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on Experimental Economics |
| By: | Niklas M. Witzig (Johannes-Gutenberg University, Germany) |
| Abstract: | I study altruistic choices through the lens of a cognitively noisy decision-maker. I introduce a theoretical framework that demonstrates how increased cognitive noise can directionally affect altruistic decisions and put its implications to the test: In a laboratory experiment, participants make a series of binary choices between taking and giving monetary payments. In the treatment, to-be-calculated sums replace plain monetary payments, increasing the cognitive difficulty of choosing. The Treatment group exhibits a lower sensitivity towards changes in payments and decides significantly more often in favor of the other person, i.e., is more altruistic. I explore the origins of this effect with Bayesian hierarchical models and a number-comparison task, mirroring the mechanics of the altruism choices absent any altruistic preference. The treatment effect is similar in this task, suggesting that a biased perception of numerical magnitudes drives treatment differences. The probabilistic models support this interpretation. A series of additional results show a negative correlation between cognitive reflection and individual measures of cognitive noise, as well as associations between altruistic choice and number comparison. Overall, these results suggest that altruistic preferences – and potentially social preferences more generally – are affected by the cognitive difficulty of their implementation. |
| Keywords: | Cognitive Noise, Altruism, Bayesian Hierarchical Models, Experiment. |
| JEL: | C91 D91 |
| Date: | 2024–09–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jgu:wpaper:2415 |
| By: | Li, Jiangyan; Fairley, Kim; Fenneman, Achiel |
| Abstract: | The Ellsberg urn is conventionally used in experiments to measure ambiguity attitudes, yet there is no uniformity in the method for producing Ellsberg urns, which complicates the comparability of results across studies. By surveying 69 experimental studies, we distill four different methods of ambiguity production—Ellsberg urns that are produced by (i) the experimenter, (ii) another random participant, (iii) compound risk lotteries, and (iv) compound risk derived from random numbers in nature. In an experiment we then assess participants’ ambiguity attitudes concerning each production method and detect no statistically significant differences among them. However, a notable proportion of preference inconsistency is observed when utilizing compound risk lotteries for ambiguity generation. Generally, our findings suggest interchangeability among the four production methods in future laboratory experiments. Nevertheless, we suggest employing method (i) as it is the most uncomplicated and straightforward production method. |
| Keywords: | Ambiguity, ambiguity aversion, likelihood insensitivity, uncertainty, Ellsberg, experiment |
| JEL: | C90 D80 |
| Date: | 2024–09–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:122336 |
| By: | Zanoni, Wladimir; Fabregas, Raissa |
| Abstract: | We conducted an artifactual field experiment with human resource recruiters in Ecuador to investigate the extent to which migrants are penalized in the labor market. Human resource recruiters were hired to evaluate pairs of job candidates competing for jobs. The candidate profiles were observationally equivalent, except that one was randomly assigned to be a Venezuelan migrant. Recruiters assessed job fitness, proposed wages for each candidate, and made hiring recommendations. We find robust evidence of a penalty against migrants across all dimensions. Venezuelans are penalized despite being from a population who shares cultural, historical, and linguistic characteristics with natives and has, on average, higher levels of education. We do not find evidence that recruiters demographic characteristics, experience, cognitive scores, or personality traits correlate with a preference for natives. Instead, there is suggestive evidence that jobs requiring a greater degree of local knowledge or public interface carry a higher migrant penalty. |
| Keywords: | Migrant;labor market;Wage;discrimination |
| JEL: | J71 J61 C93 O15 |
| Date: | 2024–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:13804 |
| By: | Andrew Dillon; Nicoló Tomaselli |
| Abstract: | Making markets is central to theories of development. In a randomized controlled trial, we vary an agricultural input market's organization to test whether time-inconsistent preferences, hard or soft commitments, and liquidity are constraints to market formation. The results show that markets organized earlier raise market sales consistent with farmer's measured time-inconsistent preferences. Liquidity in later spot markets are a substitute for earlier market timing. Farmer's demand is relatively inelastic to deposit levels in forward contracts. The experiment also directly tests the separability hypothesis where we find creating input markets alone does not lead to welfare improvements. |
| Keywords: | agriculture, market formation, welfare improvements, randomized controlled trial, development, farmers. |
| JEL: | Q12 L10 G21 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:frz:wpaper:wp2024_18.rdf |
| By: | Daniel Albert; Stephan Billinger |
| Abstract: | In this study, we propose LLM agents as a novel approach in behavioral strategy research, complementing simulations and laboratory experiments to advance our understanding of cognitive processes in decision-making. Specifically, we reproduce a human laboratory experiment in behavioral strategy using large language model (LLM) generated agents and investigate how LLM agents compare to observed human behavior. Our results show that LLM agents effectively reproduce search behavior and decision-making comparable to humans. Extending our experiment, we analyze LLM agents' simulated "thoughts, " discovering that more forward-looking thoughts correlate with favoring exploitation over exploration to maximize wealth. We show how this new approach can be leveraged in behavioral strategy research and address limitations. |
| Date: | 2024–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2410.06932 |
| By: | Miyamoto, Tomohisa; Bedi, Arjun S. (ISS, Erasmus University Rotterdam) |
| Abstract: | In India, fluency in English remains a status symbol for the wealthy and educated middle class, while creating a divide between those who have strong English language skills and those who do not. This study deploys a correspondence experiment conducted on a matrimonial website, to examine returns to English language skills for females in a marriage market in Delhi. Indicating strong English language skills in a marriage profile increases the number of views and interests received by 20% and 38%, respectively. Rather than relying on a purely passive approach of receiving attention from unknown users, in a more active stage of the experiment, expressions of interest were sent from female profiles to randomly assigned male profiles. While there is no overall effect of English language proficiency on the interest response rate, language fluency makes a difference for some subgroups. For lower caste women the English language premium is 13 percentage points (43%) and while both lower and upper caste males are more likely to respond to lower caste women with strong English language skills, the effect is substantially larger, 14.3 percentage points or 47%, in the case of upper caste males. The results suggest that English language proficiency expands the set of potential marriage partners and may help promote inter-caste alliances. |
| Keywords: | English, return to language skills, caste, social mobility, marriage market, field experiment |
| JEL: | J64 J65 |
| Date: | 2024–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17366 |
| By: | Christopher L. Brown; Timothy N. Cason |
| Abstract: | We report a lab experiment to study subjects’ preferences over their ordinal rank in an earnings distribution. Following an assignment of unequal earnings, subjects can select a monetary transfer from exactly one individual to another, not including themselves. This can potentially change their own position in the distribution, as well as influence overall inequality. The experiment varies whether the initial earnings assignment is random or is affected by preliminary competition. It also varies the reference group from a complete to a partial network. A majority of observed transfers reduce in-equality by moving earnings from those with the highest rank to the lowest rank in the distribution. Rank-improving transfers are substantially more common for preliminary competition losers than winners. Transfers to individuals outside of the reference group are not uncommon, and they usually target as the source the individuals high in the income distribution. While generally weak overall, own rank preferences appear to be more common among men than women |
| Keywords: | Inequality aversion; relative earnings; distributive preferences; social preferences |
| JEL: | C90 D31 D91 |
| Date: | 2024–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pur:prukra:1340 |
| By: | Kozo UEDA |
| Abstract: | This study investigates whether information provision on inflation influences household inflation expectations and actual spending in Japan. Using a randomized controlled trial with approximately 2, 500 bank account holders, I find that information provision significantly shapes inflation expectations, with respondents adjusting their expectations in line with the information received. However, this adjustment in expectations does not translate into changes in actual spending behavior, as observed through outflow transactions. These findings underscore the challenge of managing inflation expectations. |
| Date: | 2024–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cnn:wpaper:24-021e |
| By: | Gunnthorsdottir, Anna; Thorsteinsson, Palmar |
| Abstract: | Social stratification, segregation and inequity invite concerns about fairness and social harmony. Our game-theoretic and experimental results indicate that they can also be detrimental to productivity, efficiency, and welfare. Class is defined by players’ resources, incentives to make a public contribution, and social mobility. We discuss the model’s real-world applications, and ways to increase efficiency and welfare through increased equity, mobility, or competition. We also describe how the model can be adapted to represent and experimentally test different class structures, the interaction between demographic characteristics and class, and the effectiveness of policies that modify incentives. We experimentally test a two-class model. The poorer L-class are socially mobile: for them, effort is linked to social positioning and earnings akin to what is often referred to as a Middle-Class mindset. The productive L-players support a relatively efficient equilibrium that encompasses both classes. Upper-class H-players, notwithstanding their guaranteed privilege and superior resources, are relatively unproductive and display behavior akin to class-consciousness by contributing only what is necessary to remain above the L-class. The experimental results confirm that humans respond swiftly to incentives associated with their material status and economic opportunities and suggest that policies aimed at increasing welfare through incentive modification can be successful. |
| Keywords: | Inequality, social class, game theory, experiment, welfare |
| JEL: | C72 C91 D63 I3 I38 |
| Date: | 2024–08–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:122275 |
| By: | Duffy, Sean; Smith, John |
| Abstract: | Standard random utility models can account for stochastic choice. However, a common implication is that the realized utilities are equal with probability zero. This knife-edge aspect implies that indifference is thin because arbitrarily small changes in utility will break indifference. Semiorders can represent preferences where indifference is thick, however, choice is not random. We design an incentivized binary line length judgment experiment to better understand how indifference can be both thick and random. In the 2-choice treatment, subjects select one of the lines. In the 3-choice treatment, subjects select one of the lines or can express indifference, which directs the computer to "flip a coin" to decide. In every trial, there is a longer line and subjects were told this fact. For each of our line pairs, subjects make 5 decisions in the 2-choice treatment and 5 decisions in the 3-choice treatment. In the line pair with the smallest length difference, 49.7% of 2-choice treatment trials are optimal. For this line pair in the 3-choice treatment, only 1 out of 113 subjects selected indifference on all 5 available trials. There are well-known predictions that optimal choices will have shorter response times than suboptimal choices (Fudenberg, Strack, and Strzalecki, 2018) and we find evidence of this in our dataset. However, not much seems to be known about the response times and indifference. In the 3-choice treatment, we find that indifference choices have longer response times than suboptimal choices. We find that indifference choices are associated with risk aversion and a measure of the beliefs of the favorability of the coin flip. We do not find that indifference choices become more likely across trials, however we find the likelihood of selecting the longer line--in both 2-choice and 3-choice treatments--are decreasing across trials. We hope that the results of our experiment can help inform models of choice where indifference is both thick and random. |
| Keywords: | choice theory, judgment, indifference, memory, search |
| JEL: | C91 D03 |
| Date: | 2024–09–20 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:122165 |
| By: | Li, Haizheng (Georgia Institute of Technology); Liu, Qinyi (University of Nottingham Ningbo China); Xu, Yiting (Central University of Finance and Economics Beijing) |
| Abstract: | In this study, we investigate misreporting behavior in online surveys based on the field experiments in a large-scale online training program for rural teachers. We link the digitally recorded data with survey responses and integrate randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in the survey design. Noncognitive human capital is measured using both self-reported personality traits and proxies based on observed behaviors. Our results show that the impact of observed individual characteristics varies depending on the nature of the question and survey specifics. Unobserved heterogeneity affects both survey participation and response accuracy, resulting in sample selectivity. Noncognitive human capital inferred from observed behaviors consistently shows important influence on misreporting, while that measured by self-reported personality traits suffers from the same misreporting problem. However, behavior proxy may also capture factors external to survey respondents, and it is important to separate the effect of noncognitive human capital from the external impacts. Additionally, survey design affects misreporting. Therefore, improving the efficiency of survey such as by changing the saliency and optimizing the sequence of questions, can improve survey quality. These findings carry important implications for using survey data and for improving survey data quality. |
| Keywords: | misreporting, noncognitive human capital, survey design, RCT intervention |
| JEL: | D91 D83 C93 J24 |
| Date: | 2024–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17332 |
| By: | Abdelrahman Amer; Ashley C. Craig; Clémentine Van Effenterre; Ashley Craig |
| Abstract: | Subjective performance evaluation is an important part of hiring and promotion decisions. We combine experiments with administrative data to understand what drives gender bias in such evaluations in the technology industry. Our results highlight the role of personal interaction. Leveraging 60, 000 mock video interviews on a platform for software engineers, we find that average ratings for code quality and problem solving are 12 percent of a standard deviation lower for women. We use two field experiments to study what drives these gaps. Our first experiment shows that providing evaluators with automated performance measures does not reduce gender gaps. Our second experiment compares blind to non-blind evaluations without video interaction: There is no gender gap in either case. These results rule out traditional models of discrimination. Instead, we show that gender gaps widen with extended personal interaction, and are larger for evaluators from regions where implicit association test scores are higher. This dependence on personal interaction provides a potential reason why audit studies often fail to detect gender bias. |
| Keywords: | discrimination, gender, coding, experiment, information |
| JEL: | C93 D83 J16 J71 M51 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11268 |
| By: | Mayuko Nakamaru (School of Environment and Society, Institute of Science Tokyo, JAPAN); Takaaki Ohkawauchi (College of Humanities and Sciences, Nihon University, JAPAN); Rei Okawa (School of Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, JAPAN); Koki Oikawa (School of Social Sciences, Waseda University, JAPAN); Yuto Otani (School of Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, JAPAN); Hiroo Sasaki (Professor Emeritus, Waseda University, JAPAN); Junyi Shen (Research Institute for Economics and Business Administration, Kobe University, JAPAN); Koichi Takase (Faculty of Commerce, Waseda University, JAPAN); Hirofumi Yamamura (Faculty of Business Administration, Komazawa University, Japan); Takehiko Yamato (School of Engineering, Institute of Science Tokyo, JAPAN) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies two types of facility maintenance games in the laboratory, in a cross-cultural experiment conducted in Tokyo and Guam. One is called the one-person maintenance game, in which only one player makes maintenance investment decisions for a privately owned facility, and the other is called the two-person maintenance game, in which two players make maintenance investment decisions for a shared public facility without communication. Both games are characterized by the fact that the durability of the facility depends on each player's decision of costly investment in its maintenance, and that the facility can be enjoyed as long as it is available, i.e., the probability that the game will end or continue depends on each player's decision of costly investment in its maintenance. Our main results are that first, most subjects chose to invest in each experimental round of both games. At the beginning of the two games, the percentage of subjects who are willing to invest is significantly higher among the Tokyo subjects than among the Guam subjects. However, as the game proceeds, the difference in this percentage between the two groups becomes statistically insignificant. Second, in either the one-person game, the two-person game or both, subjective factors (i.e., risk and time preferences) and/or objective factors (i.e., the durability of the facility) play important roles in influencing the investment behaviors of either the Guam subjects, the Tokyo subjects or both. Third, there is a significant difference in the investment ratio between the one-person and two-person games among the Tokyo subjects, but not among the Guam subjects. Finally, we also investigate the factors affecting different behaviors between the two games. The results indicate the possibility of conditional cooperative behavior among the Guam subjects and the possibility of free rider behavior among the Tokyo subjects in the two-person game. |
| Keywords: | Maintenance games; Public good; Free rider; Risk preference; Time preference; Inter-regional comparison |
| JEL: | C71 C72 C91 |
| Date: | 2024–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kob:dpaper:dp2024-35 |
| By: | Paul Hufe (University of Bristol); Daniel Weishaar (LMU Munich) |
| Abstract: | The measurement of preferences often relies on surveys in which individuals evaluate hypothetical scenarios. This paper proposes and validates a novel factorial survey tool to measure fairness preferences. We specifically examine whether a non-incentivized survey captures the same distributional preferences as an impartial spectator design, where choices may apply to a real person. In contrast to prior studies, our design involves high stakes, with respondents determining a real person’s monthly earnings, ranging from $500 to $5, 700. We find that the non-incentivized survey module yields nearly identical results compared to the incentivized experiment and recovers fairness preferences that are stable over time. Furthermore, we show that most respondents adopt intermediate fairness positions, with fewer exhibiting strictly egalitarian or libertarian preferences. These findings suggest that high stake incentives do not significantly impact the measurement of fairness preferences and that non-incentivized survey questions covering realistic scenarios offer valuable insights into the nature of these preferences. |
| Keywords: | Fairness preferences; Survey experiment; Vignette studies; |
| JEL: | C90 D63 I39 |
| Date: | 2024–11–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rco:dpaper:515 |
| By: | Bancalari, Antonella; Bernal, Pedro; García, María Fernanda; Ibarrarán, Pablo; Sánchez-Monin, Emmanuelle; Zúñiga Brenes, Paola |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the effects of releasing remoteness constraints on the accessibility and quality of maternal and infant healthcare. Through a field experiment, we provided complementary demand- and supply-side subsidies to improve healthcare for impoverished pregnant women residing in remote Nicaraguan communities. The subsidies increased the utilization of antenatal care by skilled providers, the quality of care received, institutional delivery, and postnatal care utilization, along with the quality of postnatal care received by mothers. Neonatal and infant mortality and fertility decreased in treated communities five years after the intervention was started. |
| Keywords: | remoteness;subsidies;maternal health;infant mortality |
| JEL: | D10 D04 I15 O12 O18 |
| Date: | 2024–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:13791 |
| By: | Motta, Matt (Boston University School of Public Health); Callaghan, Timothy; Ross, Jennifer; Padmanabhan, Medini; Gargano, Lisa; Bowman, Sarah; Yokum, David Vincent (North Carolina) |
| Abstract: | Importance: While high levels of annual vaccination remains a key strategy for preventing the spread of new COVID-19 variants, most eligible Americans chose not to receive an updated vaccine in 2023. Objective: To assess the effectiveness of two new COVID-19 vaccine uptake communication strategies on annual COVID-19 vaccine uptake among vaccine hesitant sub-populations in a high vaccination state, and determine whether or not the messages “scale up” into an effective national messaging strategy. Design: We administered four randomized controlled trials embedded in two large and representative public opinion surveys before and following the availability of updated COVID-19 vaccines. Trials 1 and 2 were conducted in June 2023, and randomly exposed a representative cross-section of adults in a highly vaccinated state (Rhode Island; Trial 1, N = 800) and a nationally representative cross-section US adults (Trial 2, N = 1, 000) with messages that normalize the risks posed by endemic COVID-19 (vs. a control group). Trials 3 and 4 were conducted in October 2023, and randomly exposed analogous state (Trial 3, N = 800) and nationally representative survey respondents (Trial 4, N = 1, 200) to messages that “de-normalize” constantly-mutating viral threats posed by endemic COVID-19 (vs. a control group). Setting: Survey respondents were administered the trials online. Participants: All adults aged 18 or over, residing in either the US (Trials 1, 3) or Rhode Island (specifically; Trials 2, 4), and who were members of a large, online, opt-in survey panel recruitment pool maintained by YouGov, were eligible for inclusion in this study. Interventions: Respondents were randomly assigned to read a short message promoting annual COVID-19 vaccine uptake (vs. a control group, shown an unrelated message). In Trials 1 and 2, messages either made an effort to (a) normalize COVID-19 as endemic (“normalization” [NORM]), (b) both normalize and highlight the Long COVID health risks posed by endemic COVID-19 (“normalization + risk” [NR]), or (c) a control message unrelated to vaccination. In Trials 3 and 4, respondents were randomly assigned to either read (a) the aforementioned “NORM” message, (b) a message “de-normalizing” (DENORM) COVID-19 as a constantly mutating viral risk, or (c) a study-wide control message. Outcomes & Measures: The primary outcome variable in this study measures respondents’ self-reported intentions to receive an annual COVID-19 vaccine. The primary explanatory variable in our analyses is an indicator of experimental condition assignment, stratified by whether respondents (a) received a full COVID-19 vaccine sequence & at least one booster shot, (b) received some form of COVID-19 vaccination, but no boosters, or (c) are unvaccinated against COVID-19. Results: In Trials 1 and 2, we find that unvaccinated Rhode Islanders exposed to the NR messaging, but not NORM messaging, were significantly more likely to intend to receive an annual COVID-19 vaccine (NORM: B = 0.13, CI = -0.03, 0.30, p = 0.11; NR: B = 0.22, CI = 0.00, 0.44, p = 0.05). In Trials 3 and 4, we find that exposure to DENORM messaging, but not NORM messaging, is also associated with annual COVID-19 vaccine uptake among unvaccinated Rhode Islanders (NORM: B = 0.19, CI = -0.03, 0.41, p = 0.10; DENORM: B = 0.23, CI = 0.01, 0.44, p = 0.04). We detect no significant effects in either of our national samples, which post hoc analyses suggest might result from observed and unobserved differences in unvaccinated populations across Rhode Island and national samples. Conclusions: Our work suggests that messaging emphasizing both the endemic health risks (“NR”) and challenges of combating new COVID-19 variants (“DENORM”) may be effective at increasing annual COVID-19 vaccine uptake in unvaccinated populations, and suggest opportunities for future research regarding how differences in state public health contexts might moderate the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccine communication. |
| Date: | 2024–10–15 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:fpxj7 |
| By: | Mikhail Anufriev; Frieder Neunhoeffer; Jan Tuinstra |
| Abstract: | We investigate whether time pressure exacerbates or mitigates bubbles in laboratory experiments. We find that under high time pressure price volatility is lower and market prices are closer to their fundamental value. This is due to participants using simpler adaptive forecasting strategies, instead of the selfreinforcing extrapolative expectations that they use under low time pressure, and which are conducive to the emergence of bubbles. In addition, by substantially increasing the number of decision periods in our experiment we find that in the long run prices eventually tend to converge to their fundamental value, also in the absence of time pressure. |
| Keywords: | expectation formation, learning-to-forecast, time pressure, long run dynamics, forecasting strategies. |
| JEL: | C91 G11 G41 |
| Date: | 2024–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ise:remwps:wp03512024 |
| By: | Banerjee, Ritwik; Blunch, Niels-Hugo; Cassese, Daniele; Gupta, Nabanita Datta; Pin, Paolo |
| Abstract: | An enduring question in education is whether team-based peer learning methods help improve learning outcomes among students. We randomly assign around 10, 000 middle school students in Karnataka, India, to alternative peer learning treatments in Math and English that vary the intensity of collaboration. Teamwork with co-coaching outperforms simple teamwork and incentive treatments by increasing the test scores by about 0.25 standard deviation, but only in Math. This is both statistically and economically significant for students at the bottom of the ability distribution. We develop theoretical conditions under which teamwork with co-coaching outperforms simple teamwork as a peer-learning method. |
| Keywords: | cooperative learning methods, jigsaw, peer effects |
| JEL: | I20 I24 C93 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1506 |
| By: | Stephan, Gesine (Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg); Hetschko, Clemens (University of Leeds); Schmidtke, Julia (Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg); Eid, Michael (Freie Universität Berlin); Lawes, Mario (Freie Universität Berlin) |
| Abstract: | We ran a field experiment to causally identify the effects of intense survey participation on key labour market outcomes. We randomly excluded individuals willing to sign up for the German Job Search Panel, a high-frequency survey with a focus on job search and well-being. Using administrative data on labour market outcomes (e.g., employment, earnings), we find that, on average, survey participation had no effect on labour market outcomes during the year after signing up. Furthermore, there is no strong heterogeneity across subgroups. Overall, this is good news for the validity of survey-based research involving labour market outcomes. We also demonstrate that a comparison of individuals signing up for the survey with individuals not responding to the invitation could have been misleading. Even when controlling for a wide range of observable characteristics, survey participation and the subsequent take up of training programs correlate significantly. This speaks to the importance of experimental research designs in our context. |
| Keywords: | Hawthorne effect, panel conditioning, job search, labour market outcomes, field experiment |
| JEL: | C83 C93 J63 J64 |
| Date: | 2024–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17347 |
| By: | Banerjee, Ritwik (Indian Institute of Management Bangalore); Blunch, Niels-Hugo (Washington and Lee University); Cassese, Daniele (University of Cambridge); Datta Gupta, Nabanita (Aarhus University); Pin, Paolo (University of Siena) |
| Abstract: | An enduring question in education is whether team-based peer learning methods help improve learning outcomes among students. We randomly assign around 10, 000 middle school students in Karnataka, India, to alternative peer learning treatments in Math and English that vary the intensity of collaboration. Teamwork with co-coaching outperforms simple teamwork and incentive treatments by increasing the test scores by about 0.25 standard deviation, but only in Math. This is both statistically and economically significant for students at the bottom of the ability distribution. We develop theoretical conditions under which teamwork with co-coaching outperforms simple teamwork as a peer-learning method. |
| Keywords: | cooperative learning methods, jigsaw, peer effects |
| JEL: | I20 I24 C93 |
| Date: | 2024–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17362 |
| By: | Evaluator 1; Evaluator 2; Charlotte Lane |
| Abstract: | We organized two evaluations of the paper: "Intergenerational Child Mortality Impacts of Deworming: Experimental Evidence from Two Decades of the Kenya Life Panel Survey". The authors find evidence for an intergenerational mortality benefit that could be large enough to make a difference to the debate over the effectiveness of deworming (relative to other impactful interventions like bednets). The evaluators generally find the paper credible, but raise some concerns (e.g., about consistency with the pre-analysis plan) and request some robustness checks. The authors responded briefly, noting they are revising the paper in response to these and other comments. To read these evaluations, please see the links below. |
| Date: | 2024–10–29 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bjn:evalua:evalsumintergen |
| By: | Robert Fairlie; Daniel Oliver; Glenn Millhauser; Randa Roland; Robert W. Fairlie |
| Abstract: | An extensive literature in the social sciences analyzes peer effects among students, but estimation is complicated by several major problems some of which cannot be solved even with random assignment. We design a field experiment and propose a new estimation technique to address these estimation problems including the mechanical problems associated with repeated observations within peer groups noted by Angrist (2014). The field experiment randomly assigns students to one-to-one partnerships in an important gateway STEM course at a large public university. We find no evidence of peer effects from estimates of exogenous peer effect models. We push further and estimate outcome-on-outcome models which sometimes reveal peer effects when exogenous models do not provide good proxies for ability. We find some limited evidence of small, positive outcome-on-outcome peer effects (which would have been missed without our new estimation technique). Standard estimation methods fail to detect peer effects and even return negative estimates in our Monte Carlo simulations because of the downward bias due to mechanical problems. Simulations reveal additional advantages of our technique especially when peer group sizes are fixed. Estimates of non-linear effects, heterogeneous effects, and different measures of peer ability and outcomes reveal mostly null effects but we find some evidence that low-ability peers negatively affect low-ability and medium-ability students. The findings in this setting of long-term, intensive interactions with classroom random assignment and “throwing everything at it” provide evidence of, at most, small positive peer effects contrasting with the common finding of large peer effects in previous studies in education. |
| Keywords: | peer effects, higher education, STEM, field experiment |
| JEL: | I21 I23 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11404 |
| By: | Arkadev Ghosh; Prerna Kundu; Matt Lowe; Gareth Nellis; Matthew Lowe |
| Abstract: | Non-family-based institutions for socializing young people may play a vital role in creating close-knit, inclusive communities. We study the potential for youth camps—integrating rituals, sports, and civics training—to strengthen intergroup cohesion. We randomly assigned Hindu and Muslim adolescent boys, from West Bengal, India, to two-week camps or to a pure control arm. To isolate mechanisms, we cross-randomized collective rituals (such as singing the national anthem, wearing uniforms, chanting support during matches, and synchronous dancing) and the intensity of intergroup contact. We find that camps reduce ingroup bias, increase willingness to interact with outgroup members, and enhance psychological well-being. Campers continue to have more than twice as many outgroup friends than control participants one year after the camps ended. Meanwhile, additional camp elements have heterogeneous effects: rituals have more positive impacts for the Hindu majority than the Muslim minority, while higher intergroup contact backfires among Hindus but not Muslims. Our findings demonstrate that inclusive youth camps may be a powerful tool for bridging deep social divides. Yet, we also highlight the conceptual challenges in crafting optimal integrative camps that help all groups. |
| Keywords: | intergroup contact, rituals, curriculum, youth camps, discrimination, ingroup bias, civic values |
| JEL: | J15 C93 D91 I10 Z12 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11352 |
| By: | Katharina Pfeil; Matthias Kasper; Sarah Necker; Lars P. Feld |
| Abstract: | This study examines how tax system design and reform affect labor supply. We conduct an online experiment with 522 participants to assess labor responses to tax reforms that introduce or remove a notch, affecting after-tax income at either the lower or upper end of the income distribution. Our findings indicate asymmetric responses to tax reform as well as substantial heterogeneity at the individual level. In particular, we find an increase in labor supply in response to a tax reform only when the reform reduces the tax burden at the upper end of the income distribution. While, in the aggregate, labor supply adjusts on the extensive and intensive margins, we also find strong evidence of heterogeneity in individual responses, showing that the labor response is primarily driven by individuals directly affected by the reform. We examine the role of misperceptions at the individual level as well as fairness considerations in explaining these results. |
| Keywords: | tax system design, tax reform, notches, labor supply, online experiment |
| JEL: | J20 J22 H24 H30 C91 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11350 |
| By: | Fairlie, Robert W. (University of California, Los Angeles); Oliver, Daniel (Washington State Student Achievement Council); Millhauser, Glenn (University of California, Santa Cruz); Roland, Randa (University of California, Santa Cruz) |
| Abstract: | An extensive literature in the social sciences analyzes peer effects among students, but estimation is complicated by several major problems some of which cannot be solved even with random assignment. We design a field experiment and propose a new estimation technique to address these estimation problems including the mechanical problems associated with repeated observations within peer groups noted by Angrist (2014). The field experiment randomly assigns students to one-to-one partnerships in an important gateway STEM course at a large public university. We find no evidence of peer effects from estimates of exogenous peer effect models. We push further and estimate outcome-on-outcome models which sometimes reveal peer effects when exogenous models do not provide good proxies for ability. We find some limited evidence of small, positive outcome-on-outcome peer effects (which would have been missed without our new estimation technique). Standard estimation methods fail to detect peer effects and even return negative estimates in our Monte Carlo simulations because of the downward bias due to mechanical problems. Simulations reveal additional advantages of our technique especially when peer group sizes are fixed. Estimates of non-linear effects, heterogeneous effects, and different measures of peer ability and outcomes reveal mostly null effects but we find some evidence that low-ability peers negatively affect low-ability and medium-ability students. The findings in this setting of long-term, intensive interactions with classroom random assignment and "throwing everything at it" provide evidence of, at most, small positive peer effects contrasting with the common finding of large peer effects in previous studies in education. |
| Keywords: | peer effects, higher education, STEM, field experiment |
| JEL: | I21 I23 |
| Date: | 2024–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17358 |
| By: | Blouin, Arthur (University of Toronto); Mani, Anandi (University of Oxford); Mukand, Sharun W. (University of Warwick); Sgroi, Daniel (University of Warwick & IZA) |
| Abstract: | Can inequality in rewards result in an erosion in broad-based support for meritocratic norms? We hypothesize that unequal rewards between the successful and the rest, drives a cognitive gap in their meritocratic beliefs, and hence their social preferences for redistribution. Two separate experiments (one in the UK and the other in the USA) show that the elite develop and maintain “meritocratic bias†in the redistributive taxes they propose, even when not applied to their own income: lower taxes on the rich and fewer transfers to the poor, including those who failed despite high effort. These social preferences at least partially reflect a self-serving meritocratic illusion that their own high income was deserved. A Wason Card task confirms that individuals maintain their illusion of being meritocratic, by not expending cognitive effort to process information that may undermine their self-image even when incentivized to do otherwise. |
| Keywords: | Inequality; Meritocracy; Redistribution; Populism; Motivated Reasoning; Social Preferences JEL Classification: |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:717 |
| By: | Sofoklis Goulas; Bhagya N. Gunawardena; Rigissa Megalokonomou; Yves Zenou |
| Abstract: | Using Greek administrative data, we examine the impact of being randomly assigned to a classroom with a same-gender top-performing student on both short- and long-term educational outcomes. These top performers are tasked with keeping classroom attendance records, which positions them as role models. Both male and female students are influenced by the performance of a same-gender top performer and experience both spillover and conformist effects. However, only female students show significant positive effects from the presence of a same-gender role model. Specifically, female students improved their science test scores by 4 percent of a standard deviation, were 2.5 percentage points more likely to choose a STEM track, and were more likely to apply for and enroll in a STEM university degree 3 years later. These effects were most pronounced in lower-income neighborhoods. Our findings suggest that same-gender peer role models could reduce the underrepresentation of qualified females in STEM fields by approximately 3 percent. We further validate our findings through a lab-in-the-field experiment, in which students rated the perceived influence of randomized hypothetical top-performer profiles. The results suggest that the influence of same-gender top performers is primarily driven by exposure-related factors (increased perception of distinction feasibility and self-confidence) rather than direct interactions. |
| Keywords: | gender gap, lab-in-the-field experiment, natural experiment, random peer group formation, role models, self-confidence, STEM |
| JEL: | J24 J16 I24 I26 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11330 |
| By: | Jieyi Duan; Nobuyuki Hanaki |
| Abstract: | This study experimentally investigates the impact of the lack of arbitrage opportunities across different assets on the realization of the law of one price. Our experiment is based on the framework established by Charness and Neugebauer (2019) where participants, acting as traders, are involved in transactions with two different types of assets. An increase in the magnitude of price discrepancies and fundamental mispricing are observed when traders are unable to engage in arbitrage between different assets. The presence of opportunities for cross-asset arbitrage typically prompts traders to pay closer attention to the pricing of an alternative asset during transactions, which effectively reduces the extent of price discrepancies and mispricing. Creation-Date: 2024-09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dpr:wpaper:1257 |
| By: | Yifan Wu; Ramesh Johari; Vasilis Syrgkanis; Gabriel Y. Weintraub |
| Abstract: | We consider a retailer running a switchback experiment for the price of a single product, with infinite supply. In each period, the seller chooses a price $p$ from a set of predefined prices that consist of a reference price and a few discounted price levels. The goal is to estimate the demand gradient at the reference price point, with the goal of adjusting the reference price to improve revenue after the experiment. In our model, in each period, a unit mass of buyers arrives on the market, with values distributed based on a time-varying process. Crucially, buyers are forward looking with a discounted utility and will choose to not purchase now if they expect to face a discounted price in the near future. We show that forward-looking demand introduces bias in naive estimators of the demand gradient, due to intertemporal interference. Furthermore, we prove that there is no estimator that uses data from price experiments with only two price points that can recover the correct demand gradient, even in the limit of an infinitely long experiment with an infinitesimal price discount. Moreover, we characterize the form of the bias of naive estimators. Finally, we show that with a simple three price level experiment, the seller can remove the bias due to strategic forward-looking behavior and construct an estimator for the demand gradient that asymptotically recovers the truth. |
| Date: | 2024–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2410.14904 |
| By: | Weidmann, Ben (Harvard Kennedy School); Vecci, Joseph (Department of Economics, University of Gothenburg); Said, Farah (Lahore University of Management Sciences); Deming, David (Harvard Kennedy School and NBER); Bhalotra, Sonia (University of Warwick, IFS, CESifo, CEPR, IZA) |
| Abstract: | This paper develops a novel method to identify the causal contribution of managers to team performance. The method requires repeated random assignment of managers to multiple teams and controls for individual skills. A good manager is someone who consistently causes their team to produce more than the sum of their parts. In a large pre-registered lab experiment, we find that good managers have roughly twice the impact on team performance as good workers do. People who nominate themselves to be in charge perform worse than managers appointed by lottery. This appears to be partly because self-promoted managers are overconfident, especially about their social skills. Managerial performance is positively predicted by economic decision-making skill and fluid intelligence – but not gender, age, or ethnicity. Selecting managers on skills rather than demographics or preferences for leadership could substantially increase organizational productivity. |
| Keywords: | Management, Teamwork, Skills, Measurement, Experiment JEL Classification: M54, J24, C90, C92 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:715 |
| By: | Cappelen, Alexander (Dept. of Economics, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration); Liu, Yiming (Humboldt University of Berlin); Nielsen, Hedda (Berlin School of Economics); Tungodden, Bertil (Dept. of Economics, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration) |
| Abstract: | Modern societies are characterized by widespread disparities in opportunities, creating income inequality between people whose choices were shaped by different circumstances. This paper investigates how people handle income inequality arising from unequal opportunities. We report from a largescale experimental study involving general populations in the United States and Scandinavia, where third-party spectators make consequential redistribution decisions. Our findings provide strong evidence that a large majority of people are willing to accept inequality caused by unequal opportunities, which contrasts with their view on inequality caused by outcome luck. Two distinct forces drive greater acceptance of inequality under unequal opportunities: the tendency to mistakenly attribute the impact of unequal opportunities to differences in productivity, and the moral relevance attached to performance differences caused by unequal opportunities. We further demonstrate a clear societal and political divide in responses to unequal opportunities, with Americans and right-wing voters exhibiting a greater acceptance of the resulting inequality, reflecting both differences in attribution bias and fairness views in these populations. |
| Keywords: | Unequal opportunities; Inequality acceptance; Attribution bias; Fairness views |
| JEL: | J01 J17 J18 |
| Date: | 2024–10–21 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:nhheco:2024_017 |
| By: | Anujit Chakraborty; Arkadev Ghosh; Matt Lowe; Gareth Nellis; Matthew Lowe |
| Abstract: | We hypothesize that broad contact, involving brief interactions with multiple outgroup members, and deep contact, meaning longer interactions with a single outgroup member, play distinct roles in shaping intergroup relations. We set up a factory in India and recruited Hindu and Muslim men to work in pairs on joint production tasks. We randomly assigned participants to work either with the same ingroup or outgroup partner daily (deep contact), a different outgroup partner each day (broad contact), or to a control group. While deep contact strengthens social and economic ties with the outgroup partner interacted with, only broad contact reduces misperceptions about outgroup strangers. These findings align with a model in which independent sampling (observing multiple outgroup members) promotes learning about outgroups more than prolonged interaction with a single individual does. Nevertheless, neither type of contact changes behavior toward the wider outgroup. |
| Keywords: | intergroup contact, social learning, religion, productivity |
| JEL: | J15 C93 D91 Z12 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11363 |
| By: | Breitkopf, Laura (Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods); Chowdhury, Shyamal (University of Sydney); Priyam, Shambhavi (Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods); Schildberg-Hörisch, Hannah (Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods); Sutter, Matthias (Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods) |
| Abstract: | We study the relationship between parenting style and a broad range of children's skills and outcomes. Based on survey and experimental data from 5, 580 children and their parents, we find that children exposed to positive parenting have higher IQs, are more altruistic, open to new experiences, conscientious, and agreeable, have a higher locus of control, self-control, and self-esteem, perform better in scholarly achievement tests, behave more prosocially in everyday life, and are more satisfied with their life. Positive parenting is negatively associated with children's neuroticism, patience, engagement in risky behaviors, and their emotional and behavioral problems. |
| Keywords: | parenting style, child outcomes, economic preferences, personality traits, IQ |
| JEL: | C91 D01 D10 |
| Date: | 2024–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17336 |
| By: | Fazio, Andrea; Reggiani, Tommaso; Santori, Paolo |
| Abstract: | This paper empirically tests Max Weber's thesis on how religious narratives, particularly the Protestant Ethic, influence attitudes toward wealth redistribution. Weber suggested that the Protestant Reformation, led to the belief that economic success was a sign of divine favor, legitimizing wealth inequality. Using a variation of the dictator game with "blessed" framing, we measure how participants' redistribution behaviors change when primed with this narrative. Our results show that low-income Protestants exposed to the "blessed" narrative are less likely to redistribute wealth compared to Catholics, supporting Weber's idea that Protestants justify inequality through divine providence. Furthermore, a narrative analysis reveals that Protestants interpret "blessing" as divine election, while Catholics focus more on well-being. These findings suggest that religious narratives significantly shape economic behaviors and preferences for redistribution, providing empirical support for Weber's thesis. |
| Keywords: | dictator game, MaxWeber, pro-social behaviour, redistribution |
| JEL: | J14 J15 Z12 Z1 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1505 |
| By: | Pol Campos-Mercade; Armando N. Meier; Stephan Meier; Devin Pope; Florian H. Schneider; Erik Wengström |
| Abstract: | Whether monetary incentives to change behavior work and how they should be structured are fundamental economic questions. We overcome typical data limitations in a large-scale field experiment on vaccination (N = 5, 324) with a unique combi-nation of administrative and survey data. We find that guaranteed incentives of $20 increase uptake by 13 percentage points in the short run and 9 in the long run. Guaranteed incentives are more effective than lottery-based, prosocial, or individually-targeted incentives, though all boost vaccinations. There are no unintended consequences on future vaccination or heterogeneities based on vaccination attitudes and incentivized economic preferences. Further, administrative data on relatives shows substantial positive spillovers. Our findings demonstrate the great potential of incentives for improving public health and provide guidance on their design. |
| Keywords: | incentives, health behaviour, social preferences, prosociality, risk preferences, vaccination |
| JEL: | C93 D01 D62 I12 I18 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11379 |
| By: | Gold, Natalie; Cornel, Pieter; Zhuo, Shi; Thornton, Katie; Riddle, Rupert; McPhedran, Robert |
| Abstract: | Free samples and loyalty cards are frequently used, but there is little rigorous empirical testing of their effects. We conducted a stepped wedge trial in 29 workplace food outlets to investigate their effects on sales of plant-based meals. Outlets were randomly assigned to three sequences that entered the intervention in the first, second, or third week of August 2022. Free samples of plant-based meals were given out in the first week of the intervention; loyalty cards were available throughout, entitling the bearer to a free meal after they had bought three. The intervention period ended in the last week of August for all outlets. The free meal could be redeemed until one month later. We did not find statistically significant effects of the interventions compared to the baseline period. Our process evaluation indicated that many participants preferred to eat their habitual meal or were unaware of the loyalty cards. |
| Keywords: | behavioural economics; consumer behaviour; field experiments; food businesses; out-of-home food sector; sales promotions |
| JEL: | L81 |
| Date: | 2024–09–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:124459 |
| By: | Pei Kuang; Michael Weber; Shihan Xie |
| Abstract: | We conduct a survey experiment with a large, politically representative sample of U.S. consumers (5, 205 participants) to study how perceptions of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s (Fed) political stance shape macroeconomic expectations and trust in the Fed. The public is divided on the Fed’s political leaning: most Republican-leaning consumers believe the Fed favors Democrats, whereas most Democrat-leaning consumers perceive the Fed as favoring Republicans. Consumers who perceive the Fed as aligned with their political affiliations tend to (1) have a more positive outlook on current and future economic conditions and express higher trust in the institution, (2) show greater willingness to pay for and are more likely to receive Fed communications, and (3) assign significantly more weight to Fed communications when updating their inflation expectations. Strong in-group favoritism generally amplifies these effects. Finally, if Trump were elected U.S. president, consumers would overwhelmingly view the Fed as favoring Republicans. The proportion of consumers viewing the Fed as an in-group would remain stable, but its composition would shift: Democrat-leaning consumers would see the Fed as less of an in-group, whereas more Republican-leaning consumers would perceive it in this way. Likewise, overall public trust in the Fed would remain steady, but trust among Democrat-leaning consumers would decline significantly, whereas it would rise among Republican-leaning consumers. |
| JEL: | D72 D83 D84 E31 E7 |
| Date: | 2024–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:33071 |
| By: | Panu Poutvaara; Andreas Graefe |
| Abstract: | Women are severely underrepresented in American politics, especially among Republicans. This underrepresentation may result from women being less willing to run for office, from voter bias against women, or from political structures that make it more difficult for women to compete. Here we show how support for female candidates varies by voters’ party affiliation and gender. We conducted experimental elections in which participants made their vote choices based solely on politicians’ faces. When choosing between female and male candidates, Democrats, and especially Democratic women, preferred female candidates, while Republicans were equally likely to choose female and male candidates. These patterns held after controlling for respondents’ education, age, and political knowledge, and for candidates’ age, attractiveness, and perceived conservatism. Our findings suggest that voter bias against women cannot explain women’s underrepresentation. On the contrary, American voters appear ready to further narrow the gender gap in politics. |
| Keywords: | gender, elections, gender discrimination, political candidates, redistribution |
| JEL: | D72 J16 H23 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11414 |
| By: | Simone Mariconda; Marta Pizzetti (EM - EMLyon Business School); Michael Etter; Patrick Haack |
| Abstract: | The volume of fake news in the digital media landscape is increasing, creating a new threat to organizations' reputations. At the same time, individuals are more aware of the existence of fake news. It thus remains unclear how fake news affects evaluators' reputation judgments. In this article, we draw on the distinction between first-order judgments (i.e., an individual evaluator's reputation judgment) and second-order judgments (i.e., an individual evaluator's belief about the reputation judgments of other evaluators). We integrate this distinction with insights from communication research and social psychology to theorize how fake news affects reputation judgments and behavioral intentions. Through three experimental studies, we show that the negative effect of fake news is larger for second-order reputation judgments and that this effect is greater for organizations with a positive reputation. Furthermore, our results indicate that although fake news has a smaller effect on first-order judgments, the latter adapt to second-order judgments and thereby affect behavioral intentions. This article contributes, first, to the micro-cognitive perspective on reputation formation by taking the first step in developing a comprehensive understanding of the intricate impact of fake news on reputation and behavioral intentions. Second, this article contributes to our understanding of the role of a good prior reputation as a buffer or a burden. |
| Keywords: | reputation, reputation judgements, social evaluations, behavioural intentions, fake news |
| Date: | 2024–09–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04717612 |
| By: | Keefer, Philip; Roseth, Benjamin; Santamaria, Julieth |
| Abstract: | Cyberattacks have risen to become one of the most critical global risks. Despite increasing investments to combat cyberattacks, there remains a significant, often unnoticed vulnerability: employees. Previous literature reveals that over two-thirds of cyberattacks within organizations result from employee negligence. While strengthening cybersecurity through employee training is essential, traditional methods often fall short. In this study, we tested different approaches to reduce risk exposure to phishing, one of the most common types of cyberattacks, focusing on a sector and context unaddressed by previous literature: the public sector in a developing country (Argentina). We randomly allocated 1, 918 public servants to a control group and two treatment groups to compare the effectiveness of online trainingcommonly used to promote behavior changes on ancillary workplace topics such as ethics, discrimination, and data protectionversus a "learning-by-doing" approach, which involved sending repeated phishing emails followed by educational emails. Our findings indicate that the learning-by-doing approach is superior for enhancing phishing email detection, resulting in fewer phishing emails opened, fewer clicks on phishing links, and improved reporting of suspicious emails. This strategy is particularly effective among permanent public officials compared to contractors, as well as among female employees. These findings not only inform organizational cybersecurity practices but also have broader implications for influencing employee behavior on other important workplace topics. |
| Keywords: | cybercrime;phishing;cyberterroism |
| JEL: | N46 |
| Date: | 2024–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:13775 |
| By: | Jonathan Chapman; Erik Snowberg; Stephanie W. Wang; Colin Camerer |
| Abstract: | We introduce DOSE⸻Dynamically Optimized Sequential Experimentation⸻to elicit preference parameters. DOSE starts with a model of preferences and a prior over the parameters of that model, then dynamically chooses a customized question sequence for each participant according to an experimenter-selected information criterion. After each question, the prior is updated, and the posterior is used to select the next, informationally-optimal, question. Simulations show that DOSE produces parameter estimates that are approximately twice as accurate as those from established elicitation methods. DOSE estimates of individual-level risk and time preferences are also more accurate, more stable over time, and faster to administer in a large representative, incentivized survey of the U.S. population (N = 2; 000). By reducing measurement error, DOSE identifies a stronger relationship between risk aversion and cognitive ability than other elicitation techniques. DOSE thus provides a flexible procedure that facilitates the collection of incentivized preference measures in the field. |
| Keywords: | preference elicitation, risk preferences, time preferences, dynamic experiments, cognitive ability, preference stability |
| JEL: | C81 C90 D03 D81 D90 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11361 |
| By: | Danilo Cavapozzi; Marco Francesconi; Cheti Nicoletti |
| Abstract: | Using UK longitudinal data on dual-earner couples, this paper estimates a model of intrahousehold housework decisions, which combines a randomized experimental framework eliciting counterfactual choices with gender norms differences across ethnicities and cohorts to identify the impacts of individual preferences and gender identity norms. Equal sharing of tasks yields greater utility for both men and women, with women disliking domestic chores as much as men. Although couples would want to use housework arrangements to compensate for differentials in labor market involvement, women end up performing a substantially larger share of housework. This is not due to specialization, rather social norms play a key role. Exposure to more egalitarian gender attitudes significantly increases the probability of choosing an equal share of housework. Were attitudes evened up to the most progressive levels observed in the sample, women doing more housework than their partners would stop to be the norm already among present-day households, except for households with children. |
| Keywords: | intrahousehold allocation of chores, labor supply, vignettes, gender identity norms, gender gaps |
| JEL: | C25 C26 D13 J16 J22 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11413 |