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on Experimental Economics |
| By: | Daniel L. Chen (TSE-R - Toulouse School of Economics - UT Capitole - Université Toulouse Capitole - UT - Université de Toulouse - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement) |
| Abstract: | Ambiguity aversion is the interpretation of the experimental finding (the Ellsberg paradox) that most subjects prefer betting on events whose probabilities are known (objective) to betting on events whose probabilities are unknown (subjective). However in typical experiments these unknown probabilities are known by others. Thus the typical Ellsberg experiment is a situation of asymmetric information. People may try to avoid situations where they are the less informed party, which is normatively appropriate. We find that eliminating asymmetric information in the Ellsberg experiment while leaving ambiguity in place, makes subjects prefer the ambiguous bet over the objective one, reversing the prior results. |
| Keywords: | Uncertainty aversion, Probabilistic sophistication, Sources of ambiguity, Ellsberg paradox |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05012232 |
| By: | Hua, Tony |
| Abstract: | People often avoid information to evade social obligations and justify selfish behavior. However, such behavior unfolds within a social context, where beliefs about others’ actions shape individual choices. This study examines how social expectations, shaped by perceived norms and decision framing, influence individuals’ willingness to avoid information. In a modified moral wiggle-room game, participants first predict how often others acquired information, then receive feedback about others’ information-seeking behavior before making their own decision as the dictator. The experiment manipulates (1) the feedback on norms participants receive, reflecting varying rates of information avoidance, and (2) whether they know in advance that they will be making the decision themselves, thereby inducing either a \textit{self-referential} or \textit{socially} framed perspective. Individuals were more likely to acquire information when exposed to norms favoring transparency, with pessimistic participants—those who believed ignorance was common—responding most strongly. Optimistic individuals showed little adjustment. Contrary to expectations, there was little evidence that participants distorted their beliefs about others to justify selfish behavior. However, a notable gender difference emerged: female participants, when primed with self-referential framing, were significantly less responsive to normative cues than males. Finally, an exploratory comparison with previous experiments suggests that belief elicitation itself, even in the absence of normative cues, significantly reduces information avoidance, highlighting a promising and scalable intervention for promoting transparency. |
| Keywords: | information avoidance; moral wiggle-room; social norms; social appropriateness; experiment |
| JEL: | C72 C91 D8 D83 |
| Date: | 2025–04–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:124363 |
| By: | Alice Ciccone; Cloé Garnache; Gøril Louise Andreassen |
| Abstract: | We conduct a large-scale randomized controlled trial to examine the effects of time- and location-specific, distance-based road pricing on travel behavior and driving externalities. Using financial incentives and a smartphone app that automatically tracks participants' travel behavior across different modes, we find that road pricing reduces driving externalities by 5.3%, implying a price elasticity of -0.07 to -0.15 for the external costs of driving. Our findings suggest that drivers of battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) are much less responsive to road pricing than drivers of non-BEVs. Furthermore, we find that providing information on the expected benefits of road pricing enhances public support for such policies, whereas experience with road pricing has little impact. |
| Keywords: | road pricing, public support, electric vehicles, driving externalities, field experiment, information provision. |
| JEL: | H23 R41 D83 C93 Q54 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11867 |
| By: | Petr Parshakov; Iuliia Naidenova; Sofia Paklina; Nikita Matkin; Cornel Nesseler |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we investigate how individuals evaluate human and large langue models generated responses to popular questions when the source of the content is either concealed or disclosed. Through a controlled field experiment, participants were presented with a set of questions, each accompanied by a response generated by either a human or an AI. In a randomized design, half of the participants were informed of the response's origin while the other half remained unaware. Our findings indicate that, overall, participants tend to prefer AI-generated responses. However, when the AI origin is revealed, this preference diminishes significantly, suggesting that evaluative judgments are influenced by the disclosure of the response's provenance rather than solely by its quality. These results underscore a bias against AI-generated content, highlighting the societal challenge of improving the perception of AI work in contexts where quality assessments should be paramount. |
| Date: | 2025–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2503.16458 |
| By: | Maćkowiak, Bartosz; Wiederholt, Mirko |
| Abstract: | We introduce an information provision experiment into a standard dynamic rational inattention model. We derive analytical results about how the treatment effect varies with characteristics of the environment and the individual. We use these results to discuss findings in the empirical literature on information provision experiments that can be explained by rational inattention of survey respondents and what this interpretation implies about behavior outside the survey. JEL Classification: D8, D9, E7 |
| Keywords: | information provision experiment, randomized control trial, rational inattention |
| Date: | 2025–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20253054 |
| By: | Matthias Cologna (Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy); Robin Scheuch (Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods & University of Cologne) |
| Abstract: | Cross-cultural research on tax compliance provides two competing explanations for differences in tax paying behavior. The institutional explanation focuses on differences in institutions (e.g., fines, frequency of audits), while the cultural explanation emphasizes differences in culture as an important driver. Contrary to most other studies analyzing differences across countries, we take not only a within-country but a within-region perspective, specifically the Northern Italian region of South Tyrol. Here, two main linguistic - and cultural - groups, German and Italian, co-exist within the same institutional environment. We use a lab-in-the-field experiment with a non-student pool of 190 participants recruited in Bolzano/Bozen, the largest city in South Tyrol. We document that, while the overall level of evasion is similar, there is a difference in tax compliance between the two groups when differentiating between the intensive and extensive margin: Italian speakers evade larger amounts whereas German speakers tend to evade more often. Our experiment is completed by a belief elicitation task and a dice truth-telling game. For both groups perceived tax compliance is lower than actual tax compliance and German speaking taxpayers are perceived to be more compliant. In the dice game, Italian speakers report higher numbers than would be expected from a fair die. |
| Keywords: | Tax Evasion, Culture, Beliefs, Honesty. |
| JEL: | H26 D91 C91 C93 R10 |
| Date: | 2025–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bzn:wpaper:bemps114 |
| By: | Laetitia Dillenseger; Claire Mouminoux |
| Abstract: | Creating a sustainable society necessitates policies that foster human well-being and encourage individuals to engage in pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs) aimed at reducing their environmental footprint. However, the compatibility of these goals remains uncertain. While pro-environmental behavior often correlates positively with individuals’ well-being, the causal relationship between such actions and hedonic well-being (HWB) remains unclear. Similarly, the influence of subjective well-being (SWB) on PEB warrants further investigation. Based on a field experiment, supplemented by online surveys, in which French university students (n=393) could participate in a paid or unpaid volunteer waste collection, or donate to an environmental association, according to random allocation to different treatment groups, we find evidence of a virtuous loop between pro-environmental actions and SWB. Happiness is a determinant of voluntary waste collection participation, but not for paid waste collection or monetary donation. Additionally, participation in waste collection, whether paid or unpaid, significantly increases overall HWB. These results suggest that policies targeting human well-being are likely to encourage voluntary PEB and benefit from a leverage effect, as PEB, in turn, increases human well-being. |
| Keywords: | Pro-environmental behaviors, Subjective well-being, Field experiment, Waste collection, Donation. |
| JEL: | Q50 I31 C93 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulp:sbbeta:2024-44 |
| By: | Sebastian Blesse; Florian Buhlmann; Philipp Heil; Davud Rostam-Afschar |
| Abstract: | We study firm responses to local policies through a survey experiment, providing randomized information on the competitiveness of business tax rates and highway access in their headquarters’ municipality. Firms often misperceive local policy competitiveness, especially for tax rates. Investment decisions respond asymmetrically to tax competitiveness. Positive tax rank information reduces investment intentions in neighboring municipalities. Compared to this, negative tax news increase relocation plans. However, most firms receiving bad news plan to continue investing in their headquarters’ municipality, indicating home bias. These effects are strongest for mobile firms and corporations. Negative infrastructure news lower location satisfaction but do not influence investment. |
| Keywords: | tax competition, infrastructure, firm location, survey experiment. |
| JEL: | H25 H32 H71 H72 H73 L21 R38 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11855 |
| By: | Evan Friedman; Suanna Oh; Duncan Webb |
| Abstract: | Accurately measuring preferences and beliefs in surveys is crucial for social science research, but standard monetary incentives cannot be used when responses cannot be verified. We study two psychological mechanisms for improving answer quality that can be applied to unverifiable questions: (i) an unexpected bonus payment designed to trigger reciprocity towards the researcher, and (ii) telling respondents that they will later be paid to accurately restate their previously-given answers, which could motivate careful initial answers that are naturally easier to reconstruct. In a large online experiment (N=2, 428), the bonus method modestly improves both answer correctness and consistency, driven by increased effort and reciprocity. The restatement method, however, does not consistently improve answer quality, primarily because participants exert effort trying to memorize their answers instead of answering carefully. These results demonstrate the potential and limitations of using psychological mechanisms to improve the quality of survey responses. |
| Keywords: | restatement method, bonus method, incentives, survey. |
| JEL: | C81 C83 C91 D91 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11859 |
| By: | Blesse, Sebastian (University of Leipzig); Buhlmann, Florian (ZEW Mannheim); Heil, Philipp (ifo Institute, University of Munich); Rostam-Afschar, Davud (University of Mannheim) |
| Abstract: | We study firm responses to local policies through a survey experiment, providing randomized information on the competitiveness of business tax rates and highway access in their headquarters’ municipality. Firms often misperceive local policy competitiveness, especially for tax rates. Investment decisions respond asymmetrically to tax competitiveness. Positive tax rank information reduces investment intentions in neighboring municipalities. Compared to this, negative tax news increase relocation plans. However, most firms receiving bad news plan to continue investing in their headquarters’ municipality, indicating home bias. These effects are strongest for mobile firms and corporations. Negative infrastructure news lower location satisfaction but do not influence investment. |
| Keywords: | survey experiment, firm location, infrastructure, tax competition |
| JEL: | H25 H32 H71 H72 H73 L21 R38 |
| Date: | 2025–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17868 |
| By: | Julia Peter (Friedrich Schiller University Jena); Jana Schuetz (Jonkoping International Business School) |
| Abstract: | Financial literacy is an important prerequisite for making informed financial decisions, but it remains low, especially among women and older people. Internalized stereotypes can undermine confidence and subsequently affect behavior in financial matters, leading to suboptimal decisions. This paper investigates how stereotype salience affects confidence in financial literacy. In an information provision experiment, we inform respondents about age or gender differences in numeracy to examine the impact on financial literacy, confidence, hypothetical investment and saving decisions, and demand for information and education. We find that being informed about age differences has no significant effect. In contrast, being informed about gender differences increases the confidence of male respondents through a stereotype boost, while leaving female respondents largely unaffected. |
| Keywords: | survey experiment, numeracy, gender stereotypes, age stereotypes |
| JEL: | C90 D91 G53 I24 J16 |
| Date: | 2025–05–16 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jrp:jrpwrp:2025-0007 |
| By: | Claire Mouminoux; Fanny Claise; Marielle Brunette |
| Abstract: | This article examines insurance choices, observed through a laboratory experiment. We find that proposing a single insurance policy for multiple risks, known as bundled insurance, reduces the demand for coverage while mitigating adverse selection effects and enhancing insurers’ ability to manage losses. In contrast, offering a separate contract for each risk increases coverage for insured individuals but exposes insurers to greater adverse selection. Finally, we test a new type of insurance called semi-bundled insurance, which lies between separate and bundled insurance, conditioning the insured to choose a minimum number of risks to cover. Although we do not observe a significant difference in insurance coverage compared to separate insurance, we note an improvement in managing adverse selection relative to separate policies. These findings provide promising perspectives for addressing the issue of underinsurance while maintaining a minimum diversification of risk, which is essential for the sustainability of insurers. |
| Keywords: | Insurance, Bundled, Decision, Microeconomics, Experiment. |
| JEL: | C91 D81 G22 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulp:sbbeta:2024-53 |
| By: | Garg, Teevrat (University of California, San Diego); Jagnani, Maulik (Tufts University); Lyons, Liz (University of California, San Diego) |
| Abstract: | Heat's impact on economic growth and aggregate productivity is well-established, but while individual impairments are well-understood as mechanisms, the role of interpersonal dynamics remain unexplored despite the growing prevalence of team-based occupations. In our experiment, programmers were randomly assigned to work individually or in pairs under warm (29°C) or control (24°C) conditions. We found that heat had no effect on individual performance but impaired team performance—not through decreased effort but likely through impaired collaboration. This negative impact was strongest in heterogeneous teams, suggesting heat exacerbates coordination challenges, confirmed by poorer partner evaluations in warm conditions. |
| Keywords: | team production, heat stress, labor productivity |
| JEL: | J24 Q54 Q56 |
| Date: | 2025–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17870 |
| By: | David Almog |
| Abstract: | There is growing enthusiasm about the potential for humans and AI to collaborate by leveraging their respective strengths. Yet in practice, this promise often falls short. This paper uses an online experiment to identify non-instrumental image concerns as a key reason individuals underutilize AI recommendations. I show that concerns about how one is perceived, even when those perceptions carry no monetary consequences, lead participants to disregard AI advice and reduce task performance. |
| Date: | 2025–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2504.19047 |
| By: | Tim Kaiser; Juliane Kloidt; Jutta Mata; Ralph Hertwig |
| Abstract: | Behavioral science interventions like incentives, nudges, and boosts are increasingly used in public policy, but their effectiveness remains debated. We conducted a meta-meta-analysis on behavior change interventions across health, finance, and sustainability outcomes. Our analysis covers 838 effects from 269 meta-analyses, encompassing 6, 327 randomized controlled trials and over 9 million individuals from non-clinical populations of all ages in both developed and developing economies. Our findings tell two stories: First, extracted treatment effects are generally positive but highly variable (M = .173; SD = .195), indicating some interventions impact behavior. However, after adjusting for publication bias, the mean posterior effect pooling domains and interventions is .063 (95% credible interval .044 to .08, BF10 = 139.8) with substantial unexplained heterogeneity (τ̂ = .129). Future research requires improved reporting and deeper contextual analysis to address this heterogeneity. Even small effect sizes can yield significant impacts when scaled across populations and sustained over time. |
| Keywords: | behaviour-change, intervention, heterogeneity, boosting, nudging, publication bias, Bayesian meta-meta-analysis. |
| JEL: | D91 G41 I12 I18 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11863 |
| By: | Görlitz, Katja (Hochschule der Bundesagentur für Arbeit (HdBA)); Sels, Tim (UC Berkeley) |
| Abstract: | This study analyzes the gender gap in self- and peer evaluations based on a laboratory experiment. Five players performed a creativity task in a high-stakes winner-takes-all tournament. The treatment without validation informed all players that evaluations that they will conduct determine who will win. The treatment with public validation additionally informed them that they can see an objective performance measure of all players (including themselves) at the end of the experiment which is irrelevant for winning. The results show that men give themselves better selfevaluations compared to women when there is no validation. This gender difference vanishes completely when providing public validation. |
| Keywords: | self-evaluation, peer evaluation, public validation, gender |
| JEL: | J16 M50 |
| Date: | 2025–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17877 |
| By: | Dräger, Lena; Gründler, Klaus; Potrafke, Niklas |
| Abstract: | Social interactions affect individual behavior in a variety of ways, but their effects on expectation formation are less well understood. We design a large-scale global survey experiment among renowned experts working in 135 countries to study whether peer effects impact expectations about the macroeconomy. The global setting allows us to exploit rich cross-national variation in macroeconomic fundamentals. Our experiment uncovers sizable effects of peers and shows that peer information also shifts monetary policy recommendations of experts. The results have important implications for the design of policies and models of information acquisition. |
| Keywords: | Inflation expectations; belief formation; peer effects; survey experiment; economic experts |
| JEL: | E31 E71 D84 |
| Date: | 2025–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:han:dpaper:dp-739 |
| By: | Lars Hornuf; David J. Streich; Niklas Töllich |
| Abstract: | Retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) has emerged as a promising way to improve task-specific performance in generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) applications such as large language models (LLMs). In this study, we evaluate the performance implications of providing various types of domain-specific information to LLMs in a simple portfolio allocation task. We compare the recommendations of seven state-of-the-art LLMs in various experimental conditions against a benchmark of professional financial advisors. Our main result is that the provision of domain-specific information does not unambiguously improve the quality of recommendations. In particular, we find that LLM recommendations underperform recommendations by human financial advisors in the baseline condition. However, providing firm-specific information improves historical performance in LLM portfolios and closes the gap with human advisors. Performance improvements are achieved through higher exposure to market risk and not through an increase in mean-variance efficiency within the risky portfolio share. Notably, portfolio risk increases primarily for risk-averse investors. We also document that quantitative firm-specific information affects recommendations more than qualitative firm-specific information, and that equipping models with generic finance theory does not affect recommendations. |
| Keywords: | generative artificial intelligence, large language models, domain-specific information, retrieval-augmented generation, portfolio management, portfolio allocation. |
| JEL: | G00 G11 G40 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11862 |
| By: | Olesja Lammert (Paderborn University) |
| Abstract: | Research indicates that anger is a prevalent emotion in human-technology interactions, often leading to frustration, rejection and reduced trust, significantly impacting user experience and acceptance of technology. Particularly in high-risk or uncertain situations, where AI explanations are intended to help users make more informed decisions, decision-making is influenced by emotional factors, impairing understanding and leading to suboptimal choices. While XAI research continues to evolve, greater consideration of users' emotions and individual characteristics remains necessary. Broadening empirical studies in this area could foster a more comprehensive understanding of decision-making processes following explanations, especially in relation to the interaction between emotions and cognition. In response, this study seeks to contribute to this area by employing an experimental design to examine the effects of AI explanations and emotion regulation on user reliance and trust of emotional users. The results provide a foundation for future human-centered research in XAI, focusing on the impact of emotions and cognition in human-technology interactions. |
| Keywords: | human-centered XAI, explanation strategy, emotion induction, emotions, emotion regulation, cognitive reappraisal nudge, decision-making, behavioral and psychological decision-making factors, user reliance, trust, empirical study |
| JEL: | C91 D81 C88 |
| Date: | 2025–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pdn:dispap:139 |
| By: | Kitamura, Shuhei; Takahashi, Ryo; Yamada, Katsunori |
| Abstract: | This paper examines how voters' perceptions of other voters influence their voting behavior. We first document substantial misperceptions regarding others’ attitudes toward political malfeasance by incumbent politicians: some voters, particularly those who support the malfeasant incumbent’s party, hold more lenient views, perceiving others as more tolerant of political corruption. In contrast, voters who support opposition parties and those without strong partisan affiliations tend to hold more stringent views. Using an online survey experiment, we provide information about prevailing social norms of intolerance toward corruption. We find that the treatment increases voter turnout and the likelihood of voting for an opposition candidate, particularly among voters with stringent prior beliefs. However, we also observe a backfire effect among those with more lenient views. This study underscores the critical role of voters' perceptions of others in shaping vote decisions and offers insights into how political accountability can be promoted in a world of rising political polarization. |
| Date: | 2025–05–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:gajx9_v1 |
| By: | Si, Yafei; Chen, Gang; Zhou, Zhongliang; Yip, Winnie; Chen, Xi |
| Abstract: | Despite growing evidence of gender disparities in healthcare utilization and health outcomes, there is a lack of understanding of what may drive such differences. We present novel evidence on the impact of physician-patient gender match on healthcare quality using the standardized patients (SPs) method in an experiment. The experiment collected interactions between standardized patients and physicians in a primary care setting in China during 2017-2018. We find that, compared with female physicians treating female SPs, female physicians treating male SPs resulted in a 23.4 percentage-point increase in correct diagnosis and a 19.0 percentage-point increase in correct drug prescriptions. Despite these substantial gains in healthcare quality, there was no significant increase in medical costs or time investment. The gains in healthcare quality were partly attributed to better physician-patient communications, but not the presence of more clinical information. More importantly, female physicians treating male SPs prescribed more unnecessary tests but fewer unnecessary drugs to balance their time commitment and costs. The results suggest the potential role of cultural gender norms and physician defensive behavior when female physicians treat male SPs. Our findings imply that improving patient centeredness may lead to significant gains in the quality of healthcare with modest costs, while reducing gender differences in care quality. |
| Keywords: | gender disparities, healthcare quality, standardized patient, experiment, China |
| JEL: | I11 I12 I14 J16 J22 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1607 |
| By: | Elisabeth Tovar; Mathieu Bunel; Laetitia Tufféry; Marie-Noëlle Lefebvre |
| Abstract: | Discrimination in the rental housing market is a persistent issue, yet the mechanisms underlying biased decision-making remain insufficiently explored. While correspondence studies have extensively documented ethnic discrimination, they often fail to capture the full decision-making process or control for supply-side factors such as landlord preferences. In this multifactorial survey experiment, we asked 723 real estate students to rate 2, 169 tenant applications, manipulating both demand-side (origin signals, social status and pool competition ethnic mix) and supply-side (landlord preferences and property quality) factors. Our findings reveal that skin colour elicits stronger discrimination than name-based ethnic cues, and that high social status significantly moderates discrimination against minorities. Furthermore, landlord preferences play a crucial role in shaping real estate agents’ decisions, with discriminatory instructions amplifying biases. The study also highlights the role of competition effects, showing that discrimination is more pronounced when minority applicants compete against majority applicants. By shedding light on the interplay between applicant characteristics, market conditions, and decision-making processes, our study contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of rental market discrimination and suggests avenues for policy interventions. |
| Keywords: | survey experiments, rental housing market, discrimination |
| JEL: | C83 C99 J15 R31 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:drm:wpaper:2025-24 |
| By: | Javier Olivera (Economics and Research Department, National Bank of Belgium); Warn N. Lekfuangfu (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid); Philippe Van Kerm, (University of Luxembourg) |
| Abstract: | Drawing on two data sources from across Europe, we show that both bequest motives of parents and children’s gender composition shape unequal divisions of bequests. First, the Survey on Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe reveals that observed bequests are divided unequally when children differ in sex, caregiving, or income, with bequest motives strongest among mixed-sex children. Second, in a vignette experiment featuring alternative bequest motive scenarios and randomised gender compositions for two fictitious children, hypothetical bequests are most unequally divided under the exchange motive while children’s gender composition matters more under the altruistic motive. Fictitious parents favour daughters regardless of deservingness, granting the highest bequest share to a deserving daughter with a brother. In return, these patterns reinforce traditional gender norms. |
| Keywords: | Bequest, Intergenerational transfers, Gender, Vignette Experiment, Deservingness, Altruism, Exchange, Europe, HFCS, SHARE. |
| JEL: | H24 D31 D63 E62 H53 E25 J23 O33 |
| Date: | 2025–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbb:reswpp:202505-476 |
| By: | Baker-Henningham, Helen; Taja, Francis; Bowers, Marsha |
| Abstract: | We adapted a violence-prevention, parenting program (the Irie Homes Toolbox, or IHT) for integration into Jamaican preschool services. The adapted IHT was evaluated in a mixed-method feasibility trial in Kingston, Jamaica. Twenty-four preschools were randomly assigned to intervention (n12) or wait-list control (n12). Ten caregivers per school were recruited (n240, n120/group). The program consisted of eleven 1-hour parenting sessions delivered by a preschool teacher with groups of ten caregivers of children aged 2-6 years. In the impact evaluation, the primary outcome was caregivers' use of violence against their child (VAC). Secondary outcomes were caregivers' involvement with their child, attitude to VAC, preferences for harsh punishment, self-efficacy, and child conduct problems. All outcomes were measured by caregiver-report, and we test for and find no evidence of social desirability bias. We measured fidelity of implementation on an ongoing basis. We also conducted in-depth interviews with participating teachers and kept ongoing logs on intervention implementation. Participants attended a mean (SD)4.0(3.1) sessions. The IHT intervention led to reductions in caregivers' use of VAC (ES-0.22, p0.04) and caregivers' favorable attitudes to VAC (ES-0.36, p0.01), and increases in caregivers' involvement with their child (ES0.30, p0.005) and parenting self-efficacy (ES0.29, p0.02). Reductions in caregiver preferences for harsh punishment were significant at p0.07 (ES-0.21). We found no benefits to child conduct problems. Through observations of session quality, interviews with preschool teachers, and research team logs, we identified enablers and barriers to intervention implementation and suggestions for improvement. The program has potential for large-scale dissemination to reduce VAC in Jamaica. |
| Keywords: | violence prevention;Violence against children;preschool;Parenting intervention |
| JEL: | I10 I20 J12 J13 |
| Date: | 2025–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:14089 |
| By: | Battocletti, Vittoria; Desiato, Alfredo; Romano, Alessandro; Sotis, Chiara; Tröger, Tobias |
| Abstract: | Many firms are making net-zero and carbon neutral pledges. In principle, these pledges should help consumers identify sustainable options, but often they do not correspond to meaningful actions. In response, both in the U.S. and in Europe, courts and policymakers are requiring firms to disclose more information regarding their climate pledges. This strategy assumes that consumers pay attention to the information provided, are able to understand it, and adjust their behavior accordingly. We test this assumption in two studies with representative samples of U.S. residents (N = 300, N = 1500) and a large-scale eyetracking study (N = 500). First, we show that while people are not aware of the meaning of the most common climate pledges, they are willing to pay a considerable premium for these claims, confirming that an unregulated market may lead to greenwashing. Second, we observe that information provision does not affect respondents when making consequential choices on how much to pay for gift cards of firms that have made a climate pledge. Third, we find that in a realistic setting where respondents receive multiple pieces of information about various products, information regarding climate pledges attracts significant attention. However, it does not improve understanding of climate pledges and actually increases recipients' confusion. Our results add to the growing evidence that individual frame interventions are not a viable shortcut to address systemic issues like global warming. |
| JEL: | K1 K2 K32 D82 D83 M38 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:lawfin:317792 |
| By: | Lasdun, Violet; Harou, Aurélie; Magomba, Chris; Guereña, Davíd |
| Abstract: | Information constraints rank high among barriers to agricultural technology adoption among small-scale farmers, particularly for complex bundles of complementary practices. Information communication technologies are emerging to extend the reach of agricultural training, with potential to deliver information through mobile and smartphones at little or no cost to farmers. In this study, we develop a low-cost digital extension platform that facilitates peer-to-peer learning through SMS-based chat groups on basic feature phones. Using a randomized controlled trial, we evaluate its effectiveness in promoting the adoption of beneficial agricultural practices compared to a one-way SMS extension program. We measure strong positive effects of treatment on adoption of practices discussed in the chat groups, increasing intercropping and organic fertilizer production by 11-18 and 15 percentage points, respectively, suggesting that a simple group discussion forum can be a powerful addition to digital extension initiatives. However, chat group participation declined over the course of the study, underscoring the challenges of designing technological interventions that sustain user engagement. |
| Keywords: | digital peer-to-peer farmer extension; information communication technology; peer learning; regenerative agriculture; Tanzania; technology adoption |
| JEL: | O12 O13 Q16 |
| Date: | 2025–09–30 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:127762 |
| By: | Magaloni, Beatriz; Marinkovic Dal Poggetto, Sofía; Murphy, Tommy E.; Pucci, Florencia; Serra Fernández, Beatriz |
| Abstract: | Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has become a powerful and effective tool to deal with violence in many at-risk areas in the world. However, its use for gender-based violence (GBV) and dating violence, although promising, has been limited and used as a response service for survivors, rather than for prevention. To understand to what extent such interventions can help provide tools and skills to young people in their impressionable years to produce behavioral changes that prevent GBV, we carried out such an intervention among high school students in the municipality of Ecatepec in Mexico. We assessed the intervention with a randomized control trial. We introduce the novelty of collecting objective measures from automated neuropsychological tests to explore whether CBT might be functioning through the development of subjects' executive functions. Results from this intervention fail to show any clear change in self-reported violence. They do show, however, impacts on executive functions related to violence, such as emotional recognition and inhibitory control skills. |
| JEL: | J16 I31 Z18 H43 |
| Date: | 2025–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:14090 |
| By: | Ravi Jagadeesan; Davide Viviano |
| Abstract: | The publication process both determines which research receives the most attention, and influences the supply of research through its impact on the researcher's private incentives. We introduce a framework to study optimal publication decisions when researchers can choose (i) whether or how to conduct a study and (ii) whether or how to manipulate the research findings (e.g., via selective reporting or data manipulation). When manipulation is not possible, but research entails substantial private costs for the researchers, it may be optimal to incentivize cheaper research designs even if they are less accurate. When manipulation is possible, it is optimal to publish some manipulated results, as well as results that would have not received attention in the absence of manipulability. Even if it is possible to deter manipulation, such as by requiring pre-registered experiments instead of (potentially manipulable) observational studies, it is suboptimal to do so when experiments entail high research costs. |
| Date: | 2025–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2504.21156 |