–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:nlsclt:2023_003&r=exp |
| By: | Di Bartolomeo Giovanni; Dufwenberg Martin; Papa Stefano; Passarelli Francesco |
| Abstract: | Messages may trigger moral incentives to honor promises or agreements in a game with pre-play bilateral communication. We hypothesize that individuals’ inclination to keep a promise is highest if the counterpart requited the promise. We interpret this as an inclination to honor agreements. We report supporting results from an experiment. |
| Date: | 2022–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ter:wpaper:00153&r=exp |
| By: | Franca Glenzer; Pierre-Carl Michaud; Stefan Staubli |
| Abstract: | Many near-retirees forgo a higher stream of public pension income by claiming early. We provide both quasi-experimental and survey-experimental evidence that the timing of public pension claiming is relatively inelastic to changes in financial incentives in Canada. Using the survey experiment, we evaluate the effect of two different educational interventions and different ways of framing the incentive to delay claiming. While all three types of interventions induce delays, these interventions have heterogeneous financial consequences for participants who react. |
| Keywords: | pension claiming; annuities; retirement; financial education; framing |
| JEL: | D91 H55 J14 J26 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rsi:irersi:11&r=exp |
| By: | Shuguang Jiang (Centre for Economic Research, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, 250100, China); Marie Claire Villeval (Univ Lyon, CNRS, GATE UMR 5824, 93 Chemin des Mouilles, F-69130, Ecully, France. IZA, Bonn, Germany) |
| Abstract: | We study cheating as a collective-risk social dilemma in a group setting in which individuals are asked to report their actual outcomes. Misreporting their outcomes increases the individual’s earnings but when the sum of claims in the group reaches a certain threshold, a risk of collective sanction affects all the group members, regardless of their individual behavior. Because of the pursuit of selfish interest and a lack of coordination with other group members, the vast majority of individuals eventually earn less than the reservation payoff from honest reporting in the group. Over time, most groups are trapped in a “Tragedy of Dishonesty", despite the presence of moral costs of lying. The risk of collective sanction is triggered less frequently in small groups than in large ones, while priming a collectivist mindset has little effect on lying. |
| Keywords: | Dishonesty, Public Bad, Group Size, Collectivism, Individualism, Experiment |
| JEL: | C92 D01 D91 D62 H41 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gat:wpaper:2216&r=exp |
| By: | Christoph Kuzmics; Brian W. Rogers; Xiannong Zhang |
| Abstract: | We design and implement lab experiments to evaluate the normative appeal of behavior arising from models of ambiguity-averse preferences. We report two main empirical findings. First, we demonstrate that behavior reflects an incomplete understanding of the problem, providing evidence that subjects do not act on the basis of preferences alone. Second, additional clarification of the decision making environment pushes subjects' choices in the direction of ambiguity aversion models, regardless of whether or not the choices are also consistent with subjective expected utility, supporting the position that subjects find such behavior normatively appealing. |
| Date: | 2023–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2301.03304&r=exp |
| By: | Shuguang Jiang; Marie Claire Villeval (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) |
| Abstract: | We study cheating as a collective-risk social dilemma in a group setting in which individuals are asked to report their actual outcomes. Misreporting their outcomes increases the individual's earnings but when the sum of claims in the group reaches a certain threshold, a risk of collective sanction affects all the group members, regardless of their individual behavior. Because of the pursuit of selfish interest and a lack of coordination with other group members, the vast majority of individuals eventually earn less than the reservation payoff from honest reporting in the group. Over time, most groups are trapped in a "Tragedy of Dishonesty", despite the presence of moral costs of lying. The risk of collective sanction is triggered less frequently in small groups than in large ones, while priming a collectivist mindset has little effect on lying. |
| Keywords: | Dishonesty, Public Bad, Group Size, Collectivism, Individualism, Experiment, Dishonesty Public Bad Group Size Collectivism Individualism Experiment JEL Codes: C92 D01 D91 D62 H41, Experiment JEL Codes: C92, D01, D91, D62, H41 |
| Date: | 2022–12–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-03900919&r=exp |
| By: | Shuguang Jiang; Marie Claire Villeval (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) |
| Abstract: | This paper reviews the recent literature on cheating and corruption to demonstrate the value that experimental methods hold for studying dishonesty in developing countries. Emphasizing the diversity of experimental methods, the chapter highlights the contributions of laboratory and field experiments to the measurement of crosscountry differences and to the identification of select causes of corruption and cheating. This body of literature has provided evidence of the causal effects of social norms, institutions, group identity, and social status concerns. Moreover, the existing research has also delivered practical policy recommendations to ethics-related development problems. |
| Keywords: | Dishonesty, Corruption, Developing countries, Experiments |
| Date: | 2022–12–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-03899654&r=exp |
| By: | Christina Brand (Institute of Transport Economics, Muenster); Thomas Hagedorn (Institute of Transport Economics, Muenster); Till Kösters (Institute of Transport Economics, Muenster); Marlena Meier (Institute of Transport Economics, Muenster); Gernot Sieg (Institute of Transport Economics, Muenster); Jan Wessel (Institute of Transport Economics, Muenster) |
| Abstract: | The Leezenflow system is an open-source green wave assistant designed specifically for cyclists and is installed 110 meters in front of a traffic light in Münster, Germany. The system indicates the remaining time of the current traffic light phase through an expiring bar, colored either green or red. This is intended to help cyclists adjust their speed in order to cross the traffic lights when green, and consequently optimize cycling flow. We conduct a natural field experiment in real traffic to analyze the impact of the Leezenflow system on cycling flow and safety, and find that it impacts statistically significantly on cycling flow. Due to the Leezenflow system, the number of cyclists that have to stop at the red lights decreases by 6.6 %. Accordingly, the share of cyclists that pass the green lights increases. The data also indicate positive effects on traffic safety. The results of the natural field experiment confirm and put into perspective the feedback of an accompanying online survey. The majority of surveyed users reports that the Leezenflow system does improve the cycling flow. The influence on traffic safety is predominantly seen as positive or neutral by the survey participants. The Leezenflow system can thus help city planners to promote cycling, thereby enabling more sustainable mobility. |
| Keywords: | Bicycle traffic flow, traffic safety, open-source green wave assistant, countdown timer, natural field experiment, survey |
| JEL: | R49 C93 |
| Date: | 2023–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mut:wpaper:37&r=exp |
| By: | Hannah Schildberg-Hörisch; Marco A. Schwarz; Chi Trieu; Jana Willrodt; Marco Alexander Schwarz |
| Abstract: | Debates about affirmative action often revolve around fairness. Accordingly, we document substantial heterogeneity in the fairness perception of various affirmative action policies. But do these differences translate into different consequences? In a laboratory experiment, we study three different quota rules in tournaments that favor individuals whose performance is low, either due to discrimination, low productivity, or choice of a short working time. Affirmative action favoring discriminated individuals is perceived as fairest, followed by that targeting individuals with a short working time, while favoring low productivity individuals is not perceived as fairer than an absence of affirmative action. Higher fairness perceptions coincide with a higher willingness to compete and less retaliation against winners, underlining that fairness perceptions matter for the consequences of affirmative action. No policy harms overall productivity or post-competition teamwork, but affirmative action may reduce the average output of tournament winners. |
| Keywords: | affirmative action, fairness ideals, experiment, tournament, real effort |
| JEL: | C91 D02 D63 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10198&r=exp |
| By: | Monica P. Bhatt; Sara B. Heller; Max Kapustin; Marianne Bertrand; Christopher Blattman |
| Abstract: | Gun violence is the most pressing public safety problem in American cities. We report results from a randomized controlled trial (N=2, 456) of a community-researcher partnership—the Rapid Employment and Development Initiative (READI Chicago)—which provided 18 months of a supported job alongside cognitive behavioral therapy and other social supports. Algorithmic and human referral methods identified men with strikingly high scope for gun violence reduction: for every 100 people in the control group, there were over 11 shooting and homicide victimizations during the 20-month outcome period. Take-up and retention rates were comparable to programs for people facing far lower mortality risk. There is no statistically significant change in an index combining three measures of serious violence, the study's primary outcome. But one component, shooting and homicide arrests, shows a suggestive decline of 64 percent (p=0.15). Because shootings are so costly, READI generates social savings between $174, 000 and $858, 000 per participant, implying a benefit-cost ratio between 3.8 and 18.8 to 1. Moreover, participants referred by outreach workers—a pre-specified subgroup—show enormous declines in both arrests and victimizations for shootings and homicides that remain statistically significant even after multiple testing adjustments. These declines are concentrated among outreach referrals with high predicted risk, suggesting that human and algorithmic targeting may work better together. |
| JEL: | C53 C93 I38 J08 K42 |
| Date: | 2023–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:30852&r=exp |
| By: | Hu Rongyu (Waseda University) |
| Abstract: | Mental accounting has been applied to explain people’s consumption behavior of private goods by categorizing budgets. However, research on mental accounting of public goods payment is scarce. To provide evidence for the existence of mental accounting of public goods payment, we conducted an online experiment by following an approach similar to the classic theater ticket experiment of Tversky and Kahneman, which revealed the existence of mental accounting by positive phrase questionnaire. We used the Hometown Tax and the Resident Tax in Japan as substitutes for theater tickets, and asked respondents’ attitudes toward paying the tax by the questionnaire using positive, negative, and normative phrases. Our results were consistent across questionnaire items regardless of tone of the phrases, evincing the existence of mental accounting for the tax payment. Additionally, the results suggest that understanding the tax system may help encourage respondents to pay the tax. |
| Keywords: | Mental accounting, Experiment, Public goods payment, Tax |
| Date: | 2023–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wap:wpaper:2213&r=exp |
| By: | Bhatt, Monica; Heller, Sara; Kapustin, Max (Cornell University); Bertrand, Marianne; Blattman, Christopher (University of Chicago) |
| Abstract: | Gun violence is the most pressing public safety problem in American cities. We report results from a randomized controlled trial (N = 2, 456) of a community-researcher partnership—the Rapid Employment and Development Initiative (READI Chicago)— which provided 18 months of a supported job alongside cognitive behavioral therapy and other social supports. Algorithmic and human referral methods identified men with strikingly high scope for gun violence reduction: for every 100 people in the control group, there were over 11 shooting and homicide victimizations during the 20-month outcome period. Take-up and retention rates were comparable to programs for people facing far lower mortality risk. There is no statistically significant change in an index combining three measures of serious violence, the study’s primary outcome. But one component, shooting and homicide arrests, shows a suggestive decline of 64 percent (p = 0.15). Because shootings are so costly, READI generates social savings between \$174, 000 and \$858, 000 per participant, implying a benefit-cost ratio between 3.8 and 18.8 to 1. Moreover, participants referred by outreach workers—a pre-specified subgroup—show enormous declines in both arrests and victimizations for shootings and homicides that remain statistically significant even after multiple testing adjustments. These declines are concentrated among outreach referrals with high predicted risk, suggesting that human and algorithmic targeting may work better together. |
| Date: | 2023–01–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:dks29&r=exp |
| By: | Yongping Bao; Ludwig Danwitz; Fabian Dvorak; Sebastian Fehrler; Lars Hornuf; Hsuan Yu Lin; Bettina von Helversen |
| Abstract: | Algorithm-based decision support systems play an increasingly important role in decisions involving exploration tasks, such as product searches, portfolio choices, and human resource procurement. These tasks often involve a trade-off between exploration and exploitation, which can be highly dependent on individual preferences. In an online experiment, we study whether the willingness of participants to follow the advice of a reinforcement learning algorithm depends on the fit between their own exploration preferences and the algorithm’s advice. We vary the weight that the algorithm places on exploration rather than exploitation, and model the participants’ decision-making processes using a learning model comparable to the algorithm’s. This allows us to measure the degree to which one’s willingness to accept the algorithm’s advice depends on the weight it places on exploration and on the similarity between the exploration tendencies of the algorithm and the participant. We find that the algorithm’s advice affects and improves participants’ choices in all treatments. However, the degree to which participants are willing to follow the advice depends heavily on the algorithm’s exploration tendency. Participants are more likely to follow an algorithm that is more exploitative than they are, possibly interpreting the algorithm’s relative consistency over time as a signal of expertise. Similarity between human choices and the algorithm’s recommendations does not increase humans’ willingness to follow the recommendations. Hence, our results suggest that the consistency of an algorithm’s recommendations over time is key to inducing people to follow algorithmic advice in exploration tasks. |
| Keywords: | algorithms, decision support systems, recommender systems, advice-taking, multi-armed bandit, search, exploration-exploitation, cognitive modeling |
| JEL: | C91 D83 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10188&r=exp |
| By: | Michael Rochlitz; Olga Masyutina; Koen Schoors; Yulia Khalikova (-) |
| Abstract: | How does the prospect of an autocrat remaining in office affect individual expectations and behavior? To answer this question, we implemented a survey experiment in May 2021 in Russia by treating respondents with three hypothetical outcomes of the 2024 Russian presidential elections – Vladimir Putin remaining in office, his close associate Sergei Shoigu winning the elections, or a young reformer becoming president. Respondents then had to answer a range of questions on individual expectations and intended behavior. We find that respondents agree on economic stagnation being a concern under Putin, but not under the two political alternatives. For most other questions, we find a strong division along political lines, as well as – less systematically – with respect to income, age and education. Most importantly, we find that pro-regime respondents were more likely to invest and be economically active under Putin, despite concerns about economic stagnation. Our results show the importance of regime legitimacy for individual incentives, and provide an explanation why unpopular authoritarian regimes might be less economically successful. |
| Keywords: | authoritarian durability, individual attitudes, economic incentives, survey experiment, Russia |
| JEL: | D84 P16 P52 |
| Date: | 2023–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rug:rugwps:23/1061&r=exp |
| By: | Silvia Angerer; Daniela Glätzle-Rützler; Philipp Lergetporer; Thomas Rittmannsberger |
| Abstract: | Social norms affect a wide range of behaviors in society. We conducted a representative experiment to study how beliefs about the existing social norm regarding COVID-19 vaccination affect vaccination readiness. Beliefs about the norm are on average downward biased, and widely dispersed. Randomly providing information about the existing descriptive norm succeeds in correcting biased beliefs, thereby reducing belief dispersion. The information has no effect on vaccination readiness on average, which is due to opposite effects among women (positive) and men (negative). Fundamental differences in how women and men process the same information are likely the cause for these contrasting information effects. Control-group vaccination intentions are lower among women than men, so the information reduces polarization by gender. Additionally, the information reduces gendered polarization in policy preferences related to COVID-19 vaccination. |
| Keywords: | social norms, vaccination, Covid-19 |
| JEL: | C93 D90 I12 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10196&r=exp |
| By: | Nguyen, Minh-Hoang |
| Abstract: | To check the ability of AI to identify precise and detailed scientific information, I experiment with how accurate AI recognizes scientific terms, their origins, meanings, and usages, and whether the accuracy increases over time |
| Date: | 2023–01–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:xgqu5&r=exp |
| By: | Chopra, Felix (University of Copenhagen); Haaland, Ingar (Dept. of Economics, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration); Roth, Christopher (University of Cologne) |
| Abstract: | We examine the relative importance of accuracy concerns and belief confirmation motives in driving the demand for news. In experiments with US respondents, we first vary beliefs about whether an outlet reports the news in a right-wing biased, left-wing biased, or unbiased way. We then measure demand for a newsletter covering articles from this outlet. Respondents only reduce their demand for biased news if the bias is inconsistent with their own political beliefs, suggesting a trade-off between accuracy concerns and belief confirmation motives. We quantify this trade-off using a structural model and find a similar quantitative importance of both motives. |
| Keywords: | News Demand; Media Bias; Accuracy Concerns; Belief Confirmation |
| JEL: | D83 D91 L82 |
| Date: | 2023–01–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:nhheco:2023_001&r=exp |
| By: | Timothée Demont (Aix-Marseille Univ, CNRS, AMSE, Marseille, France.); Daniela Horta Sáenz (Aix-Marseille Univ, CNRS, AMSE, Marseille, France.); Eva Raiber (Aix-Marseille Univ, CNRS, AMSE, Marseille, France.) |
| Abstract: | Worrisome topics, such as climate change, economic crises, or the Covid-19 pandemic, are increasingly present and pervasive due to digital media and social networks. Do such worries affect cognitive performance? The effect of a distressing topic might be very different depending on whether people have the scope and means to cope with the consequences. It can also differ by how performance is rewarded, for instance, if is there a goal that people can focus on. In an online experiment during the Covid-19 pandemic, we test how the cognitive performance of university students responds to topics discussing (i) current mental health issues related to social restrictions or (ii) future labor market uncertainties linked to the economic contraction. Moreover, we study how the response is affected by a performance goal by conditioning payout on reaching a minimum level. We find that the labor market topic increases cognitive performance when performance is motivated by a goal. Conversely, there is no such effect after the mental health topic. We even find a weak negative effect among those mentally vulnerable when payout is not based on reaching a goal. The positive effect is driven by students with larger financial and social resources, pointing at an inequality-widening mechanism. |
| Keywords: | cognitive performance, financial worries, COVID-19, financial incentives, anxiety, coping behaviors |
| JEL: | C91 D91 D81 |
| Date: | 2023–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aim:wpaimx:2302&r=exp |
| By: | Laura Abramovsky (The Institute for Fiscal Studies); Britta Augsburg (The Institute for Fiscal Studies); Melanie Lührmann (Department of Economics, Royal Holloway, and IFS); Francisco Oteiza (Oslo Economics); Juan Pablo Rud (Department of Economics, Royal Holloway, and IFS) |
| Abstract: | Sanitation is at the heart of public health policies in most of the developing world, where around 85% of the population still lack access to safe sanitation. We study the effectiveness of a widely adopted participatory community-level information intervention aimed at improving sanitation. Results from a randomized controlled trial, implemented at scale in rural Nigeria, reveal stark heterogeneity in impacts: the intervention has immediate, strong and lasting effects on sanitation practices in less wealthy communities, realized through increased sanitation investments. In contrast, we find no evidence of impacts among wealthier communities. This suggests that a targetedimplementation of CLTS may increase its effectiveness in improving sanitation. Our findings can be replicated in other contexts, using microdata from evaluations of similar interventions. |
| Keywords: | sanitation, community intervention, randomized controlled trial, Nigeria |
| JEL: | O12 O18 O13 I12 I15 I18 |
| Date: | 2023–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aoz:wpaper:210&r=exp |
| By: | Guy Aridor |
| Abstract: | I study demand for social media services by conducting an experiment where I monitor how participants spend time on digital services and shut off access to Instagram or YouTube on their mobile phones. I characterize how participants substitute their time during and after the restrictions, which motivates estimating a model of time usage with inertia. I apply the substitution patterns observed during the restriction period and implied by the model with and without inertia to a relevant market definition exercise to conclude that relevant markets may be larger than those considered by regulatory authorities for social media applications. |
| Keywords: | social media, attention markets, field experiment, relevant markets |
| JEL: | L00 L40 L86 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10190&r=exp |
| By: | Matthieu Chemin (Unknown); Daniel L. Chen (TSE-R - Toulouse School of Economics - UT1 - Université Toulouse 1 Capitole - Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Vincenzo Di Maro (Unknown); Paul Kieti Kimalu (Unknown); Momanyi Mokaya (Unknown); Manuel Ramos-Maqueda (Unknown) |
| Abstract: | Can data science be used to improve the functioning of courts, and unlock the positive effects of institutions on economic development? In a nationwide randomized experiment in Kenya, we use algorithms to identify the greatest sources of court delay for each court and recommend actions. We randomly assign courts to receive no information, information, or an information and accountability intervention. Information and accountability reduces case duration by 22%. We find an effect on contracting behaviour, with more written labor contracts being signed by firms, and an effect on wage, since jobs with written labor contracts pay more. These results demonstrate a causal relationship between judicial institutions and development outcomes. |
| Date: | 2023–01–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-03921938&r=exp |
| By: | Janne Tukiainen; Sebastian Blesse; Albrecht Bohne; Leonardo M. Giuffrida; Jan Jääskeläinen; Ari Luukinen; Antti Sieppi; Leonardo Maria Giuffrida |
| Abstract: | While effective bureaucracy is crucial for state capacity, its decision-making remains a black box. We elicit preferences of 900+ real-world public procurement officials in Finland and Germany. This is an important pursuit as they report having sizeable discretion and minimal extrinsic incentives. Through conjoint experiments, we identify the relative importance of multiple features of procurement outcomes. Officials prioritize avoiding unexpectedly high prices but not seeking low prices. Avoiding winners with prior bad performance is the most important feature. Officials avoid very low competition, while litigation risks and regional favoritism play minor roles. Personal preferences and office interests appear well-aligned among bureaucrats. |
| Keywords: | bureaucrats, public procurement, preferences, conjoint experiments |
| JEL: | D73 D90 H11 H57 H83 K41 M54 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10199&r=exp |
| By: | Stefano Clò (Department of Economics and Management, University of Florence, Italy); Tommaso Reggiani (Cardiff University-Cardiff Business School, Masaryk University, IZA, United Kingdom); Sabrina Ruberto (Department of Human and Social Sciences, University of Naples L’Orientale, Italy;) |
| Abstract: | This paper questions whether informative feedback on consumption can nudge water saving behavioral change. For this purpose, we launched a five-month online information campaign which involved equipping around 1, 000 households located in the province of Milan (Italy) with a smart meter. Treated households received monthly reports via email on their per capita daily average water consumption, which included a social comparison component (consumption class size). The difference-in-differences analysis showed that, compared to the control group, treated units reduced their daily per capita water consumption by more than 10% (22 liters or 5.8 gallons). This additional water saving increased with the number of monthly reports, though it did not persist two months after the campaign expired. The impact of the campaign was heterogeneous across consumption classes, while a Regression Discontinuity Design analysis showed that different feedback on consumption class size differentially affected water saving at the margin. Finally, being able to observe the email opening rate, we complemented the ITT analysis by developing a Per Protocol (PP) analysis, where non-adherent units were excluded from the treated group. Both ITT and PP provide consistent conclusions, thus augmenting the level of confidence in the study results. |
| Keywords: | water saving, nudging, field experiment, online information campaign, information feedback |
| JEL: | C93 H41 L95 Q25 |
| Date: | 2023–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mub:wpaper:2023-02&r=exp |
| By: | Ilke Aydogan (IÉSEG School Of Management [Puteaux]); Loïc Berger (CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, IÉSEG School Of Management [Puteaux], EIEE - European Institute on Economics and the Environment, CMCC - Centro Euro-Mediterraneo per i Cambiamenti Climatici [Bologna]); Valentina Bosetti (Bocconi University [Milan, Italy], EIEE - European Institute on Economics and the Environment, CMCC - Centro Euro-Mediterraneo per i Cambiamenti Climatici [Bologna]); Ning Liu (BUAA - Beihang University) |
| Abstract: | We explore decision-making under uncertainty using a framework that decom- poses uncertainty into three distinct layers: (1) risk, which entails inherent random- ness within a given probability model; (2) model ambiguity, which entails uncertainty about the probability model to be used; and (3) model misspecification, which en- tails uncertainty about the presence of the correct probability model among the set of models considered. Using a new experimental design, we isolate and measure attitudes towards each layer separately. We conduct our experiment on three different subject pools and document the existence of a behavioral distinction between the three layers. In addition to providing new insights into the underlying processes behind ambiguity aversion, we provide the first empirical evidence of the role of model misspecification in decision-making under uncertainty. |
| Keywords: | Ambiguity aversion, model uncertainty, model misspecification, non-expected utility, reduction of compound lotteries |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03031751&r=exp |
| By: | Julien Jacob (BETA - Bureau d'Économie Théorique et Appliquée - AgroParisTech - UNISTRA - Université de Strasbourg - UL - Université de Lorraine - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Eve-Angéline Lambert (BETA - Bureau d'Économie Théorique et Appliquée - AgroParisTech - UNISTRA - Université de Strasbourg - UL - Université de Lorraine - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Mathieu Lefebvre (AMSE - Aix-Marseille Sciences Economiques - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - ECM - École Centrale de Marseille - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Sarah van Driessche (BETA - Bureau d'Économie Théorique et Appliquée - AgroParisTech - UNISTRA - Université de Strasbourg - UL - Université de Lorraine - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement) |
| Abstract: | We experimentally investigate the impact of information disclosure on managing common harms that are caused jointly by a group of liable agents. Subjects interact in a public bad setting and must choose ex ante how much to contribute in order to reduce the probability of causing a common damage. If a damage occurs, subjects bear a part of the loss according to the liability-sharing rule in force. We consider two existing rules: a per capita rule and a proportional rule. Our aim is to analyze the relative impact of information disclosure under each rule. We show that information disclosure increases contributions only under a per capita rule. This result challenges the classical results regarding the positive effects of information disclosure, since we show that this impact may depend upon the legal context. We also show that while a proportional rule leads to higher contributions than a per capita one, the positive effect of disclosure on a per capita rule makes it as efficient as a proportional rule without information disclosure. |
| Keywords: | Information disclosure, Common harms, Environmental Regulation, Liability Sharing Rules, Public Bads, Multiple Tortfeasors |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03922400&r=exp |
| By: | Susanna Loeb (Center for Education Policy Analysis, Stanford); Michala Iben Riis-Vestergaard (Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, MIT); Marianne Simonsen (Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University) |
| Abstract: | This paper presents the results from a large-scale family-level randomized controlled trial evaluation of a texting program, TipsbyText, which had as its primary goal to enhance child language development through supporting parents and caregivers in creating playful, language stimulating activities. The program was delivered to parents of children aged 3-6 in Danish preschools and the evaluation combines the data from the randomized controlled trial with population-level register-based data. We measure outcomes immediately after program delivery and at one-year follow-up. While the program was generally well liked by parents and delivered as intended with relatively low dropout, TipsByText did not affect children’s language development, neither for the full sample, nor for any pre-defined subgroups. We discuss possible reasons for the lack of positive effects. |
| Keywords: | Text messages, randomized trial, language development, children |
| JEL: | I2 |
| Date: | 2023–01–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aah:aarhec:2023-01&r=exp |
| By: | Zhuo, Shi; Ratajczak, Michael; Thornton, Katie; Jones, Phil; Jarchlo, Ayla Ibrahimi; Gold, Natalie |
| Abstract: | Food products have significant impacts on the environment over their life cycle. We investigated whether displaying products in ascending order of carbon footprint in an online supermarket environment can shift consumer choices towards more sustainable options. We examined whether the effect of the ordering intervention differs when the ordering is overt (information about the ordering is explicit), compared to when it is covert (participants not told about the ordering). We conducted a three-arm parallel-group randomised trial using 1842 online participants from England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Participants shopped for a meal, choosing one product from each of six product categories in a simulated online supermarket. Six products were listed vertically on each product-category page. Products were randomly ordered for the control arm but ordered by carbon footprint in the covert and overt ordering arms. In the overt ordering arm, a statement was displayed at the top of each product page about the ordering of products. The primary outcome was whether one of the three most sustainable products was chosen in each product category. There was no effect of the covert ordering on the probability of choosing more sustainable products compared with the control arm (OR = 0.97, 95% CI 0.88-1.07, p = 0.533). Furthermore, we did not find evidence that the effects of the covert ordering and overt ordering differed (p = 0.594). Within the control condition, products in different positions were chosen with similar frequencies, suggesting that product positioning does not have an impact on choices. This may explain why re-ordering products had no effect. In the overt condition, only 19.5% of people correctly answered that the products were ordered according to sustainability in a follow-up question, suggesting that they didn't notice the statement. Results suggest that choices for grocery products might be too ingrained to be changed by subtle rearrangements of choice architecture like the ordering interventions, and highlight the difficulty of conveying information effectively to consumers in the online grocery shopping environment. |
| Keywords: | disclosure; food choice; nudge; online supermarket; order effect; sustainable diet |
| JEL: | L81 |
| Date: | 2023–02–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:117705&r=exp |
| By: | Liverpool-Tasie, Lenis Saweda; Dillon, Andrew; Bloem, Jeffrey R.; Adjognon, Guigonan Serge |
| Abstract: | Sustainable intensification is predicated on climate-smart agricultural input adoption. We test strategies for promoting the adoption of climate-smart agricultural inputs in Nigeria with a private sector firm. We disentangle the effects of price discount promotions (25 percent discounts) relative to the firm’s standard “business as usual†marketing package. We find that the standard marketing package increases the adoption of climate-smart urea super granule (USG) fertilizer by 24 percentage points while reducing prilled urea utilization by 17 percentage points. Discounts increase adoption of USG by an additional eight percentage points, but are not profitable for the input supply firm as a scalable marketing strategy. Although treatment reduces nitrogen runoff damages valued between USD 43 and 113 per hectare, it did not lead to increased rice yields for farmers. |
| Keywords: | NIGERIA; WEST AFRICA; AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA; AFRICA; private sector; economic sectors; climate change adaptation; fertilizers; rice; climate-smart agriculture; climate-smart technologies; technology adoption; micro-dosing |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:2155&r=exp |
| By: | Rimkute, Dovile; Mazepus, Honorata |
| Abstract: | Agencification in the EU stretches the confines of the European regulatory state to the maximum by extending to policy domains that were formerly the exclusive terrain of national institutions. Although the challenge to legitimize EU-level agencies is widely acknowledged, scant empirical research has been done on the conditions under which EU-level epistemic authority prevails or fails. To fill this gap, we examine whether EU agencies are perceived as more legitimate when the scientific nature of their regulatory outputs is made explicit and whether they start facing grave legitimacy challenges when national-level stakeholders signal disapproval with their scientific recommendations. We draw on a survey experiment with Dutch local politicians to study their legitimacy perceptions about the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and its mandate to authorize vaccines in view of cross-border health security risks. Our data suggest that the EMA is regarded as a highly legitimate agency and that disapproval by national-level politicians and citizens does not undermine its epistemic authority in the eyes of local decision-makers. This study contributes to the scholarship on non-majoritarian institutions’ legitimation imperatives by introducing novel research avenues and analytical tools to continue rigorous empirical testing of the well-established theoretical and normative claims. |
| Date: | 2023–01–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:bj4vn&r=exp |
| By: | Mate Kormos; Robert P. Lieli; Martin Huber |
| Abstract: | We study causal inference in a setting in which units consisting of pairs of individuals (such as married couples) are assigned randomly to one of four categories: a treatment targeted at pair member A, a potentially different treatment targeted at pair member B, joint treatment, or no treatment. The setup includes the important special case in which the pair members are the same individual targeted by two different treatments A and B. Allowing for endogenous non-compliance, including coordinated treatment takeup, as well as interference across treatments, we derive the causal interpretation of various instrumental variable estimands using weaker monotonicity conditions than in the literature. In general, coordinated treatment takeup makes it difficult to separate treatment interaction from treatment effect heterogeneity. We provide auxiliary conditions and various bounding strategies that may help zero in on causally interesting parameters. As an empirical illustration, we apply our results to a program randomly offering two different treatments, namely tutoring and financial incentives, to first year college students, in order to assess the treatments' effects on academic performance. |
| Date: | 2023–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2301.04876&r=exp |
| By: | Fontana, Roberto; Rapallo, Fabio; Wynn, Henry P. |
| Abstract: | This paper continues the application of circuit theory to experimental design started by the first two authors. The theory gives a very special and detailed representation of the kernel of the design model matrix named circuit basis. This representation turns out to be an appropriate way to study the optimality criteria referred to as robustness: the sensitivity of the design to the removal of design points. Exploiting the combinatorial properties of the circuit basis, we show that high values of robustness are obtained by avoiding small circuits. Many examples are given, from classical combinatorial designs to two-level factorial designs including interactions. The complexity of the circuit representations is useful because the large range of options they offer, but conversely requires the use of dedicated software. Suggestions for speed improvement are made. |
| Keywords: | algebraic statistics and combinatorics; design of experiments; robustness |
| JEL: | C1 |
| Date: | 2022–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:113631&r=exp |