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on Experimental Economics |
| By: | Bonander, Carl; Hammar, Olle; Jakobsson, Niklas; Bensch, Gunther; Holzmeister, Felix; Brodeur, Abel |
| Abstract: | Islam (2019) reports results from a randomized field experiment in Bangladesh that examines the effects of parent-teacher meetings on student test scores in primary schools. The reported findings suggest strong positive effects across multiple subjects. In this report, we demonstrate that the school-level randomization cannot have been conducted as the author claims. Specifically, we show that the nine included Bangladeshi unions all have a share of either 0% or 100% treated or control schools. Additionally, we uncover irregularities in baseline scores, which for the same students and subjects vary systematically across the author's data files in ways that are unique to either the treatment or control group. We also discovered data on two unreported outcomes and data collected from the year before the study began. Results using these data cast further doubt on the validity of the original study. Moreover, in a survey asking parents to evaluate the parent-teacher meetings, we find that parents in the control schools were more positive about this intervention than those in the treated schools. We also find undisclosed connections to two additional RCTs. |
| Keywords: | Reproduction, Student outcomes, Field experiments, Bangladesh |
| JEL: | B41 C12 I25 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:i4rdps:214 |
| By: | Michela Chessa; Nobuyuki Hanaki; Aymeric Lardon; Takashi Yamada |
| Date: | 2023–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dpr:wpaper:1221rr |
| By: | Nina Xue (Department of Economics, Vienna University of Economics and Business); Lata Gangadharan (Monash University); Philip J. Grossman (Monash University) |
| Abstract: | Many decisions are made by groups operating under uncertainty, with beliefs playing a critical role. However, little is known about how groups, often driven by self-serving motivations, aggregate these beliefs. In an experiment, we examine how groups form and update beliefs following communication. Belief updating in groups is more asymmetric (and pessimistic) but this asymmetry is not driven by self-serving motivations. Based on text analyses, risk is a prominent topic in discussions and we observe a self-serving bias in more risk-averse groups. Group decision making is a necessary but not sufficient condition for biased beliefs – group composition also matters. |
| Keywords: | belief updating, group decision making, self-serving bias, communication, experiment |
| JEL: | C91 C92 D23 D83 |
| Date: | 2025–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwwuw:wuwp375 |
| By: | Makoto Abe (Faculty of Economics, The University of Tokyo) |
| Date: | 2025–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tky:fseres:2025cf1247 |
| By: | Wang, Weijia (Dept. of Economics, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration); Valasek, Justin (Dept. of Economics, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration) |
| Abstract: | The experimental literature on preferences for redistribution has established that individual perceptions of what earning distributions are fair depend greatly on context. In this paper, we study an important and novel dimension of context: whether the choice to redistribute occurs before workers work and accrue earnings, or after. Contrary to the predictions of our theoretical framework, we fi nd no evidence that spectators are less likely to equalize earnings ex ante than to equalize earnings ex post. Interestingly, our study also suggests that, relative to American subjects, Scandinavian subjects are more likely to equalize ex post earnings, but we find no evidence that Scandinavian and American subjects make different choices ex ante. A follow-up analysis suggests that the latter result is largely due to Scandinavian and American subjects having similar preferences over ex ante redistribution when equalizing earnings comes at a cost to efficiency. Overall, our results suggest that context-dependent preferences for redistribution are sensitive to the relative timing of the redistribution choice. |
| Keywords: | Inequality; Fairness; Institutions; Experiment |
| JEL: | C91 D63 J16 |
| Date: | 2025–04–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:nhheco:2025_008 |
| By: | Deer, Lachlan; Krishna, Adithya; Zhang, Lyla |
| Abstract: | Leib et al. (2024) examine how artificial intelligence (AI) generated advice affects dishonesty compared to equivalent human advice in a laboratory experiment. In their preferred empirical specification, the authors report that dishonesty-promoting advice increases dishonest behavior by approximately 15% compared to a baseline without advice, while honesty-promoting advice has no significant effect. Additionally, they find that algorithmic transparency - disclosing whether advice comes from AI or humans - does not affect behavior. We computationally reproduce the main results of the paper using the same procedures and original data. Our results confirm the sign, magnitude, and statistical significance of the authors' reported estimates across each of their main findings. Additional robustness checks show that the significance of the results remains stable under alternative specifications and methodological choices. |
| Keywords: | artificial intelligence, dishonesty, laboratory experiment, computational reproducibility |
| JEL: | D01 D91 C91 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:i4rdps:212 |
| By: | Marta Ruiz-Delgado (Programa de Doctorado en Economía y Empresa, Universidad de Málaga); Adriana Alventosa (ERI-CES, Universitat de València); Miguel A. Meléndez-Jiménez (Departamento de Teoría e Historia Económica, Universidad de Málaga); Antonio J. Morales (Departamento de Teoría e Historia Económica, Universidad de Málaga) |
| Abstract: | We report on a laboratory experiment on team production when a principal decides, before contributions are made, how the team output will be allocated between himself and the team members. The allocation determines the marginal per capita rate of contributions. Despite free-riding being the dominant strategy, if workers perceive more generous allocations as a gift by the employer, reciprocity motives may increase contributions. We also explore the impact of communication on the employer's side. Our results show the presence of reciprocity, evidencing that the gift-exchange phenomenon is robust to team production. Regarding communication, we find that messages with a positive connotation significantly increase contributions to the common project. |
| Keywords: | public goods game, gift exchange game, communication, experiments |
| JEL: | C92 H41 D91 M52 |
| Date: | 2025–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mal:wpaper:2025-1 |
| By: | Xue, Nina; Gangadharan, Lata; Grossman, Philip J. |
| Abstract: | Many decisions are made by groups operating under uncertainty, with beliefs playing a critical role. However, little is known about how groups, often driven by self-serving motivations, aggregate these beliefs. In an experiment, we examine how groups form and update beliefs following communication. Belief updating in groups is more asymmetric (and pessimistic) but this asymmetry is not driven by self-serving motivations. Based on text analyses, risk is a prominent topic in discussions and we observe a self-serving bias in more risk-averse groups. Group decision making is a necessary but not sufficient condition for biased beliefs – group composition also matters. |
| Keywords: | belief updating; group decision making; self-serving bias; communication; experiment |
| Date: | 2025–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wus005:72533291 |
| By: | Aurora García-Gallego (LEE and Department of Economics, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón, Spain); Tibor Neugebauer (Department of Finance, Luxembourg School of Finance, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg) |
| Abstract: | This study explores the impact of free-form chat on asset pricing and trading in a lab setting. In a mispricing-prone market, participants facing team-performance incentives communicated in chat groups. We compare three chat treatments: "friends", where participants personally knew their chat partners, and "random teams" with/out price prediction, where groups were assigned anonymously. While free-form chat does not reduce mispricing, it seems to influence transaction volume. A textual analysis using dictionaries focused on strategic coordination, risk management, market understanding, and information sharing shows that groups focusing on the former two tend to perform better. We review the contributions of Gary Charness to the area of communication in experiments. |
| Keywords: | experimental asset market, communication, textual analysis |
| JEL: | C92 D83 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jau:wpaper:2025/03 |
| By: | Wayne Aaron Sandholtz; Pedro C. Vicente |
| Abstract: | Tax revenue is vital for development, but governments must balance raising revenues with maintaining political support. Partnering with a city government in Mozambique, we experimentally vary the provision of information highlighting the role of municipal tax revenues in 1) local public good provision and 2) local political autonomy. We measure how this information affects property owners’ tax morale and political support for the government. Public goods information raises tax morale, especially in areas of low baseline public good provision, but has no effect on voting. The political message increases electoral support generally, but raises tax morale only among co-partisans. These results suggest that communication about the uses of public revenue offers a politically feasible way to increase tax morale. |
| Keywords: | Tax morale, Public goods, Information, Political economy, Experiments, Mozambique |
| JEL: | O12 H00 P00 C93 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unl:unlfep:wp671 |
| By: | Jia, Mofei; Kopsacheilis, Orestis; Kujansuu, Essi; Popova, Anna |
| Abstract: | Aalen et al. (2024) examine the effect of employment on political participation among women job applicants living with a partner in Ethiopia, using 'intention to treat'-estimates and data from a randomized control trial in the field. In the first stage, the authors find that job offers increased formal employment and earnings. They find no significant effects of job offers on political interest, raising issues, or protest activity but they find negative effects on participation in community meetings, and on internal and external political efficacy. We successfully computationally reproduce the main claims of the paper. Because the data provided is quite limited in its scope, we do only three robustness checks, nevertheless, no large issues come up in the robustness checks. |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:i4rdps:211 |
| By: | Andreas Gerster (Johannes-Gutenberg University, Germany); Manuel Frondel (RWI – Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Germany); Kathrin Kaestner (RWI – Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Germany); Michael Pahle (Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Germany); Puja Singhal (Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Germany) |
| Abstract: | Premium programs are seen as a politically attractive substitute for Pigouvian taxes to establish incentives for energy conservation, particularly when energy prices are high. Using an incentive-compatible survey experiment with almost 4, 500 participants, this paper analyzes consumers’ uptake of a savings premium paid when a household reaches a pre-defined energy conservation target. We find that the financial benefit of a savings premium motivates only 11 percent of households to opt for it. 42 percent of households never take part, irrespective of generous premium payments of up to 1, 500 euros. The remaining households prefer the conditional payment under the premium program to an equally large unconditional amount, which indicates that they use the premium program as a commitment device. Our findings challenge the view that premium programs and taxes are equivalent resource conservation policies. In particular, they imply that generous premium programs will be largely ineffective. |
| Keywords: | Energy conservation, commitment devices, goal setting, savings premium |
| JEL: | D12 D91 Q41 |
| Date: | 2025–03–20 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jgu:wpaper:2504 |
| By: | Hiroshi Kitamura; Noriaki Matsushima; Misato Sato; Wataru Tamura |
| Abstract: | We experimentally investigate exclusive-offer competition between two existing upstream firms. In theory, when upstream firms make exclusive offers to a downstream monopolist, both exclusion and non-exclusion can be equilibrium outcomes. By varying key parameters, we explore how bargaining power and product differentiation affect the likelihood of exclusion outcomes. We experimentally find that exclusion is more likely to be observed when the upstream firms have stronger bargaining power or when they produce more differentiated products; paradoxically, the higher upstream firms' profits from cooperatively offering unattractive exclusive contracts, the more likely they are to fall into intense exclusive-offer competition. |
| Date: | 2025–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dpr:wpaper:1281 |
| By: | Ménard, Timothé |
| Abstract: | Randomized Controlled Trials are the gold standard for evaluating medical interventions but can pose ethical challenges. This article explores these issues using the principles of beneficence, justice, non-maleficence, and autonomy as defined by Beauchamp and Childress. Major ethical challenges could emerge from informed consent, the use of placebo, suboptimal control arms, participant selection, endpoints, and post-trial access to treatments. The analysis highlights the need for rigorous ethical oversight to balance participant protection with scientific advancement. |
| Date: | 2025–03–26 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:uxst9_v1 |
| By: | Iris Kesternich; Marjolein Van Damme; Han Ye |
| Abstract: | One reason gender pay gaps persist is that women receive more of their total compensation through amenities. Since wages, but not amenities, increase retirement incomes, this may translate into gender pension gaps. Using a discrete choice experiment we investigate whether the valuation for amenities changes when the trade-off with pension income is made salient. We find that women value amenities more than men. Beliefs about the effect of wage changes on pension income do not show large gender differences. However, women change their choices much more strongly than men when reminded about the effects of current choices on pension income. |
| Keywords: | gender, pension gap, amenities, work meaning, workplace flexibility, hypothetical choice experiment, salience, beliefs |
| JEL: | D91 J16 J26 J32 |
| Date: | 2024–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bon:boncrc:crctr224_2024_600v2 |
| By: | Puccioni, F. G.; Cavalcanti, T. |
| Abstract: | Causal evidence on the effectiveness of management in education is limited and ambiguous. In this study, we investigate how cost-effective management practices boost student learning through a randomised field experiment conducted with 31, 760 students from 80 grade 1–9 public schools in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The experiment intervention, delivered by municipal servants exclusively to school managers, involved one-to-one coaching and on-the-job training focused on implementing the World Management Survey (WMS)’s “23 best management practices†for the education sector. We also conducted two doubleblind, in-depth management surveys, one prior to and one following the programme implementation, to evaluate precisely the quality of the management of the schools. The surveys were based on the WMS methodology. After two years, the estimated average treatment effects were 0.928 (0.260) SD for school management, 0.226 (0.059) SD for reading, and 0.237 (0.059) SD for mathematics. Instrumental variable estimates indicate that a one-point improvement in school management (on a 1—5 scale) led to gains of 0.680 (0.245) SD in reading and 0.714 (0.265) SD in mathematics. Students in schools achieving a one-point management improvement were more than two academic years of learning ahead of peers in untreated schools. We present causal estimates amongst the largest in the education intervention literature based on a programme that costs only $15.22 (PPP-adjusted) per student per year. The programme can be applied to any school and has expanded in Brazil. |
| JEL: | C93 H83 I20 J24 M10 |
| Date: | 2025–03–27 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cam:camdae:2515 |
| By: | Hochleitner, Anna (Centre for Applied Research, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration); Tufano, Fabio (Dept. of Economics, Finance and Accounting, University of Leicester); Facchini, Giovanni (School of Economics, University of Nottingham); Rueda, Valeria (School of Economics, University of Nottingham); Eberhardt, Markus (School of Economics, University of Nottingham) |
| Abstract: | We study the gendered impact of recommendations at different stages of the hiring process. First, using a large sample of reference letters from the academic job market for economists, we document that women receive fewer ‘ability’ and more ‘grindstone’ letters. Next, we conduct two experiments — with academic economists and a broader, college-educated, population — analyzing both recommendation and recruitment stages. These confirm that recommendations are gendered and impact recruitment. We elicit gender views and beliefs about the effectiveness of different letter types, uncovering that gender attitudes and strategic behavior based on erroneous beliefs explain referees’ choices. Finally, we decompose gender recruitment gaps into two components: one capturing differences in treatment of candidates with identical qualities, the other reflecting recruiters’ failure to account for gendered patterns in recommendations. We show that recruiters’ failure to recognize the gendered nature of reference letters undermines visible efforts to improve diversity in hiring. |
| Keywords: | Gender; Recruitment; Diversity; Experiments |
| JEL: | A11 D19 J16 |
| Date: | 2025–03–31 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:nhheco:2025_007 |
| By: | Georgarakos, Dimitris; Kenny, Geoff; Laeven, Luc; Meyer, Justus |
| Abstract: | We field a series of experiments in a population-representative survey of European consumers to examine their attitudes towards the possible introduction of a digital euro. First, we show that a short video explaining the key features of the digital euro is effective in changing consumers’ beliefs about such a new form of payment and increases the likelihood of adoption by 12pp relative to a control group that is not shown the video. Second, we find that on aggregate consumers would allocate a relatively small fraction from a positive wealth shock to digital euros and their allocation to other liquid assets would be little affected. Third, holding limits in the range of €1, 000 to €10, 000 have insignificant differential effects on the composition of liquid asset holdings. We also show that a non-trivial fraction of consumers report that they will not adopt the digital euro due to strong preferences for existing forms of payment. JEL Classification: E41, E58, D12, D14, G51 |
| Keywords: | Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC), consumer expectations survey, household expectations, household finance, money, payments, Randomized Control Trial (RCT) |
| Date: | 2025–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20253035 |
| By: | Alex Armand; Frederica Mendonca; Wayne Aaron Sandholtz; Pedro C. Vicente |
| Abstract: | Urbanization is a force for structural change. However, it has been slow in Sub-Saharan Africa, possibly due to conflicting political interests of national incumbents. We study the political impacts of a randomized program integrating rural migrants in a Mozambican city with the participation of local leaders. We find that the program increases the mobilization of local leaders, who conduct more electoral campaigning. We observe migrants to be more politically active and more supportive of the city incumbent (national opposition). Migrants’ contacts at the origin align with the national opposition and migrate to the city. We conclude that urbanization is political.. |
| Keywords: | Political economy, Urbanization, Rural migrants, Migrant integration, Political behavior, Mozambique, Africa |
| JEL: | D72 O18 J61 O12 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unl:unlfep:wp670 |
| By: | Taisuke Imai (The University of Osaka); Davide Pace (LMU Munich); Schwardmann Peter (Carnegie Mellon University); van der Weele Joel (University of Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | Policy makers frequently champion information provision about carbon impact on the premise that consumers are willing to mitigate their emissions but are poorly informed about how to do so. We empirically test this argument and reject it. We collect an extensive new dataset and find both large misperceptions of the carbon impact of different consumption behaviors and clear preferences for mitigation. Yet, in two separate experiments, we show that correcting beliefs has no effect on consumption in large representative samples. Our null results are well-powered and informative, as we target information for maximal impact. These results call into question the potential of correcting carbon footprint misperceptions as a tool to fight climate change. |
| Keywords: | climate change; carbon emissions; information provision; consumer behavior; |
| JEL: | C81 C93 D84 Q54 |
| Date: | 2025–04–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rco:dpaper:529 |
| By: | Stanley, Dustyn |
| Abstract: | Quantum mechanics governs microscopic interactions, while general relativity describes macroscopic gravitational behavior. A fundamental open question is how quantum effects transition to classical gravity at increasing energy scales. We propose an energy-dependent quantum suppression mechanism, where quantum gravitational corrections fade proportionally to 1/E^2, dynamically recovering classical behavior. This work refines previous formulations of quantum suppression by: 1. Deriving the suppression threshold E0 from first principles using renormalization group equations in effective field theory. 2. Addressing potential alternative explanations for gravitational wave amplitude damping and cosmic microwave background (CMB) suppression. 3. Comparing suppression effects with holographic gravity and AdS/CFT duality. 4. Establishing a formal connection between suppression, quantum Fisher information, and error correction in quantum information theory. 5. Proposing laboratory and astrophysical tests to validate the suppression model. This refined framework presents a falsifiable quantum gravity model that predicts dis- tinct observational signatures in gravitational waves, CMB anisotropies, and high- energy laboratory experiments. |
| Date: | 2025–03–26 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:4gpwf_v1 |
| By: | Patrick Premand; Pascale Schnitzer |
| Abstract: | This study analyzes the direct effects and local spillovers of a low-cost multifaceted economic inclusion program through a randomized controlled trial in Chad. The intervention included group savings promotion, micro-entrepreneurship training, and a lump-sum cash grant delivered to poor female beneficiaries of a regular cash transfer program. It was designed to address multiple constraints to productivity and livelihoods, but at a much lower cost (approximately $104 per household) than most stand-alone nongovernmental organization graduation pilots and government-led economic inclusion programs. The results show substantial impacts on food consumption 18 months after the intervention. A reallocation of labor between economic activities is observed, along with higher revenues from agriculture and off-farm micro-enterprises. The intervention improved women's empowerment and some dimensions of social well-being. The findings show evidence of positive local spillovers, with improvements in food consumption and economic activities among households that were not assigned to the economic inclusion program in targeted villages. The results are consistent with the intervention broadly improving saving, sharing, and financial support mechanisms, as well as potential demand-side effects in the labor and product markets. Once spillovers are accounted for, the intervention becomes cost-effective without assuming that any impact persists past the follow-up survey at 18 months. |
| Date: | 2025–03–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:11084 |
| By: | Bartoš, František; Godmann, Henrik R. |
| Abstract: | Schaeuffele et al. (2024) examined the effect of Transdiagnostic Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapy (TD-CBT) on emotional disorders through a meta-analysis of 53 studies involving 6, 705 participants. Their main findings indicated that TD-CBT has larger treatment effects on depression, g = 0.74, 95% CI (0.57, 0.92), p ﹤ 0.001, and anxiety, g = 0.77, 95% CI (0.56, 0.97), p ﹤ 0.001, than controls. We replicated the data extraction of summary information from a subsample of the original studies with only minor deviations and we successfully computationally reproduced the main claims of the paper using the original data. However, robustness analyses adjusting for publication bias led to substantially different conclusions. In contrast to the original authors, we found weak evidence for the absence of the overall treatment effect of TD-CBT on both depression and anxiety in most of the specified models. Although additional sensitivity analyses could not completely rule out that the observed differences are partially results of small-study effects, further examination of between-study heterogeneity did not reveal consistent evidence of the benefit of TD-CBT when compared to any of the comparisons groups. |
| Keywords: | Depression, Anxiety, Publication Bias, Bayesian, Heterogeneity |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:i4rdps:213 |
| By: | Gruener, Sven; Mußhoff, Oliver |
| Abstract: | Human-made climate change is one of the most pressing challenges of the 21st century. This paper examines how thinking about future consequences of climate change influences decision-making. Using priming experiments, we address ambiguity preferences, risk preferences, and willingness to cooperate among farmers, students, and representatives of the general population of Germany. The results show that farmers (who were asked specifically about the consequences for their profession) – but not students or representatives of the general population – increase their investments in uncertain assets. There are also common patterns across the subject pools, most notably willingness to cooperate remains largely unchanged. |
| Date: | 2025–03–28 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:7vdu6_v1 |
| By: | Westrich, Zarah |
| Abstract: | Standard economic models view labour supply decisions as individual utility maximisation balancing the trade-off between income and leisure. In contrast, we focus on the social context as a central determinant and analyse how colleagues' working hours shape individual working hours preferences. Our analysis is based on a representative survey of employees in Germany that we conducted in October 2024 (N = 4, 450). Combining novel survey experiment with a quantitative text analysis of an open-ended survey question enables us to identify a causal mechanism and to provide contextual insights into the role of social context for the formation of working hours preferences. We show that colleagues' working hours causally affect working hours preferences. The reasons given by the respondents for choosing the stated working hours, by contrast, are primarily personal. This shows that preferences are socially determined, even if they are rationalised in individualistic terms. Our findings emphasise the importance of collective action for working time policy and highlight methodological challenges that need to be considered when analysing and interpreting working time preferences. |
| Keywords: | working hours, social comparisons, preference formation |
| JEL: | B55 D9 J22 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifsowp:315193 |