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on Experimental Economics |
| By: | Mikhail Freer; Thilo Klein; Josu\'e Ortega |
| Abstract: | We conduct the first laboratory school choice experiment in which parents-the relevant decision makers in the field-are the experimental subjects. We compare Deferred Acceptance (DA) with two manipulable but potentially more efficient alternatives: Efficiency-Adjusted Deferred Acceptance (EADA) and the Rank-Minimizing mechanism (RM). We find that all mechanisms are frequently manipulated, with no significant differences in truth-telling rates. Parents and students manipulate at similar rates, supporting the external validity of student-based experiments, though students make significantly more obvious errors, suggesting parents' deviations are more deliberate. Despite widespread manipulation, the predicted welfare-stability tradeoff largely survives: DA never produces Pareto-efficient allocations yet generates little justified envy; whereas RM delivers substantial efficiency gains at a meaningful stability cost. EADA occupies a middle ground: its efficiency gains over DA are modest and imprecisely estimated yet double justified envy. Higher cognitive ability is associated with more deviations, and under EADA with worse outcomes. While DA does not induce truth-telling, it is the only mechanism in which manipulation never pays off and rarely changes outcomes. |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2603.24615 |
| By: | Nguyen, Duc Manh (Monash University) |
| Abstract: | This study investigates how the experience of conflict and the framing of post-conflict identity affect trust. In a pre-registered laboratory experiment in Vietnam, implemented shortly after the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the end of the war, 534 partici- pants were randomly assigned to either a treatment group that engaged in a multi-round competitive game intended to simulate conflict (called the “Attacker/Defender†game) (Gross et al., 2022) before playing the Trust game under four identity framings: paired with someone from the opposing group of the conflict, the same group, with no information about partner’s prior group, or with a new, neutral group identity designed to symbolically represent an absence of relation with conflict, or a control group which only take part in the Trust Game. We find that playing the Attacker/Defender game (i.e., being exposed to conflict in the lab) lowers trust by 13–21%, regardless of which side participants were in the conflict. |
| Keywords: | Trust ; Intergroup Conflict ; Identity Framing ; Laboratory Experiment JEL classifications: D91 ; Z13 ; D83 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wrk:wrkesp:94 |
| By: | Freer, Mikhail; Klein, Thilo; Ortega, Josué |
| Abstract: | We conduct the first laboratory school choice experiment in which parents - the relevant decision makers in the field - are the experimental subjects.We compare Deferred Acceptance (DA) with two manipulable but potentially more efficient alternatives: Efficiency-Adjusted Deferred Acceptance (EADA) and the Rank-Minimizing mechanism (RM). We find that all mechanisms are frequently manipulated, with no significant differences in truth-telling rates. Parents and students manipulate at similar rates, supporting the external validity of student-based experiments, though students make significantly more obvious errors, suggesting parents' deviations are more deliberate. Despite widespread manipulation, the predicted welfare-stability tradeoff largely survives: DA never produces Pareto-efficient allocations yet generates little justified envy; whereas RM delivers substantial efficiency gains at a meaningful stability cost. EADA occupies a middle ground: its efficiency gains over DA are modest and imprecisely estimated yet double justified envy. Higher cognitive ability is associated with more deviations, and under EADA with worse outcomes. While DA does not induce truth-telling, it is the only mechanism in which manipulation never pays off and rarely changes outcomes. |
| Keywords: | school choice, experiments, parents, efficiency-adjusted DA, rank-minimizing |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:qmsrps:202603 |
| By: | Snir, Avichai; Levy, Dudi; Wang, Dian; Chen, Haipeng (Allan); Levy, Daniel |
| Abstract: | We use survey experiments to demonstrate that manipulating participants’ perceptions of the context can affect their decisions. We ran three survey experiments in the U.S. and Israel with participants from both economics and non-economics majors. In the experiments, participants face a tradeoff between profit maximization (market norm) and workers’ welfare (social norm). Our experimental setup enables us to discriminate between the self-selection and indoctrination effects. Existing studies find that economics and non-economics students make different choices in such situations, which the studies argue is because of differences in personality traits between economics students and others. While such differences might exist, we argue that context also plays an important role. Using priming to manipulate the context, we demonstrate that when participants receive cues signaling that their decision has an economic context, both economics and non-economics students tend to maximize profits. When participants receive cues emphasizing social norms, on the other hand, both economics and non-economics students are less likely to maximize profits. We find that the role of context in determining behavior is at least as large as the baseline differences between economics and non-economics students. |
| Keywords: | Market Norms; Social Norms; Self-Selection; Indoctrination; Self-Interest; Economic Man; Rational Choice; Fairness; Experimental Economics; Laboratory Experiments; Priming; Economists vs. Non-Economists |
| JEL: | A11 A12 A13 A20 B40 C90 C91 D01 D63 D91 P10 |
| Date: | 2026–03–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:128298 |
| By: | Monica P. Bhatt; Jonathan Guryan; Fatemeh Momeni; Philip Oreopoulos; Eleni Packis |
| Abstract: | This paper presents the results of three field experiments testing interventions designed to increase engagement and improve learning during remote schooling. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of remote learning when schooling is interrupted has become more common, prompting educators to ask: How can we better engage students during remote instruction? This is especially salient because much of what we know about student engagement is based on in-person schooling, not virtual instruction. In the first experiment, we find that personalized phone calls increased families’ likelihood of registering for a virtual summer schooling program in Chicago Public Schools, the pre-specified primary outcome. In the second experiment, we find sending weekly text messages had no effect on students’ summer days absent and usage of Khan Academy, the primary outcomes; in analyses of secondary outcomes, we find that the weekly text messages increased students’ likelihood of passing their summer math course. In the third experiment, we find adding an instructional aide to supplement classroom teachers had no effect on the primary outcomes of summer days absent and usage of Khan Academy; in analyses of secondary outcomes, we find beneficial impacts in the following school year on students’ math grades and passing rates. |
| JEL: | I21 I24 J01 J24 |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34996 |
| By: | Alexander Ugarov; Arya Gaduh; Peter McGee |
| Abstract: | We use a laboratory experiment to study preferences over false-positive and false-negative rates of warning signals for an adverse event with a known prior. We find that subjects decrease their demand with signal quality, but less than predicted by our theory. There is asymmetric under-responsiveness by prior: for a low (high) prior, their willingness-to-pay does not fully adjust for the increase in the false-positive (false-negative) costs. We show that neither risk preference nor Bayesian updating skills can fully explain our results. Our results are most consistent with a decision-making heuristic in which subjects do not distinguish between false-positive and false-negative errors. |
| JEL: | C91 D81 D84 D91 |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34992 |
| By: | Amil Camilo Moore; Fabrizio Germano; Rosemarie Nagel |
| Abstract: | We study similarity in the complete set of one-shot 2×2 games with payoffs from {1, 2, 3, 4} without replacement. Similarity is defined geometrically via a neighborhood structure on games and continuity of behavior, and is applied to both theoretical rules (e.g., Nash equilibrium, level-k reasoning) and experimental data. This produces a partition of the games into (theoretical or empirical) similarity classes. We run a large-scale experiment in which each subject plays all 78 games within our class without feedback. We find that empirically inferred similarity classes diverge sharply from those predicted by Nash equilibrium and dominance reasoning. Instead, the empirical similarity classes align closely with the theoretical classes of a level-k variant, with deviations reflecting fairness and efficiency concerns. At the individual level, subjects’ play can be classified according to primary and secondary rules, conforming with either level-k variant (0 ≤ k ≤ 5) or a fairness and efficiency-based heuristic. The main insights extend to strategic settings beyond our 2 × 2 games. |
| Keywords: | Similarity of games; level-k reasoning; equity and efficiency; experiments; topology of games |
| JEL: | C52 C70 C72 C81 C90 C93 D91 |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:upf:upfgen:1942 |
| By: | Florian Spitzer; Steffen Huck; Jean-Robert Tyran |
| Abstract: | In markets for experience goods where sellers cannot build reputations, buyers may refrain from purchasing, leading to low efficiency. A product testing institution can mitigate this problem by offering buyers a noisy but informative signal about product quality for a fee before they decide whether to buy. Theory predicts that such testing improves efficiency only when the signal is inexpensive; if the cost is high, it should have no effect. Our experimental results confirm that low-cost signals increase efficiency, although the gains are smaller than expected. Surprisingly, high-cost signals also improve efficiency compared to a control treatment without signals. These findings suggest that institutions predicted to be ineffective by standard theory may nevertheless perform better in practice. |
| Keywords: | experience good, product testing, product quality, signal; experiment |
| JEL: | C73 C91 L15 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12568 |
| By: | Bernd Irlenbusch (University of Cologne & London School of Economics and Political Science); Holger A. Rau (University of Duisburg-Essen & University of Gottingen); Rainer Michael Rilke (WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management) |
| Abstract: | LLMs are rapidly entering the hiring process, but their most pronounced effects may occur before any screening by changing who chooses to apply. We study how human versus LLM-based evaluation and gender transparency shape entry into competitive jobs. In a preregistered online experiment, participants first complete a Niederle and Vesterlund (2007) tournament task to measure competitive preferences, then prepare text-based job applications and decide whether to apply under each of four evaluation regimes—human only, LLM only, and two hybrid human-in-the-loop configurations—while gender disclosure is randomized between subjects. LLM involvement reduces application rates, with stronger effects for women than men, including under hybrid designs. Effects are driven by non-competitive candidates; non-competitive women, the group most exposed to AI-induced deterrence, receive the strongest objective evaluations under pure AI assessment across all subgroups, yet are systematically underconfident and apply least often. Competitive men persistently apply and exhibit overconfidence-driven adverse selection, whereas competitive women show resilience to AI-induced deterrence while remaining well-calibrated under AI evaluation and exhibiting positive self-selection across regimes. We find no effects of gender transparency. |
| Keywords: | AI hiring, LLMs, algorithm aversion, gender differences |
| JEL: | C92 J71 J24 O33 |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ajk:ajkdps:398 |
| By: | Magin, Jana Anjali; Neyer, Ulrike; Stevens, Alexandra |
| Abstract: | Many Central banks around the world are considering the introduction of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) as a new means of payment. One of the reasons for introducing a CBDC is a change in payment behavior towards an increasing use of electronic forms of payment. This paper examines the introduction of a CBDC as a new means of payment. We conduct a controlled laboratory experiment to assess how adoption costs and anonymity affect the demand for CBDC compared to established means of payment such as cash and deposits. We use a 2x2 treatment design in which CBDCs differ in adoption costs and anonymity. We find that adoption costs play an important role in the decision to use CBDC as a new means of payment and that anonymity plays a role in the allocation of experimental money between different means of payment. |
| Keywords: | Central bank digital currencies, experimental economics, payment methods, anonymity, adoption costs |
| JEL: | E41 E42 C92 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:dicedp:339605 |
| By: | Christiane Buschinger (Johannes Gutenberg University, Germany); Markus Eyting (Johannes Gutenberg University, Germany); Florian Hett (Johannes Gutenberg University, Germany); Judd Kessler (The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, USA) |
| Abstract: | How does polarization — as measured by mistreatment of political rivals — spread? In an online experiment, participants choose between splitting financial resources equally or discriminating against a supporter of the opposing political party. We vary the information subjects receive about others’ choices and justifications for discrimination. Exposure to extreme justifications for discrimination increases discrimination — particularly in a polarized environment, when many others are already discriminating — and it leads participants to adopt more extreme justifications themselves. Our findings suggest a self-reinforcing dynamic that may fuel polarization: Exposure to extreme statements increases polarization and the prevalence of extreme reasoning. |
| Keywords: | political polarization, peer effects, justifications, outgroup discrimination, social norms |
| JEL: | C9 D01 D9 |
| Date: | 2025–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jgu:wpaper:2602 |
| By: | Mallory Avery; Edwin Ip; Andreas Leibbrandt; Joseph Vecci |
| Abstract: | Recent technological advancements are reshaping pathways to employment by automating the interview process. Asynchronous interviews, in which job applicants submit answers to interview questions via an online platform without interacting with an interviewer, are replacing more traditional face-to-face job interviews. At the same time, AI algorithms are now widely used to assess these interview answers. In this paper, we use a field experiment to comprehensively study how these new technologies affect applicants and employers in the recruitment process. Over 3, 000 job applicants are randomized into asynchronous audio or video interviews, live online interviews, and a control group. Their job interviews are then assessed by both professional recruiters and a commercial AI recruitment tool used by most Fortune 100 companies. We find that asynchronous interviews cause an over 50% decrease in application continuation, including among the most qualified applicants, and that this decline is largest for women. A complementary vignette experiment provides evidence that this deterrence is driven by perceptions about the competitiveness and fairness of the recruitment process. In terms of assessments, we find that the AI evaluation tool scores women and underrepresented racial minorities higher than human evaluators, while the opposite is true for men, Whites and Asians. We track our applicants' subsequent labor market outcomes and find that the AI assessment tool predicts subsequent employment success substantially better than human recruiters, suggesting that AI captures soft skills and potential that humans overlook. In addition, we provide evidence that, unlike AI, human recruiters' assessments suffer from multiple cognitive biases. Our findings provide some of the first key evidence on how recent technological advances are transforming the hiring process. |
| Keywords: | technological change, artificial intelligence, gender, field experiment |
| JEL: | C93 J23 J71 J78 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12573 |
| By: | Brune, Niclas; Hinsberger, Björn |
| Abstract: | Progressive improvements in Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) are leading to an expansion of its application, including sustainability reporting. While this promises efficiency gains, little is known about how stakeholders perceive AI-generated reports. This study investigates the perception of external stakeholders of such reports with different levels of AI involvement, examined through an online experiment with 96 participants in Germany. Our findings show that human post-processing plays a crucial role: reports co-created with AI are perceived as equally credible as human-written ones, while fully automated reports are rated significantly lower. These results underline the relevance of human involvement for maintaining credibility in sensitive communication contexts. They also provide practical insights for communicating AI-assisted sustainability reporting, highlighting the psychological dynamics that shape stakeholder trust. |
| Date: | 2026–01–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dar:wpaper:159120 |
| By: | Nopparuj Chindasombatcharoen; Phumsith Mahasuweerachai |
| Abstract: | Reducing environmental damage from agricultural systems is a critical priority for governments. Particularly, rice farmers in developing nations frequently resort to the environmentally harmful practice of post-harvest residue burning. Promotion of practices to mitigate burning is met with differing degrees of success. Through experimental research with farmers in Thailand, this study examines the impact of temporary cost and income subsidies on the reduction of burning by farmers with differing financial attributes. Financial characteristics were modelled by imposing budget constraints on participants through varying initial endowments. The findings indicated that temporary subsidies were effective in not only the short-term during provision but also in the longterm after subsidies ended. Additionally, several psychological impacts contributing to disparities in adoption rates were identified, including the perceived need for obtaining more income among budget-constrained individuals and the noteworthy impact of loss aversion on long-term adoption decisions. The study’s insights offer valuable contributions to understanding smallholder farmers’ behaviours in accepting temporary subsidies for sustainable agriculture and provides policymakers with practical strategies to alleviate the harmful consequences of conventional farming practices. |
| Keywords: | Sustainable agriculture; Crop residue burning; Field experiment; Financial incentives; Smallholder farmers; Budget constraints |
| JEL: | D91 O13 H23 |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pui:dpaper:247 |
| By: | Haoge Chang; Zeyang Yu |
| Abstract: | This article studies randomization inference for treatment effects in randomized controlled trials with attrition, where outcomes are observed for only a subset of units. We assume monotonicity in reporting behavior as in \cite{lee2009training} and focus on the average treatment effect for always-reporters (AR-ATE), defined as units whose outcomes are observed under both treatment and control. Because always-reporter status is only partially revealed by observed assignment and response patterns, we propose a worst-case randomization test that maximizes the randomization p-value over all always-reporter configurations consistent with the data, with an optional pretest to prune implausible configurations. Using studentized Hajek- and chi-square-type statistics, we show the resulting procedure is finite-sample valid for the sharp null and asymptotically valid for the weak null. We also discuss computational implementations for discrete outcomes and integer-programming-based bounds for continuous outcomes. |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2603.24970 |
| By: | Curi, Claudia (Free University of Bozen/Bolzano); Dibiasi, Andreas (Free University of Bozen/Bolzano); Ploner, Matteo (University of Trento); Tonin, Mirco (Free University of Bozen/Bolzano) |
| Abstract: | We study whether gender-biased financial advice contributes to the gender gap in pension wealth. Using administrative records from four private pension funds in Italy, we document that women are 8 percentage points less likely than men to choose stock-focused investment lines at enrollment. To assess whether advisory behavior contributes to this gap, we conduct a vignette-based survey experiment among pension advisors affiliated to the four funds, randomly varying the gender of otherwise identical prospective clients. Advisors are 22 percentage points less likely to recommend stock-oriented portfolios to females, even after conditioning on advisors' beliefs about relevant client characteristics. We further show that a simple information intervention that makes advisors aware of the documented gender bias eliminates this gap in the experimental setting. Linking advisors to real clients in the administrative data, we demonstrate that the gender gap in actual investment choices shrinks by approximately 60% during the five months following the intervention. This evidence suggests that gender bias in financial advice is largely implicit and that low-cost informational feedback to advisors can meaningfully reduce gender disparities. |
| Keywords: | biased advice, gender, pension, implicit bias |
| JEL: | J16 G53 J32 |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18463 |
| By: | Claudia Curi; Andreas Dibiasi; Matteo Ploner; Mirco Tonin |
| Abstract: | We study whether gender-biased financial advice contributes to the gender gap in pension wealth. Using administrative records from four private pension funds in Italy, we document that women are ceteris paribus 8 percentage points less likely than men to choose stock-focused investment lines at the time of enrollment. To assess whether advisory behavior contributes to this gap, we conduct a vignette-based survey experiment among pension advisors affiliated to the four funds, randomly varying the gender of otherwise identical prospective 25-year-old clients. Advisors are 22 percentage points less likely to recommend stock-oriented portfolios to female clients, even after conditioning on advisors' beliefs about relevant client characteristics. We further show that a simple information intervention that makes advisors aware of the documented gender bias eliminates this gap in the experimental setting. Linking advisors to real clients in the administrative data, we demonstrate that the gender gap in actual investment choices shrinks by approximately 60% during the five months following the intervention. This evidence suggests that gender bias in financial advice is largely implicit and that low-cost informational feedback to advisors can meaningfully reduce gender disparities in retirement wealth accumulation. |
| Keywords: | biased advice, gender, pension, implicit bias |
| JEL: | J16 G53 J32 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12569 |
| By: | Keaton Ellis; Wanying Huang |
| Abstract: | As AI agents become more autonomous, properly aligning their objectives with human preferences becomes increasingly important. We study how effectively an AI agent learns a human principal's preference in choice under risk via stated versus revealed preferences. We conduct an online experiment in which subjects state their preferences through written instructions ("prompts") and reveal them through choices in a series of binary lottery questions ("data"). We find that on average, an AI agent given revealed-preference data predicts subjects' choices more accurately than an AI agent given stated-preference prompts. Further analysis suggests that the gap is driven by subjects' difficulty in translating their own preferences into written instructions. When given a choice between which information source to give to an AI agent, a large portion of subjects fail to select the more informative one. Moreover, when predictions from the two sources conflict, we find that the AI agent aligns more frequently with the prompt, despite its lower accuracy. Overall, these results highlight the revealed preference approach as a powerful mechanism for communicating human preferences to AI agents, but its success depends on careful implementation. |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2603.29317 |
| By: | Auer, Tobias; Ruedin, Didier |
| Abstract: | Cahyadi et al. (2020) examine the cumulative effects of conditional cash transfer programs in Indonesia after 2 and 6 years. They find beneficial effects for several of the indicators targeted by the cash transfer programme. They find a substantial increase in childcare using trained professionals, the number of under-15 out of school fell by half, and stunting fell by 23 per cent. By contrast, they found no transformative economic change for the households that received crash transfers. We successfully computationally reproduced the main results of the paper. Additionally, we successfully used a fake treatment as a placebo and showed that the results are robust against the omission of control variables. Moreover, we could verify the coding of two variables, which we tested and confirmed to correspond to the WHO definition. |
| Keywords: | replication, experiment, economics, cash transfer, health |
| JEL: | I21 I38 J13 J24 O15 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:i4rdps:291 |
| By: | Paul Gertler; Brett Green; Catherine Wolfram |
| Abstract: | We study a loan contract that requires borrowers to make a temporary cash deposit prior to disbursement, which is fully refunded and does not alter repayment incentives. In a randomized controlled trial with a digital lender, applicants are offered otherwise identical loans with or without a deposit. The deposit requirement reduces loan take-up but substantially improves repayment and lender profitability. The results indicate that deposits screen borrowers on both observable and unobservable characteristics. Higher-risk borrowers are less likely to take up deposit loans, and among borrowers with the same observable risk profile, those who accept deposit loans repay at higher rates, with the largest differences among low-risk borrowers. These findings show that simple contract features can complement data-driven credit models by adding an additional screening margin. |
| JEL: | G23 G51 O16 |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:35001 |
| By: | Xiangyu Song |
| Abstract: | Attrition in survey and field experiments presents a challenge for social science research. Common approaches to deal with this problem -- such as complete case analysis, multiple imputation, and weighting methods -- rely on strong assumptions that may not hold in practice. This paper introduces a new method that combines recent advances in statistical inference with established tools for handling missing data. The approach produces prediction intervals for treatment effects that are both robust and precise. Evidence from simulation studies shows that the method achieves better coverage and produces narrower intervals than common alternatives. The reanalysis of two recently published experiment studies illustrates how this framework allows researchers to compare treatment effects across participants who remain in the study, those who drop out, and the full sample. Taken together, these results highlight how the proposed approach provides a stronger foundation for causal inference in the presence of attrition. |
| Date: | 2026–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2604.00504 |
| By: | Bernhard, Sarah (IAB Nürnberg); Bohmann, Sandra (DIW Berlin); Fiedler, Susann (WU Wien); Kasy, Maximilian; Schupp, Jürgen (DIW Berlin); Schwerter, Frederik (Frankfurt School of Finance and Management) |
| Abstract: | How does basic income (a regular, unconditional, guaranteed cash transfer) impact labor supply? We show that in search models of the labor market with income effects, this impact is theoretically ambiguous: Employment and job durations might increase or decrease, match surplus might be shifted to workers or employers, and worker surplus might be reallocated between wages and job amenities. We thus turn to empirical evidence to study this impact. We conducted a pre-registered RCT in Germany, starting 2021, where recipients received 1200 Euro/month for three years. We draw on both administrative and survey data, and find no extensive margin (employment) response, and no impact on on job transitions from either non-employment or employment. We do find a small statistically insignificant intensive margin shift to parttime employment, which implies an excess burden (reduction of government revenues) of ca 7.5% of the transfer. We furthermore observe a small increase of enrolment in training or education. |
| Keywords: | BASIC INCOME, RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL, LABOR SUPPLY |
| JEL: | I38 J22 |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:amz:wpaper:2026-08 |
| By: | Charlotte Sophia Bez; Jorge A. Bonilla; Brigitte Castañeda Rodríguez; Jorge H. García; Leonard Missbach; Farah Mohammadzadeh Valencia; Jan Christoph Steckel |
| Abstract: | Subsidizing fossil fuel consumption is at odds with climate change mitigation and a heavy burden on public budgets. Yet, efforts to reform such subsidies often face strong public opposition. We examine whether informing citizens about the effects of fossil fuel subsidy reform (FFSR) and complementary policy measures can increase public acceptance. We study this question using a novel survey experiment in Colombia, a country currently aiming at reforming existing fossil fuel subsidies. Building on Hoy et al (2026), our experiment exposes respondents to different information treatments, including from an innovative calculation of personal costs, and options for complementary policy measures. Leveraging a representative sample with more than 3, 600 respondents, we find that information provision alone has limited effects on public support, as citizens rarely update their - at times - incorrect beliefs. In contrast, policy design is crucial. Complementing FFSR with additional measures shifts public opinion from majority opposition to majority support. Informing about the environmental effects of FFSR is most effective and strongly increases support for environmentally oriented complementary policies. Opposition to FFSR without complementary measures remains primarily driven by concerns about impacts on poorer households. |
| Keywords: | political economy, public finance, subsidies, climate change, fossil fuels, energy policy, survey experiment, distributional impacts |
| JEL: | P16 H20 H23 D63 H22 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12583 |
| By: | Aaron L. Bodoh-Creed; Brent R. Hickman; John A. List; Ian Muir; Gregory K. Sun |
| Abstract: | Nonlinear pricing theory predicts that firms can extract surplus by inducing heterogeneous consumers to self-sort across price contract offers that are ex-post optimal for them. We study subscription pricing when the frictionless sorting assumption fails. Using large-scale subscription experiments conducted by Lyft, we document systematic deviations from optimal self-selection: many high-demand consumers decline subscriptions that would have saved them money, while some subscribers fail to break even. We develop a structural model of intensive-margin demand in which consumers may exhibit salience failures, forecast errors about future demand, or impulsivity. We show that subscription uptake can be recast as one-sided noncompliance in a binary-instrument framework, allowing us to leverage LATE methods to identify counterfactual outcome distributions and a novel “uptake function” linking baseline outcomes to compliance behavior. Combining experimental price variation with this identification strategy, we recover utility primitives, demand heterogeneity, and behavioral parameters. Salience failures and forecast errors play quantitatively important roles. Counterfactual analyses show that optimal subscription pricing generates substantial gains relative to linear pricing, but these gains are highly sensitive to consumer deviations from ex-post optimal choice. Implementing nonlinear pricing therefore requires not only optimal contract design for consumer screening, but also coordinated efforts to mitigate behavioral frictions. |
| JEL: | C14 C51 C93 D04 L4 |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:35003 |
| By: | Agnès Helme-Guizon (CERAG - Centre d'études et de recherches appliquées à la gestion - UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes); Jade Broyer (Enov); Soffien Bataoui (Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3); Mohammed Hakimi (University of Prince Mugrin) |
| Abstract: | Healthcare chatbots improve mental health support through 24/7 availability, reduced stigma and cost, and proven effectiveness, yet adoption is limited by perceptions of low humanity. Research based on CASA paradigm and Stereotype Content Model indicates gender cues may affect perceived warmth and competence, driving interaction value, trust, and use. However, evidence for counter-stereotypical effects in healthcare remains limited. This research investigated whether chatbot gender influences perceived warmth, competence, trust, value, attitudes, and usage intention in well-being contexts, examining warmth and competence's roles in trust and value generation. Two experiments manipulated chatbot gender through names and avatars while keeping other features constant. Study 1 used scenarios with 297 Prolific participants evaluating chatbot screenshots. Study 2 replicated the test with 474 Prolific participants interacting with a well-being chatbot providing exercise recommendations. Both studies used validated 5-point Likert measures, analyzing factor scores through ANOVAs and regression models with successful manipulation checks. Contrary to gender-stereotype expectations, male- and female-gendered well-being chatbots showed no significant differences in perceived warmth, competence, attitudes, or usage intentions. Warmth and competence increased trust, which mediated attitudes and intentions. Both dimensions enhanced functional and emotional value, with emotional value showing stronger influence on user attitudes and perceived well-being. The findings suggest designers should prioritize trust-building through warmth and competence and emotional resonance rather than gendered humanization cues. Future work should examine richer gender manipulations and user-chatbot gender congruence |
| Keywords: | Trust, gender stereotypes, competence, warmth, well-being, chatbot |
| Date: | 2026–01–16 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05552941 |
| By: | Roeckert, Julian; Mogge, Lukas; Fluhrer, Svenja; Krähnert, Kati |
| Abstract: | This study examines whether receiving anticipatory cash transfers during an extreme winter affects households' demand for index-based livestock insurance. We exploit a randomized field experiment conducted during the 2020/21 winter disaster in western Mongolia and combine household panel survey data with administrative insurance records. We do not find evidence of charity hazard: the estimated effect of anticipatory cash transfers on insurance uptake is small and statistically indistinguishable from zero. The 95% confidence interval rules out large crowding-out effects but remains consistent with small negative effects of up to 2 percentage points. Treatment effects are heterogeneous: among households with prior insurance experience, estimated effects are positive and statistically significant, while effects among previously uninsured households are statistically indistinguishable from zero. These findings suggest that, in contexts where assistance is incomplete and index insurance is well-established, anticipatory assistance does not need to undermine insurance demand. |
| Abstract: | Diese Studie untersucht, ob der Erhalt antizipativer Geldtransfers während eines extremen Winters die Nachfrage von Haushalten nach indexbasierter Viehversicherung beeinflusst. Hierfür nutzen wir ein randomisiertes Feldexperiment, das während der Winterkatastrophe 2020/21 in der Westmongolei durchgeführt wurde, und kombinieren Paneldaten aus Haushaltsbefragungen mit administrativen Versicherungsdaten. Wir finden keine Hinweise auf "Charity Hazard": Der geschätzte Effekt antizipativer Geldtransfers auf den Abschluss von Versicherungen ist gering und statistisch nicht von null zu unterscheiden. Das 95%-Konfidenzintervall schließt große Verdrängungseffekte aus, bleibt jedoch mit kleinen negativen Effekten von bis zu 2 Prozentpunkten vereinbar. Die Effekte der Geldtransfers sind heterogen: Unter Haushalten mit vorheriger Versicherungserfahrung sind die geschätzten Effekte positiv und statistisch signifikant, während die Effekte bei zuvor nicht versicherten Haushalten statistisch nicht von null zu unterscheiden sind. Diese Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass in Kontexten, in denen Unterstützung unvollständig ist und indexbasierte Versicherungen bereits etabliert sind, antizipative Hilfe die Nachfrage nach Versicherungen nicht reduzieren muss. |
| Keywords: | Anticipatory humanitarian assistance, extreme weather events, impact evaluation, index-based insurance, randomized controlled trial, Mongolia |
| JEL: | G22 H84 Q12 Q54 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:rwirep:339615 |
| By: | Alexandre Truc (GREDEG - Groupe de Recherche en Droit, Economie et Gestion - UNS - Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (1965 - 2019) - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UniCA - Université Côte d'Azur) |
| Date: | 2025–02–20 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05543096 |
| By: | Patrick Illien; Olayinka Aremu; Ben Jann; Eva-Marie Meemken |
| Abstract: | -Background- The world is facing a severe drug crisis, posing serious public health and societal risks. Yet, little is known about drug use among farmers and farmworkers, key contributors to global food production. Poor mental health and precarious working conditions in agriculture are common. Farmers and workers may turn to drugs to cope with these conditions, however, evidence on drug use in agriculture is extremely limited. A challenge in collecting such data is social desirability bias stemming from the topic's sensitivity. We address this gap by using sensitive question techniques and offer novel evidence on drug use among farmers and farmworkers, highlighting links between working conditions, work-related health, and drug consumption. -Methods- We conducted item-count and item-sum double list experiments with 1, 554 farmers and workers to measure the prevalence and frequency of drug use in Nigeria's labour-intensive tomato sector where the topic is highly relevant. List experiments avoid direct questioning and can estimate sensitive behaviours, while hiding respondents' answers from the interviewer. Using these estimates, we ran multivariate regressions to identify work-related risk factors of drug use, focusing on burnout, work-related pain and health problems, pesticide exposure, unusual working hours, and belief in work performance effects. -Results- The item-count experiment suggests that about 8% of farmers, 20% of seasonal workers, and 6% of casual workers used drugs in the previous 12 months. The item-sum experiment finds that drug-using farmers and seasonal workers have consumed drugs on about 8 days in the last month on average (farmers possibly more than that), and drug-using casual workers on 7 days. Multivariate regressions show that work-related pain and belief in performance-enhancing effects are the most important risk factors for frequent drug use. Our results also demonstrate that burnout levels are significantly higher among farmworkers than among farmers, but we do not find a significant association between work-related burnout and drug use. -Conclusions- Farmers and farmworkers suffer from important occupational health deficits. Drug use and mental health in rural areas in particular remain underappreciated on policy and research agendas. Implications for agricultural productivity and rural development should be further explored. |
| Keywords: | drug use, burnout, working conditions, occupational health, farmwork, agricultural employment, list experiment, sensitive question technique, Nigeria |
| JEL: | C83 C99 I12 J43 J81 O13 |
| Date: | 2026–04–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bss:wpaper:62 |
| By: | Schätzle, Anna; Walenta, Danilo C.; Buxmann, Peter |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dar:wpaper:158960 |
| By: | M. Abdellaoui (HEC Paris - Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales, CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); B. Hill (HEC Paris - Recherche - Hors Laboratoire - HEC Paris - Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales, CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, GREGH - Groupement de Recherche et d'Etudes en Gestion à HEC - HEC Paris - Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); E. Kemel (HEC Paris - Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales, CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); H. Maafi (UP8 - Université Paris 8) |
| Abstract: | We investigate learning in ambiguous situations where subjects bet on a winning event whose probability depends on an unknown proportion of winning chips in an urn. Varying the number of draws prior to choice allows us to "scan" ambiguity attitudes across differing amounts of information. By separately eliciting posterior beliefs in addition to matching probabilities, we disentangle the impact of learning on ambiguity attitude from its impact on beliefs, including divergences from Bayesian update. Both "raw data" and smooth ambiguity model-based analyses show that learning affects ambiguity attitude in the direction of ambiguity neutrality. Moreover, at small sample sizes, the impact of these changes on preferences is comparable to that of the divergence from Bayesian update. |
| Keywords: | Ambiguity attitude indices, Learning, Bayesian updating, Sampling. JEL Codes: D80, D81, D83, Smooth ambiguity preferences, Ambiguity aversion, Ambiguity, Ambiguity Ambiguity aversion Smooth ambiguity preferences Ambiguity attitude indices Learning Bayesian updating Sampling. JEL Codes: D80 D81 D83 |
| Date: | 2025–06–19 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05541433 |
| By: | Myungkyu Shim; Kwang Hwan Kim; Myunghwan Andrew Lee; Sangyup Choi; Siye Bae; Olivier Coibion; Yuriy Gorodnichenko |
| Abstract: | We provide experimental evidence on how fiscal news shapes households’ expectations and spending behavior. Using a new survey of ~11, 000 Korean individuals linked to automatically collected high-frequency spending data, we elicit respondents’ fiscal and macroeconomic beliefs and randomly provide them with one of five pieces of information about current public debt levels, fiscal deficits, and the government’s plans for deficit reduction. Exogenous increases in expected future public debt raise expected inflation and increase consumer spending. On the other hand, exogenous increases in expected fiscal balance raise expected output growth and have no significant effect on consumer spending. |
| JEL: | E21 E3 E62 |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:35009 |
| By: | Robert Mahlstedt (University of Copenhagen); Sonja Settele (University of Cologne, ECONtribute & Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Economics); Johannes Wohlfart (University of Cologne, ECONtribute & Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Economics) |
| Abstract: | We study economic narratives---causal accounts of observed events---in a high-stakes real-world context: long-term unemployment. We use open-ended questions to measure narratives about long-term unemployment in samples of Danish unemployed job seekers, firm managers, households from the general population, and experts at labor market institutions, as well as international academic experts. We document three main results. First, there is pronounced heterogeneity in narratives both within and across samples. For instance, job seekers are more likely to attribute long-term unemployment to factors outside the control of the individual and less likely to attribute it to job seekers’ own decisions than respondents in the other samples. Second, narratives strongly reflect job seekers' personal experiences during both the current and previous unemployment spells. Third, narratives shape job seekers' and firm managers' quantitative beliefs, decisions and labor market outcomes as measured in survey and linked administrative data, which we demonstrate in a field experiment and correlationally. Our findings highlight the experiential origins of economic narratives and underscore the key role of narratives in belief formation and decision making. |
| Keywords: | Narratives, belief formation, job search |
| JEL: | D83 D84 J64 |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ajk:ajkdps:399 |
| By: | Robert Mahlstedt; Sonja Settele; Johannes Wohlfart |
| Abstract: | We study economic narratives - causal accounts of observed events - in a high-stakes real-world context: long-term unemployment. We use open-ended questions to measure narratives about long-term unemployment in samples of Danish unemployed job seekers, firm managers, households from the general population, and experts at labor market institutions, as well as international academic experts. We document three main results. First, there is pronounced heterogeneity in narratives both within and across samples. For instance, job seekers are more likely to attribute long-term unemployment to factors outside the control of the individual and less likely to attribute it to job seekers' own decisions than respondents in the other samples. Second, narratives strongly reflect job seekers' personal experiences during both the current and previous unemployment spells. Third, narratives shape job seekers' and firm managers' quantitative beliefs, decisions and labor market outcomes as measured in survey and linked administrative data, which we demonstrate in a field experiment and correlationally. Our findings highlight the experiential origins of economic narratives and underscore the key role of narratives in belief formation and decision making. |
| Keywords: | narratives, belief formation, job search |
| JEL: | D83 D84 J64 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12591 |
| By: | Torka, Ann-Kathrin; Wallrich, Lukas; Wang, Jingze |
| Abstract: | We report a computational reproducibility assessment of Heiserman and Simpson (2023), who examined the causal effects of workplace discrimination on employees' work effort across five experiments (total analytic N = 1, 041) and a manager survey (N = 107). Using the authors' publicly available data and reproducing the published analyses in R (the original used Stata), we closely reproduce the reported reward-expectation results, the main work-effort pattern, the mediation decomposition, and the manager-survey results. We identify seven minor reporting discrepancies between the manuscript, supplement, and reproduced values, none of which changes the substantive conclusions. Extension analyses meta-analytically pool count-model results that the original supplement reports only per-study, conduct additional meta-analytic robustness checks (leave-one-study-out, exclusion sensitivity), and assess pre-registration adherence using Lakens' severity framework. Overall, we find that conclusions weaken under some alternative analytical choices, but that the main claim is robust. |
| Keywords: | computational reproducibility, discrimination, work effort |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:i4rdps:288 |
| By: | Arman Le Bellour (Centre Hospitalier Métropole Savoie, HOPSIM, Chambéry, 73000, France, LIP-PC2S - Laboratoire Inter-universitaire de Psychologie : Personnalité, Cognition, Changement Social - USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry] - Université Savoie Mont Blanc - UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes); Arnaud Carre (LIP-PC2S - Laboratoire Inter-universitaire de Psychologie : Personnalité, Cognition, Changement Social - USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry] - Université Savoie Mont Blanc - UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes); Annique Smeding (LIP-PC2S - Laboratoire Inter-universitaire de Psychologie : Personnalité, Cognition, Changement Social - USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry] - Université Savoie Mont Blanc - UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes); Léo Blervaque (Centre Hospitalier Métropole Savoie, HOPSIM, Chambéry, 73000, France); Thierry Secheresse (Centre Hospitalier Métropole Savoie, HOPSIM, Chambéry, 73000, France) |
| Abstract: | Purpose: Training health services administration (HSA) professionals is essential for the effective functioning of hospitals. Evidence suggests that training should emphasize social and decision-making competencies, as HSA professionals collaborate in an interprofessional environment. Simulation training (ST) for HSA in an interprofessional context is a promising approach. This study evaluated the effectiveness of such a training program on leadership self-efficacy, examined differences across professions and tested whether there was an interaction between profession and training effects. Participants and Methods: This retrospective study was conducted at the simulation center of Metropole Savoie Hospital in France. The 3-day program was mandatory for all HSA professionals, and included customized simulation scenarios, interprofessional collaboration and integration of aviation sector for their expertise in leadership skills employed in crisis management. Self-efficacy was measured by a specifically constructed questionnaire administered at baseline (T0), post training (T1) and 4 months post-training (T2). Results: The ST program significantly increased leadership self-efficacy. Self-efficacy improved post-training (p. < 001, mean change = 31.67, 95% CI [28.06, 35.28], d = 1.75) and increased self-efficacy was maintained for 4 months (p < 0.001, η2p = 0.70, T0–T1 Δ = 32.05 [26.71– 37.39], T0–T2 Δ = 2.43 [− 7.77– 2.90], η2p = 0.70). There was a significant main effect of profession with executive physicians reporting lower self-efficacy than other professionals combined (p < 0.001, mean difference = − 22.56, 95% CI [14.83– 30.30], η2p = 0.66). No significant interaction between profession and program was observed (p > 0.05). Conclusion: ST shows promise for enhancing leadership skills in HSA, particularly in an interprofessional context. Executive physicians remain a key group for targeted training, as their lower self-efficacy suggests, they may benefit from interventions aimed at strengthening leadership skills. Advancing in this direction will reinforce the findings. |
| Keywords: | hospital administration, simulation training, longitudinal, interprofessional relations |
| Date: | 2026–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05555963 |