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on Experimental Economics |
| By: | Guillaume Bied; Philippe Caillou; Bruno Crépon; Christophe Gaillac; Elia Pérennes; Michèle Sebag |
| Abstract: | Recommendation systems (RSs) are increasingly used to guide job seekers on online platforms, yet the algorithms currently deployed are typically optimized for predictive objectives such as clicks, applications, or hires, rather than job seekers' welfare. We develop a job-search model with an application stage in which the value of a vacancy depends on two dimensions: the utility it delivers to the worker and the probability that an application succeeds. The model implies that welfare-optimal RSs rank vacancies by an expected-surplus index combining both, and shows why rankings based solely on utility, hiring probabilities, or observed application behavior are generically suboptimal, an instance of the inversion problem between behavior and welfare. We test these predictions and quantify their practical importance through two randomized field experiments conducted with the French public employment service. The first experiment, comparing existing algorithms and their combinations, provides behavioral evidence that both dimensions shape application decisions. Guided by the model and these results, the second experiment extends the comparison to an RS designed to approximate the welfare-optimal ranking. The experiments generate exogenous variation in the vacancies shown to job seekers, allowing us to estimate the model, validate its behavioral predictions, and construct a welfare metric. Algorithms informed by the model-implied optimal ranking substantially outperform existing approaches and perform close to the welfare-optimal benchmark. Our results show that embedding predictive tools within a simple job-search framework and combining it with experimental evidence yields recommendation rules with substantial welfare gains in practice. |
| Keywords: | Job Recommender Systems, Matching, Experiments, Machine Learning |
| JEL: | J64 J68 L86 C78 C55 C61 |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:26091 |
| By: | Samuel Berlinski; Michele Giannola; Alessandro Toppeta |
| Abstract: | We study the relative effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, and interaction of family- and school-based learning interventions using a randomized controlled trial in Colombia that assigns children to a parental engagement program, a teacher professional development program, both, or a control group. Both interventions are grounded in a child-centered learning approach that emphasizes active engagement and the progression from informal to formal mathematical understanding. Each intervention independently generates sizable and statistically similar gains in early numeracy (0.17σ and 0.20σ). Combining them produces no additional learning gains, suggesting that the two interventions act as substitutes over the time horizon and skill domain we study. When benefits accruing to future cohorts are taken into account, the teacher development program becomes at least as cost-effective as, and potentially more cost-effective than, the parental engagement intervention. Our results suggest that, in this setting, strategically concentrating resources on a single binding constraint - either at home or in school - maximizes the short-run learning gains per dollar spent. |
| Keywords: | Families, Schools, Human Capital, Numeracy |
| JEL: | A2 H52 I25 |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:26085 |
| By: | Christopher Hoy (Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne); Lionel Page (University of Queensland); Catherine Eckel (Texas A&M University); Philip Grossman (Monash University) |
| Abstract: | Using nationally representative, randomized survey experiments, we investigate how beliefs about wage inequality impact preferences for redistribution. With more than 9, 000 respondents in six high-income countries and a novel distribution builder tool, we elicit detailed beliefs about wage inequality and examine the impact of accurate information on support for redistribution. We find most respondents underestimate wage inequality and that information treatments have minimal effects, except for re spondents on the far-right, who exhibit large increases in support for higher income taxes and social spending. Our findings suggest that far-right voters’ attitudes toward redistribution may be more malleable than is often assumed. |
| Keywords: | Political Economy, Public Finance, Inequality, Randomized Experiment |
| JEL: | D04 D80 D90 H20 H30 H50 |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iae:iaewps:wp2025n08 |
| By: | Fiona Burlig; James Bushnell; David Rapson |
| Abstract: | Despite the importance of program participation for policy, treatment effects are often measured on self-selected samples. We study electric vehicle (EV) managed charging, intended to reduce electric grid strain by optimally allocating charging across EVs. Prior work finds large impacts of managed charging among households who volunteer for an RCT. In contrast, we test managed charging with an experiment including all EVs within a California utility. Enrollment is low even with high incentives, and we can reject even modest intent-to-treat effects on electricity consumption. Managed charging is less effective than previously thought, underscoring the value of population-wide experiments. |
| Keywords: | electric vehicles; managed EV charging; demand response; program take-up; field experiment; time-of-use pricing; electricity demand; load shifting |
| JEL: | Q41 Q48 C93 D12 |
| Date: | 2026–04–14 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:feddwp:103079 |
| By: | Rigissa Megalokonomou; Sofoklis Goulas; Tommaso Sartori |
| Abstract: | Teachers play a central role in shaping how students benefit from peers, yet little is known about how classroom composition affects their attention-allocation decisions. We conduct a large-scale randomized experiment using realistic classroom vignettes to assess how teachers engage with students under varying scenarios and objectives. The presence of a high achiever reduces the likelihood that teachers engage with a low achiever by about 8%, with substantially larger effects when teachers prioritize task success, consistent with convenience-based decision-making. Using administrative data, we show that low achievers perform worse when quasi-randomly assigned to a classroom with an exceptional student. |
| Keywords: | teacher behavior, attention allocation, randomized controlled trial, educational inequality, peer effects |
| JEL: | I21 I28 C93 D91 J24 |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:25144 |
| By: | Anne Brenøe; Daphne Rutnam |
| Abstract: | We study how adolescents' second-order beliefs about their parents' occupational preferences shape gendered career aspirations. In a consequential early-career choice setting, we combine a parental choice experiment with a randomized salience intervention among students. Parents give gendered recommendations, but students substantially overestimate fathers' preference for boys to choose male-dominated occupations as well as mothers' preference for girls to choose female-dominated occupations. Making the same-gender parent salient raises aspirations for gender-congruent occupations, while highlighting the opposite-gender parent and both parents has no effect. Salience does not shift perceived occupational fit, suggesting that identity-based second-order beliefs can reinforce occupational gender segregation. |
| Keywords: | gender norms; second-order beliefs; occupational aspirations; parental beliefs; identity and career choice; early-career choices; choice experiment; field experiment |
| JEL: | J16 J24 I21 C93 D91 |
| Date: | 2026–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:26057 |
| By: | Michele Belot; Rustam Hakimov |
| Abstract: | We design an intervention to foster social ties at work and evaluate its impact on performance and retention. We run a cluster-randomized field experiment in a large microfinance firm, providing small subsidies for geographically spread offices to organize biweekly social activities over three months. The intervention increases perceived collegiality and workplace friendships by about 0.2-0.25 SD. Individual productivity is unchanged, but office-level team performance in the firm's competition improves in the final intervention month and employee turnover falls by about 4-4.5 pp from a 9-13% baseline in the following months. The pattern is consistent with bonding mitigating free-riding in team tasks and raising job utility as a non-wage amenity; survey evidence suggests an additional role for reciprocity toward the firm. |
| Keywords: | Workplace Collegiality, Climate, Bonding, Field Experiment |
| JEL: | M54 J32 C93 |
| Date: | 2026–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:26033 |
| By: | Astruc--Le Souder, Mael (Bordeaux University); Bargain, Olivier (University of Bordeaux); Knecht, Niclas (Bordeaux University) |
| Abstract: | Trust in others is essential for the well-functioning of societies. While economists often study its longer-term determinants, short-term fluctuation may be equally critical, particularly during pivotal moments (e.g, elections) or periods requiring social cohesion (e.g., pandemics). Hope plays a similarly vital role in shaping individual well-being, behavior, and societal stability. We investigate the short-run plasticity of trust and hope by reactivating threat exposure similar to that encountered in media coverage. In an online experiment, individuals are randomly exposed to short videos depicting terrorism, natural disasters, or war. Both social trust and hope are significantly malleable, declining by 12%-28% of a standard deviation (across models) in response to these brief interventions. We observe strong heterogeneity in these effects, particularly along lines of political orientation and social media usage, and explore their co-movements with basic emotions. Our findings suggest that routine exposure to threatening content can destabilize the emotional underpinnings of trust and hope, with potential implications for key individual and collective behaviors. |
| Date: | 2026–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18554 |
| By: | Lydia Chikumbi; Milan Scasny |
| Keywords: | choice experiment, Quantitative Methods |
| JEL: | C25 D91 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rza:ersawp:878 |
| By: | Ben Weidmann; Joseph Vecci; Farah Said; Sonia Bhalotra; Achyuta Adhvaryu; Anant Nyshadham; Jorge Tamayo; David Deming |
| Abstract: | This paper introduces and validates a novel approach to measuring management skills. In a large pre-registered lab experiment we causally identify managerial contributions by randomly assigning managers to multiple teams and controlling for differences in individual skill. We find that manager contributions matter greatly for team success, and that people who want to be in charge perform worse than randomly assigned managers. Managerial performance is strongly predicted by economic decision-making skill, but not by demographic characteristics. LinkedIn data show that participants who succeed in the lab are substantially more likely to receive real-world promotions. We also measure the skills of store managers in a large retail firm and find that they predict store sales and other correlates of productivity, which aligns with our experimental results. A one standard deviation increase in manager quality increases annual per-store sales by $4.1 million USD (25% increase). Selecting managers on skills rather than demographic characteristics or the desire to lead could substantially improve organizational performance. |
| Keywords: | Management, teamwork, skills, measurement, experiment |
| JEL: | M54 J24 C90 C92 |
| Date: | 2025–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:2591 |
| By: | Mirjam Bächli; Rafael Lalive; Michele Pellizzari |
| Abstract: | Searching for jobs is challenging, and online platforms increasingly aim to improve outcomes by offering personalized job recommendations. In a randomized controlled trial with over 1, 250 participants, we evaluate recommendations based either on prior experience or on skill profiles assessed at study enrolment. We find that both types of recommendations tend to improve job finding rates. Profile-based recommendations are particularly effective for individuals with limited experience and mismatch in their previous employment. These findings highlight the importance of aligning job search advice with jobseekers' skills, especially for disadvantaged groups. |
| Keywords: | Jobseekers, online job search, job recommendations |
| JEL: | J24 J62 J64 |
| Date: | 2025–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:2589 |
| By: | Manuela Angelucci; Raissa Fábregas; Antonia Vazquez |
| Abstract: | AI-powered mental health apps have attracted growing interest as a low-cost way to expand care. Yet questions remain about their effectiveness, safety, and whether they may crowd out psychotherapy. We evaluate one such app in a randomized controlled trial among 1, 964 Mexican women with mild to severe psychological distress. Over six months, app access improved mental health by 0.3 standard deviations with no evidence of harm, improved sleep quality, increased healthful behaviors, and reduced missed work, yielding considerably larger benefits than costs. Treated participants were also more likely to seek traditional psychotherapy, but this increase does not explain most of the mental health gains. App use was high in the first month but then declined, as is common in digital interventions. Despite this drop in use, treatment effects persisted. Participants continued to implement practices promoted by the app, suggesting that even short-term engagement can produce durable improvements through sustained behavioral change. |
| Keywords: | Mental Health, AI |
| JEL: | I12 I15 O33 |
| Date: | 2026–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:26107 |
| By: | Silke Anger; Bernhard Christoph; Agata Galkiewicz; Shushanik Margaryan; Malte Sandner; Thomas Siedler |
| Abstract: | Tutoring programs for low-performing students, delivered in-person or online, effectively enhance school performance, yet their medium- and longer-term impacts on labor market outcomes remain less understood. To address this gap, we conduct a randomized controlled trial with 839 secondary school students in Germany to examine the effects of an online tutoring program for low-performing students on academic performance and school-to-work transitions. The online tutoring program had a non-significant intention-to-treat effect of 0.06 standard deviations on math grades six months after program start. However, among students who had not received other tutoring services prior to the intervention, the program significantly improved math grades by 0.14 standard deviations. Moreover, students in non-academic school tracks experienced smoother school-to-work transitions, with vocational training take-up 18 months later being 5 percentage points higher-an effect that was even larger (12 percentage points) among those without prior tutoring. Overall, the results indicate that tutoring can generate lasting benefits for low-performing students that extend beyond school performance. |
| Keywords: | online tutoring; randomized controlled trial; disadvantaged youth; school grades; school-to-work transition |
| JEL: | C93 I20 I24 |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:25151 |
| By: | Caitlin Brown; Denni Tommasi |
| Abstract: | We study quality upgrading in informal street food markets - where food safety is a credence attribute and transactions are frequent, low-value, and weakly regulated - using two linked experiments with consumers and vendors in Kolkata, India. We firstly define and measure upgrading through a context-specific framework based on observable sanitation-related inputs and food-safety practices. Using a discrete choice experiment with consumers, we document a large willingness to pay for visibly cleaner kiosks and more hygienic vendors, highlighting the central role of observable signals. We then conduct a clustered randomized trial with vendors that subsidizes sanitation infrastructure and hygiene supplies, and cross-randomizes on-site training. The intervention increases the use of provided equipment and improves observed hygiene during the subsidy period, but effects fade after support ends and training adds little. Business outcomes improve through higher customer volume yielding increased profits, yet prices do not change. Moreover, untreated vendors near treated peers experience worse outcomes, consistent with demand reallocation and positional returns rather than market expansion. Follow-up surveys and qualitative evidence point to binding constraints from informal price coordination norms and a precarious operating environment, consistent with a moral hazard mechanism in which cleanliness is difficult to verify and not privately profitable to sustain. |
| Keywords: | Quality upgrading; street food; informal markets; food safety; randomized experiment; consumer preferences; hygiene practices; moral hazard; subsidy effectiveness; signaling; developing countries. |
| JEL: | D82 I18 L15 L31 O12 O33 |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:25163 |
| By: | Solomon Polachek; Kenneth Romano; Ozlem Tonguc |
| Abstract: | This study examines how large language models (LLMs) respond to varying stake sizes in the Dictator and Ultimatum games using the high-stakes design introduced by Andersen et al. (2011). We test ten leading LLMs chosen for their accessibility, prominence, and differences in reasoning capabilities. Results reveal substantial variation across models: Only 5 of 10 models exhibit strategic behavior by offering more in the Ultimatum Game (UG) than in the Dictator Game (DG). Relative to humans, 4 models are consistently more generous, 2 consistently less, and 4 vary with stake size. Only 1 model shows a monotonic decline in UG offers as stakes increase; the remaining 9 are non-monotonic or stable. Unlike humans, most models reduce UG offers when endowed with wealth. Prompting for "human-like" decisions generally increases generosity in the UG. These findings are important for evaluating whether LLMs can serve as realistic proxies for human subjects in behavioral experiments and highlight key limitations and future directions for model development. |
| Keywords: | Ultimatum Game, Dictator Game, fairness, payoff stakes, artificial intelligence |
| JEL: | D01 C72 C90 |
| Date: | 2026–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:26110 |
| By: | Guillermo Cruces; Diego Fernández Meijide; Sebastian Galiani; Ramiro H. Gálvez; María Lombardi |
| Abstract: | Does generative artificial intelligence (AI) reinforce or reduce productivity differences across workers? Existing evidence largely studies AI within firms and occupations, where organizationalselectioncompresseseducationalheterogeneity, leavingunclearwhetherAI narrows productivity gaps across individuals with substantially different levels of formal education. Weaddressthisquestionusingarandomizedonlineexperimentconductedoutside firms, in which1, 174 adults aged 25–45 with heterogeneous educational backgrounds complete an incentivized, workplace-style business problem-solving task. The task is a general (not domain-specific) exercise, and participants perform it either with or without access to a generative-AI assistant. Unlike prior work that studies heterogeneity within relatively homogeneous worker samples, our designtargets the between–education-group productivity gap as the primary estimand. We find that AI increases productivity for all participants, with substantially larger gains for lower-education individuals. In the absence of AIaccess, higher-education participants outperform lower-education participants by0.548standarddeviations; withAIaccess, thisgapfallsto0.139standarddeviations, implying that generative AI closes three-quarters of the initial productivity gap. We interpret this pattern as evidence that generative AI narrows effective productivity differences in task execution by relaxing constraints that are more binding for lower-education individuals, even though underlying skill differences remain, as reflected in persistent education gaps in task performance and in a follow-up exercise without AI assistance. |
| Keywords: | Productivity, artificial intelligence, education, human capital, inequality |
| JEL: | J24 O33 |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:udt:wpgobi:wp_gob_2026_03 |
| By: | Christopher Campos |
| Abstract: | This paper measures parents' beliefs about school and peer quality, how information about each affects school choices and student outcomes, and how social interactions mediate these effects. Parents underestimate school quality and overestimate peer quality. Cross-randomized school and peer quality information combined with a spillover design shows that when parents received information, they and their neighbors' preferences shifted toward higher value-added schools, underscoring stronger tastes for school quality and the role of social interactions. These demand responses translate into real educational gains. Students exposed to the improved information enroll in more effective schools, achieve higher test scores, report improved socio-emotional well-being, and are more likely to enroll in college. The experimental evidence shows parents value school effectiveness even conditional on peer quality and that improving the informational environment can elevate numerous policy-relevant outcomes. |
| Keywords: | school choice, school quality, preferences, information, value-added, social interactions |
| JEL: | I21 I24 |
| Date: | 2026–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:26008 |
| By: | Adhvaryu, Achyuta; Nyshadham, Anant; Tamayo, Jorge Andrés; Molina, Teresa; Bhalotra, Sonia |
| Abstract: | Using administrative and survey data from a large restaurant chain in Colombia, we documented gender differences in the managerial approaches most strongly associated with performance. Based on these findings, we designed two customized curricula: a relationship-based curriculum highlighting characteristics exemplified by high-performing female managers and a task- and metric-based curriculum emphasizing characteristics exemplified by high-performing male managers. Both curricula also included training on universally effective practices. We then implemented a randomized controlled trial in which stores were assigned to a control group, a relationship curriculum group, or a task and metric curriculum group. Managers assigned to the relationship-focused curriculum demonstrate significantly larger improvements on relationship-related questions than do those assigned to the task-focused curriculum, while the reverse is true for task-related questions. Importantly, these targeted gains do not come at the expense of general learning: managers in both treatment groups also demonstrate improvements in questions covering content common to both curricula. Follow-up data collection will measure treatment effects on store- and worker-level outcomes. |
| JEL: | L20 M50 J24 L66 |
| Date: | 2026–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:14570 |
| By: | Louis-Pierre Lepage; Heather Sarsons; Michael Thaler |
| Abstract: | There is widespread opposition to affirmative action policies. We study whether personal disappointments shape preferences for such policies. Specifically, we test whether individuals' college admissions outcomes, relative to their expectations, influence their attitudes toward affirmative action policies. Using a retrospective survey among recent White and Asian college applicants, we find that disappointed individuals-those who were admitted to fewer schools than anticipated-are relatively more likely to believe that affirmative action played an important role in their admissions outcomes, have the lowest support for affirmative action policies, and are more willing to donate to an anti-affirmative action organization. They also hold more negative views about the academic qualifications of under-represented minorities. To isolate the causal effect of "bad news" from selection, we conduct a complementary survey experiment with parents of future college applicants. We randomize whether parents receive information about their child's admissions prospects. Providing bad news to overconfident parents causes them to increase opposition to affirmative action and donate to an anti-affirmative action organization. Results suggest that some individuals attribute bad news to external factors, specifically policies that benefit out-groups. |
| Keywords: | Affirmative action, college admissions, disappointment, belief updating, policy preferences |
| JEL: | D83 D91 I23 J15 |
| Date: | 2026–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:26109 |
| By: | Tabea Bucher-Koenen (University of Mannheim); Pirmin Fessler (Oesterreichische Nationalbank, Economic Analysis Division); Maria Antoinette Silgoner (Oesterreichische Nationalbank) |
| Abstract: | Household financial resilience is related to the availability of financial resources but also to the ability to anticipate and assess future situations and prepare for them accordingly. Overplacement describes the tendency of individuals to rate themselves better than others, i.e. they believe that their own chances of experiencing a negative (positive) event are lower (higher) than those of others. In a randomized survey experiment we asses households’ perceptions of specific risks, which could affect the future financial situation of their own household (treatment) or of a household with similar characteristics (control). On average, households assign lower probabilities to shocks that negatively affect personal finances if asked for their own household compared to a similar household – confirming overplacement bias in the context of financial risks. We do not find the reverse effect for positive shocks. The treatment effect is stronger among households with lower financial literacy, indicating that financial literacy is relevant for the ability to assess future financial shocks. |
| Keywords: | expectations, beliefs, financial behavior, overconfidence, financial resilience |
| JEL: | D14 D91 G53 |
| Date: | 2024–10–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:onb:oenbwp:259 |
| By: | Cassandra Merrit (Keough School of Global Affairs, University of Notre Dame); Jacob Dominski (Institute for Ethics and the Common Good, University of Notre Dame); Christopher Hoy (Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research) |
| Abstract: | Artificial intelligence (AI) is frequently cast as a transformative technology that will raise productivity while displacing human work, yet organizational adoption remains uneven and aggregate effects are mixed. We examine whether middle managers contribute to this gap by acting as gatekeepers to AI adoption. In a pre-registered survey experiment of 2, 000 managers in the United States and United Kingdom, respondents were randomly assigned to view videos summarizing recent evidence on AI’s productivity benefits, its labor-displacing potential, or a placebo control. Exposure to information about labor displacement leads to a large reduction in intended AI adoption and advocacy (by 0.4–0.5 standard deviations) and a moderate reduction in staffing intentions (by 0.2 standard deviations). In contrast, information about productivity benefits has no significant average effect, although it increases advocacy among managers with low prior familiarity with AI. These findings indicate that middle managers’ responses to the information environment shape both technology adoption and employment intentions. Rather than inducing substitution away from labor and toward AI, information about AI’s labor-displacing potential leads managers to scale back both planned AI adoption and their staffing intentions. |
| Keywords: | Artificial Intelligence, Technology adoption, Managers, Gatekeepers, Productivity, Labor displacement |
| JEL: | J23 J24 O33 L2 M54 D83 |
| Date: | 2026–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iae:iaewps:wp2026n02 |
| By: | Anne Ardila Brenøe; Jenna Stearns; Richard M. Martin |
| Abstract: | Using data from the only large-scale randomized controlled trial promoting prolonged exclusive breastfeeding, we study how the intervention affected child health and why. The intervention increased weight-for-age in infancy, with effects persisting through adolescence. We show that treated infants were breastfed more and received less water, juice, and other liquids, resulting in a more calorie-dense diet. A mediation analysis indicates that increased caloric intake explains a large share of the early weight gain, while reduced illness explains little. These findings suggest that, in this setting, the main benefits of breastfeeding promotion for physical growth came from improved nutrition. More broadly, the results highlight that the effects of breastfeeding promotion depend on the local alternatives to breast milk and may differ in settings where infant formula or other more nutritious substitutes are the main alternative. |
| Keywords: | Breastfeeding, infant feeding, child health, the Promotion of Breastfeeding Intervention Trial (PROBIT) |
| JEL: | I10 J13 J24 |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:26093 |
| By: | Mery Ferrando; Noemi Katzkowicz; Thomas Le Barbanchon; Diego Ubfal |
| Abstract: | This paper provides the first experimental evidence on the long-term effects of work-study programs, leveraging a randomized lottery design from a national program in Uruguay. Participation leads to a persistent 11 percent increase in formal labor earnings seven years after the program, driven by a 4 percent increase in the monthly probability of being employed and a 6 percent increase in monthly wages. Effects are significantly larger for men, while remaining positive for women. The program is highly cost-effective, outperforming most job training programs and reaching levels comparable to early childhood investments. |
| Keywords: | Work-study Program, Youth Employment, School-to-Work Transition, Long-term Effects |
| JEL: | I21 I26 J13 J24 J31 O15 |
| Date: | 2025–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:25102 |
| By: | Warn N. Lekfuangfu; Grace Lordan |
| Abstract: | Occupational segregation is one of the major causes of the gender pay gap. We probe the possibility that individual beliefs regarding gender stereotypes established in childhood contribute to gendered sorting. Using an experiment with two vignette designs, which was carried out in schools in the UK, we consider whether students aged 15-16 years recommend that a fictitious peer pursue different college majors and career paths simply because of their gender. We find strong evidence that this is the case. The within-majors treatment design shows that our respondents are 11 percentage points more likely to recommend corporate law to a male peer. The across-majors design reveals that students presented with a male fictitious peer tend to recommend degrees that have lower shares of females to males. |
| Keywords: | Occupational choice, College major choice, Vignette design, Gender, Gender Stereotype, Sorting |
| JEL: | I2 J16 J24 |
| Date: | 2026–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:26045 |
| By: | Maria A. Cattaneo; Stefan Wolter; Thea Zöllner |
| Abstract: | Switzerland features strong socio-economic segregation and no formal school choice, making residential relocation the only channel through which parents can access preferred schools. Identifying how parents value school attributes is therefore essential but challenging, given that choices bundle multiple characteristics. We address this by conducting a discrete choice experiment with nearly 2, 700 parents with school-aged children, allowing us to estimate willingness to pay (WTP) for individual and combined school attributes. We find that a substantial minority of parents value academic quality so highly that their preferences are effectively price-insensitive. Among price-sensitive parents, academic quality remains central, but they also exhibit positive WTP for schools with fewer students with special educational needs and fewer non-native-speaking peers. Interaction effects are strong: WTP for reductions in special-needs peers is highest if the school is among the academically strongest. Accounting for attribute interactions further reveals marked heterogeneity, with parents clustering into seven distinct preference types. |
| Keywords: | Discrete choice experiment, willingness to pay, special needs education, school quality |
| JEL: | C4 H4 I20 I24 |
| Date: | 2026–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:26018 |
| By: | Claudio Schilter; Samuel Lüthi; Stefan C. Wolter |
| Abstract: | We merge experimental data on competitiveness of a large sample of students with their complete educational history for up to ten years after the initial assessment. Exploiting quasi-random class assignments and controlling for other non-cognitive peer characteristics, we find that having competitive peers as classmates makes students choose and secure positions in higher-paying occupations. These occupations are also more challenging and-among male students-more popular. On the cost side, competitive peers do not lead to a lower probability of graduating from the subsequent job-specific education, but they significantly increase the probability of requiring extra time to do so. |
| Keywords: | Peer effects, competitiveness, occupational choice |
| JEL: | C93 D91 J24 |
| Date: | 2026–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:26058 |
| By: | Benoit Decerf (University of Namur); Oliver Sterck (University of Antwerp); Christopher Hoy (Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research) |
| Abstract: | Many policy decisions involve trade-offs between lives and livelihoods. We provide the first estimates for a new welfare parameter that expresses this trade-off in the longevity-poverty space. To do so, we conduct randomized survey experiments with 20, 000 respondents across seven middle- and high-income countries. Both the median and mean responses imply that individuals are willing to spend no more than about two years in poverty to gain one additional year of life, sharply restricting the plausible range for this normative parameter. We show how these estimates can inform policy trade-offs related to long-run global development, pandemic responses, and climate change. |
| Keywords: | Poverty, Mortality, Welfare, Preferences, Survey Experiment |
| JEL: | D63 I12 I15 I32 O15 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iae:iaewps:wp2026n03 |
| By: | Näslund-Hadley, Emma; Hernández Agramonte, Juan Manuel; Santos Morales, Humberto; Galindo Vivanco, Marcelino |
| Abstract: | This article presents an evaluation of Mate Raymi, an educational program designed to strengthen mathematical and ethnomathematical skills among preschool children in Peru. Implemented through audio lessons and complemented with contextualized materials, teacher training, and pedagogical support, the program was evaluated using a randomized controlled trial in 350 rural intercultural bilingual education (IBE) schools. Results show that both versions of the programbilingual and intercultural bilingualhad positive effects on ethnomathematical skills and on students appreciation of Quechua culture, although only the bilingual version significantly improved conventional mathematical skills (0.24 standard deviations). The intercultural bilingual version produced a stronger effect on ethnomathematical skills (0.59 standard deviations), but its emphasis on content linked to the Quechua worldview and the abstraction of certain concepts may have limited its impact on conventional mathematics. Heterogeneity analyses reveal that program effects were stronger among students who spoke only Quechua or were bilingual, suggesting that proficiency in an indigenous language enhances the effectiveness of interventions aimed at developing ethnomathematical skills and cultural appreciation. For teachers, the program improved perceptions of the work environment, increased the use of bilingual and culturally relevant materials, and strengthened knowledge of Quechua culture under the intercultural bilingual version. Overall, findings indicate that Mate Raymi provides a viable alternative to address the challenges of IBE in Latin America by combining a culturally adapted bilingual curriculum with active learning strategies. Accordingly, the program is currently being scaled up in the departments where it was first implemented. The study contributes evidence on the potential of early childhood programs to strengthen both mathematical learning and cultural identity in Indigenous contexts |
| JEL: | C93 I24 I25 J15 |
| Date: | 2026–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:14562 |
| By: | Joop Adema; Lasha Chargaziia; Yvonne Giesing; Sarah Necker; Panu Poutvaara |
| Abstract: | Refugees' decisions to return after conflict carry significant political and economic implications for the origin and host countries. We examine how conflict resolution, security, economic conditions, and corruption influence return decisions. To estimate the causal effect of post-war conditions, we conducted a single-profile conjoint experiment among 2543 Ukrainian refugees across 30 European countries. Respondents were asked how likely they would be to return to Ukraine under different hypothetical scenarios. Results show that territorial integrity and security guarantees are critical, while economic prospects and combating corruption also play an important role. Refugees planning to return are more responsive to different post-war scenarios, and younger respondents are particularly influenced by income opportunities, job prospects, and potential EU accession. Our findings suggest that targeted political and economic reconstruction policies can substantially influence post-conflict return. In the most optimistic scenario, the expected return rate is 47%; in the most pessimistic scenario, only 3%. |
| Keywords: | Refugees; Return migration; Conflict; Integration; Ukraine; Conjoint experiment |
| JEL: | F22 D74 O15 |
| Date: | 2025–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:2565 |
| By: | Johanna Rickne; Olle Folke |
| Abstract: | We study misunderstandings of a widely used research graph that visualizes how parenthood affects gender inequality in the labor market. The child penalty graph typically displays overlapping trend lines for women and men before parenthood and a sharp divergence thereafter. A large survey experiment asks participants about the gender gap in earnings before and after random assignment across three alternative graph designs. Approximately one-third of respondents misinterpret the distance between the trend lines in the child penalty graph as the gender gap in earnings. After viewing the graph, nearly 50% of respondents (and 60% of those with a PhD) report an earnings gap of 0-5% before parenthood, far below the true gap of about 20%. We examine two consequences of this misunderstanding and assess whether alternative graph designs improve comprehension. |
| Keywords: | Child penalty, gender inequality, graph design |
| JEL: | J01 |
| Date: | 2026–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:26056 |
| By: | Margherita Comola (RITM - Réseaux Innovation Territoires et Mondialisation - Université Paris-Saclay, PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École nationale des ponts et chaussées - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Agnieszka Rusinowska (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École nationale des ponts et chaussées - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Marie Claire Villeval (GATE Lyon Saint-Étienne - Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique Lyon - Saint-Etienne - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - UJM - Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Étienne - UJM EPE - Université Jean Monnet (EPSCPE) - EM - EMLyon Business School - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, IZA - Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit - Institute of Labor Economics) |
| Abstract: | We experimentally investigate targeting decisions in a setting where a human player competes for influence in a network against a computerized opponent with opposing views, whose targeting choice is revealed before the player acts. By varying network structure, opponent influence, and nodes opinion heterogeneity, we find that players typically adopt best-response strategies based on relative influence. However, they sometimes deviate – for example, by erroneously targeting central nodes or by avoiding the opponent's target. Targeting is also affected by affinity and opposition biases, the strength of which depends on the initial opinion distribution. Targeting the center, avoiding the competitor's target, or selecting nodes based on their initial opinions when these are not best responses generates significant efficiency losses. |
| Keywords: | Network, Influence, Targeting, Competition, Experiment |
| Date: | 2026–04–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04706311 |
| By: | Helmut Elsinger (Oesterreichische Nationalbank, Economic Studies Division); Helmut Stix (Oesterreichische Nationalbank, Economic Studies Division); Martin Summer (Oesterreichische Nationalbank, Economic Studies Division) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines consumers intended adoption of a digital euro in Austria using a discrete choice experiment. We estimate a mixed logit model to quantify the role of key attributes such as privacy, offline functionality, security against financial loss, monetary incentives and payment form factors. Our findings indicate that security and financial incentives are the strongest drivers of adoption, while privacy plays a secondary role. We identify significant heterogeneity in adoption likelihood across socio-demographic groups. Simulations suggest that under realistic design assumptions, approximately 45% of individuals are found to have an intention to adopt a digital euro. |
| Keywords: | Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), Consumer Adoption, Discrete Choice Experiment, Payment Preferences |
| JEL: | E42 D12 G21 C35 |
| Date: | 2025–07–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:onb:oenbwp:268 |
| By: | Giacomo Battiston; Federico Boffa; Eugenio Levi; Alberto Parmigiani; Steven Stillman |
| Abstract: | Technological disruptions often generates political conflict. Artificial intelligence (AI) is widely expected to transform labor markets and economic systems, yet it has not become a strongly polarizing political issue in advanced democracies. This paper investigates why, by fielding a preregistered survey experiment with 11, 418 respondents in the United States, Germany and Italy. We examine factual knowledge on AI and automation, beliefs over its economic effects, demand for policy intervention and signatures of online petitions on Change.org. We document limited knowledge, widespread pessimism on their labor-market impact, substantial demand for government intervention and considerable potential for political mobilization, pointing to an unmet demand for policy responses. We then test the mobilization power of competing political narratives on the economic effects of AI and automation. Overall, across countries and institutional contexts, politicizing AI shifts policy preferences in the expected directions but reduces engagement in political mobilization. In addition, it decreases support for the extreme petitions, thereby reducing polarization. These findings suggest that emerging technologies characterized by high uncertainty and large distributive effects may not follow the historical pattern of polarization associated with past economic shocks. Our results rationalize politicians' hesitation towards increasing the salience of AI and automation. |
| Keywords: | Artificial Intelligence; Automation; Political Polarization |
| JEL: | O33 P16 |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:26063 |
| By: | Nicolás Acevedo Rebolledo; Gonzalo Almeyda Torres; David Granada Donato; María Lombardi; Victoria Oubiña; Pablo Zoido Lobaton |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates a randomized remote tutoring program implemented in Paraguay, targeting 1, 650 students in grades four through six with low baseline performance in Spanish language. The intervention provided two weekly 30-minute one-on-one tutoring sessions over the phone for eight weeks, using a differentiated instruction model tailored to students’ initial diagnostic assessments. Treated students showed significant learning gains: those offered tutoring scored 0.11 standard deviations higher onstandardizedlanguagetests comparedtocontrols. Effectswereconsistent across sociodemographicsubgroupsandbaselineachievementlevels. Leveraging therandomassignmentofstudentstotutors, weestimateindividualtutorvalueadded, andfindthattutoreffectsaccountfor 15%ofthevariation instudent outcomes. Tutors in the top quintile have an average value added of 0.38 standard deviations, almost four timestheoveralleffectoftheprogram, underscoringtheimportanceofindividual tutor effectiveness in scaling tutoring interventions successfully. |
| Keywords: | Educación, Desarrollo de Habilidades, Rendimiento de la Educación, Education, Skills Development, Educational Performance |
| JEL: | I20 I24 O15 |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:udt:wpgobi:wp_gob_2026_02 |
| By: | Martina Bossard, Marc Möller, Catherine Roux |
| Abstract: | We use a stylized model of a dynamic innovation tournament to show that the effectiveness of monetary incentives depends on whether contestants receive cardinal, ordinal, or no information about their rival’s performance. The model’s main implication is that performance information acts as a substitute for prize money in creating incentives to invest in new ideas: The investment-maximizing information policy switches from no to ordinal to cardinal information as the tournament’s prize is reduced. A laboratory experiment provides support for our theory but also unveils an unpredicted pattern of behavior capable of overturning the model’s conclusions concerning optimal policy. |
| Keywords: | Innovation Tournaments; Performance Information; Rank Information; R&D Investment. |
| JEL: | O31 C72 D83 |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ube:dpvwib:dp2602 |
| By: | Odermatt, Reto; Sisso, Itay; Brun, Fanny; Scheibehenne, Benjamin |
| Abstract: | A fundamental assumption in consumer behavior is that opportunity cost is only relevant in the decision-making process and does not matter for utility once the decision is made. In this study, we question this assumption and consider the possibility that opportunity cost negatively impacts the satisfaction derived from a chosen option. In a series of hypothetical and real choice experiments, we provide evidence that opportunity cost significantly decreases consumers’ happiness after the choice. |
| JEL: | D01 D12 I31 |
| Date: | 2026–04–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bsl:wpaper:2026/01 |
| By: | Miro Mehic (Paderborn University); Kirsten Thommes (Paderborn University) |
| Abstract: | When newcomers fail to perform well at first, incumbents often misattribute this underperformance to a general lack of ability rather than to limited organization-specific knowledge. As a result, performance rating gaps between new and experienced employees tend to persist. Using the example of learning organization-specific language, we examine this problem and a potential mitigation strategy: If language codes are difficult for everyone to master, will managers be more lenient with newcomers and less likely to misattribute poor performance to low ability? We test this through an experimental study in which some groups communicated in their native language while others were required to use a second language. Under the second-language condition, the performance assessment gap between newcomers and incumbents narrows. However, this convergence does not stem from newcomers receiving better evaluations. Instead, incumbents are rated more negatively. Importantly, these lower ratings are not tied to actual performance but rather to managers’ evaluations of their own job. |
| Keywords: | Newcomer integration, second language use, leniency bias, performance assessment |
| JEL: | C91 C92 M5 |
| Date: | 2026–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pdn:dispap:177 |
| By: | Dodds, Kaylee |
| Abstract: | A new climate-smart wheat with biological nitrification inhibition (BNI) has the potential to increase the sustainability of Canadian agriculture by reducing nitrogen leaching into groundwater systems and nitrous oxide emissions from nitrogen fertilizer. On top of the fertilizer savings from growing BNI wheat, it may be possible for Canadian producers to earn a premium through a climate-smart certification. This thesis explores the consumer demand for a climate-smart certification on pasta. Current research shows evidence of willingness to pay (WTP) for environmentally friendly food products among several consumers groups, but the market potential of products bearing a new climate-smart certification has not been explored. If WTP for climate-smart certified food is found to be high, it may help to support the creation of a climate-smart certification which could help incentivize Canadian producers to adopt climate-smart agriculture production practices. In March 2025, an online survey of 5045 consumers across Canada, Italy, the United States, and the United Kingdom gathered consumer preferences through a discrete choice experiment (DCE) to evaluate WTP for climate-smart pasta. Attributes in the DCE included information on greenhouse gas emission reductions, presence or absence of a climate smart certification, and the organization providing certification. Prior to the DCE, respondents were randomly allocated to information treatments highlighting either local or global benefits of climate-smart agriculture or the control group. These information treatments were designed to assess whether the framing of climate-smart agriculture impacts consumer demand. Then, multinomial logit, mixed logit and latent class models were estimated in order to measure the consumer demand. Canadian consumers were found to be willing to pay an additional premium of 20% for a climate-smart label and 12% for a GHG emissions reduction claim. Similar premiums were found across all the countries studied. Additionally, we found that consumers had a strong dislike for climate-smart labels certified by the government and certified by retailers. Consumers were indifferent towards an environmental organization label and exhibited both positive and negative preferences for the pasta company certification, depending on the market. |
| Keywords: | Consumer/Household Economics |
| Date: | 2026–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:activa:397830 |
| By: | Warn N. Lekfuangfu; Antonio Cabrales; Sergio Blanco |
| Abstract: | This study evaluates the impact of a randomised controlled intervention that provided psycho-social supports and digital skills training to socially excluded female migrants living in Murcia, Spain. The participants were also beneficiaries of the Minimum Basic Income Scheme. Our causal estimation shows that the programme significantly improves participants' knowledge of community resources, use of social support networks, digital skills, and mental well-being. However, we do not observe any effects on employment or labour market participation, based on both survey responses and administrative records. These findings suggest that non-financial interventions can enhance social inclusion and personal well-being, even if they do not directly improve labour market outcomes in the short run. |
| Keywords: | Randomised Controlled Intervention; Social Inclusion, Migrants, Digital Skills; Psycho-Social Curriculum; Spain |
| JEL: | J6 I14 I3 |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:26068 |