nep-exp 2026-06-29 papers

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By:	Flagner, Stefan (Maastricht University); Eichholtz, Piet (Maastricht University); Kok, Nils (Maastricht University); Kramer, Rick (Eindhoven University of Technology); Künn, Steffen (Maastricht University); van Marken Lichtenbelt, Wouter (Maastricht University); Plasqui, Guy (Maastricht University); Sun, Xudong (Maastricht University)
Abstract:	This study examines how improvements in indoor environmental quality affect student satisfaction and academic performance in higher education. We conducted a randomized field experiment involving 1, 258 first-year undergraduate students at Maastricht University, who were randomly assigned to tutorial groups located either in a recently renovated building with improved indoor environmental quality or in a conventional control building. We find that students in the treatment building report significantly higher satisfaction with indoor environmental quality and the overall learning environment. However, these improvements do not translate into measurable effects on academic performance, study effort, or tutor evaluations.
Keywords:	indoor environmental quality, higher education, human capital accumulation, satisfaction, field experiment
JEL:	I21 I23 I31 J24
Date:	2026–05
URL:	https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18697

By:	John A. List
Abstract:	Recent enthusiasm for field experiments, and especially for natural field experiments (NFEs), in which subjects go about their daily activities unaware that any study is taking place, has sometimes been read as a verdict against the laboratory. I argue that such a verdict is wrong. Through the lens of a simple rational-choice model, I show that the four standard experimental designs (laboratory, artefactual field experiment (AFE), framed field experiment (FFE), and NFE) are comparative-static restrictions of one maximization problem, each identifying a parameter the others cannot. The model reveals that each design type has distinctive strengths and weaknesses across various dimensions of knowledge creation, including the enforcement of the conditions for causal identification, the faithfulness of the experimental environment to the theory being tested, the identification of economic primitives via theoretical structure, and the ethics of studying human subjects. On each of the dimensions, the four design types are complements rather than rivals. Nowhere is this complementarity more evident than between the two extremes. The lab enforces the conditions for causal identification that the NFE must inherit from the market; the NFE recovers the parameter that governs behaviour in the wild, free of the selection, scrutiny, and environmental distortions the lab cannot escape. A research programme using all four designs together demonstrates something no single design can produce. The framework further accommodates the recent rise of online and survey experiments as natural extensions. Our discipline’s recent drift away from laboratory evidence is leaving an important structural gap that natural field experiments, however well conceived, cannot fill.
JEL:	C83 C89 C9 C91 C92 C93 H0 J01
Date:	2026–06
URL:	https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:35338

By:	Binierose Cacho (University of Hawaii); Katerina Sherstyuk (University of Hawaii)
Abstract:	Measuring individual behavioral traits may help explain observed deviations from predicted behavior and differences among participant actions in many experimental market and auction settings. We discuss existing measures of risk and time preferences, cognitive abilities, financial literacy, regret and other emotions, overconfidence, and competitiveness. We focus on short tasks and survey items that may be used as simple add-ons to main laboratory market tasks. We further touch upon methodological issues such as monetary incentives, presentation options, repeat measurements and task timing. Finally, we catalog existing laboratory market experiments that employ behavioral measures.
Keywords:	auction theory, time costs, laboratory experiments
JEL:	C83 C91 D40 D91
Date:	2026–06
URL:	https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hai:wpaper:202603

By:	Clot, Sophie (EDHEC Business School); Della Giusta, Marina (University of Turin); Dubois, Florent (University of Turin); Razzu, Giovanni (University of Reading)
Abstract:	How can cooperation be sustained in socially heterogeneous settings when institutions explicitly emphasize inclusion and diversity? We study this question in four European cities. Participants face a repeated cooperation dilemma framed as an investment in a local urban amenity. We randomly vary whether the project is described as benefiting the general population or explicitly benefiting a locally relevant marginalized group. We find that inclusive framing has no effect on average contribution levels or beliefs about othersâ€™ behavior, however, we document substantial heterogeneity. Minority participants and women increase their contributions under inclusive framing, particularly in later stages of the game. Using the strategy method, we classify individuals into cooperative strategy profiles and show that inclusive framing primarily activates equality-oriented behavioural strategies. Analysis of strategy stability further indicates that inclusion reshapes behaviour within existing strategy profiles rather than inducing shifts across them. Overall, our results suggest that inclusive institutional design can preserve collective action while redistributing cooperative effort across identities and behavioural motivations.
Keywords:	Institutional framing; Diversity and Inclusion; Common-pool resources; Conditional cooperation; Field experiment
JEL:	C93 H41 D91 J14 J15 J16
Date:	2026–06
URL:	https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18714

By:	Aridor, Guy; Gonçalves, Duarte; Kluver, Daniel; Kong, Ruoyan; Konstan, Joseph
Abstract:	We conduct a field experiment on a movie-recommendation platform to investigate whether and how online recommendations influence consumption choices. Using a within-subjects design, our experiment measures the causal effect of recommendations on consumption and decomposes the relative importance of two economic mechanisms: expanding consumers' consideration sets and providing information about their idiosyncratic match value. We find that the informational component exerts a stronger influence -- recommendations shape consumer beliefs, which in turn drive consumption, particularly among less experienced consumers. Our findings and experimental design provide valuable insights for the economic evaluation and optimisation of online recommender systems.
Keywords:	Online recommendations; Recommender system; Information acquisition; Field experiment; Platforms
JEL:	D83 D47 D12 L15 M37
Date:	2026–06
URL:	https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:21584

By:	Pol Campos-Mercade; Armando Meier; Stephan Meier; Devin Pope; Florian H. Schneider; Erik Wengström
Abstract:	Can monetary incentives improve health behaviors in the long run, and do commonly used surrogate outcomes capture these effects? We study these questions in the context of vaccination using a large-scale field experiment. The experiment combines commonly used surrogates—vaccination intentions, intermediate behavioral proxies, and short-run vaccination—with long-run administrative vaccination records. We first document that incentives increase vaccination rates in the long run: guaranteed $20 incentives raise COVID-19 booster uptake by 9 percentage points. Lottery-based incentives also increase long-run uptake, while prosocial incentives primarily accelerate vaccination. Second, using surrogacy methods, we study whether surrogates can predict long-run impacts. Although the surrogates are strongly correlated with eventual vaccination, the assumptions required for surrogacy methods are often violated, and they do not accurately predict long-run impacts. Our findings highlight both the ability of incentives to change behavior and the importance of measuring long-run outcomes rather than relying solely on surrogates.
Keywords:	incentives, health behavior, vaccination, surrogates
JEL:	C93 D01 D62 I12 I18
Date:	2026
URL:	https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12730

By:	Giuseppe Attanasi; Giuseppe Ciccarone; Giovanni Di Bartolomeo; Valentina Peruzzi; Marilena Vecco
Abstract:	This paper studies how gender and reputation jointly shape valuation in the visual art market. We develop a microfounded benchmark auction model in which artwork prices depend on artists' effort, reputation, and gender. The model predicts that the price discount for female artists should decline with reputation and become negligible at sufficiently high levels of reputation. We test these predictions using two complementary approaches. First, we examine 67, 615 auction sales by 686 living contemporary artists over 1996-2014. Conditional on rich artwork and artist characteristics, nationality fixed effects, and year-by-location auction fixed effects, we find that works by female artists sell for less than comparable works by male artists, but this discount shrinks substantially with formal recognition and market standing. Second, we conduct a pre-registered experiment in a controlled auction setting to isolate demand-side valuation mechanisms. The experimental evidence confirms the same pattern: bids for works attributed to female artists are lower on average, and the gap narrows sharply when the artist is presented as highly reputed.
Keywords:	Gender inequality, reputation, art markets, auction data, theory-driven experiment
JEL:	J16 D44 D82 C91 Z11
Date:	2026
URL:	https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ter:wpaper:00196

By:	Giovanni Di Bartolomeo; Silvia Fedeli; Stefano Papa
Abstract:	We test whether minimal, non-informative messages can nudge tax compliance beyond standard deterrence. In a within-subjects lab experiment, we randomize exposure to either a reminder that leaves audit probability unchanged or an informative warning tied to higher audit probability, and estimate effects on both the probability of evasion and the share of income evaded. A short non-informative reminder, holding incentives fixed, lowers the probability of evasion by about 16 percentage points, with no detectable effect on the evaded share among evaders; informative messages add at most marginal effects once audit probability is controlled for.
Keywords:	tax compliance, nudge, deterrence, audit, laboratory experiment
JEL:	H26 C91 D91
Date:	2026–05
URL:	https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ter:wpaper:00205

By:	Soledad Giardili; Monika Heller; Sanjay Jain; Amalia R. Miller; Kamalini Ramdas
Abstract:	Alternative care delivery models may offer benefits to patients and providers, but adoption often remains low. We study whether brief narrative testimonials shift willingness to attend virtual shared medical appointments (SMAs), a relatively little-used care format in which 5-15 patients with a shared non-urgent health condition meet simultaneously with a clinician. Using a pre-registered field experiment with over 4, 000 women aged 45–60 in the UK, we randomly assigned participants to view only standard descriptive information about menopause appointment options (the control group) or to receive testimonials about SMAs from either previous patients or a clinician (treatment groups). Testimonials more than doubled the share of women choosing an SMA: when appointments were offered with a 6-8 week wait, 11% of the control group chose an SMA compared to 26% in the peer testimonials arm and 24% in the clinician testimonials arm. Shorter waiting times further increase uptake. When the SMA wait was reduced to one week, the share of women ever choosing an SMA rose by 14-19 percentage points across arms, reaching nearly 40% in the testimonial groups. Treatment effects are systematically larger among women with greater information-processing capacity: university education, higher baseline menopause knowledge, and broader information-seeking. Our findings suggest that women’s reluctance to choose SMAs is driven primarily by demand-side barriers, including unfamiliarity and uncertainty about their benefits, rather than deep-seated aversion to group-based care. Testimonials appear sufficient to meaningfully reduce these barriers.
JEL:	C93 D12 D83 D91 I11 I12
Date:	2026–06
URL:	https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:35357

By:	Ambel, Alemayehu A.; Woldeyes, Firew Bekele
Abstract:	This study investigates taxpayer responses to tax compliance interventions undertaken in collaboration with Ethiopia’s revenue authority, focusing on gender differences among business owners. The research targeted a sample of 5, 408 business owners, and the interventions—letters highlighting tax obligations and civic responsibilities—were successfully implemented with 3, 551 participants. The interventions involved letters emphasizing tax obligations and civic duties and were evaluated through a randomized controlled trial across diverse economic sectors and sub-city locations. Data from quantitative surveys and administrative records provided information about reported tax declarations and compliance behaviors. The findings indicate a balance in key variables before the intervention, with notable impacts of the intervention on reported profit tax declarations. While examining gender differences in tax compliance, the study found no differential effects of the intervention based on business owners’ gender. Specifically, the result shows that the difference in tax compliance between male and female business owners is not statistically significant at both intensive and extensive margins. This indicates that gender did not play a meaningful role in influencing tax compliance as a result of the intervention.
Date:	2026–06–08
URL:	https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:11409

By:	Blesse, Sebastian (Leipzig University); Lergetporer, Philipp (Technical University of Munich); Pache, Clara-Marie (Leipzig University); Zeidler, Helen (Technical University of Munich)
Abstract:	We study beliefs about whether information campaigns can shift public support for redistribution in a survey with more than 3, 000 respondents. We randomly provide respondents with evidence from a meta-study about the share of information interventions that do not significantly affect redistributive preferences. This information strongly changes respondentsâ€™ beliefs about the effectiveness of such campaigns. Descriptively, respondents who are more skeptical about the effectiveness of information campaigns are also less supportive of disseminating such information. However, we find no causal effect of experimentally shifting these beliefs on support for government provision of inequality-related information to the public, which is generally high. We analyze open-ended responses to study why experimentally shifting beliefs about the effectiveness of information campaigns does not affect support for information dissemination.
Keywords:	information campaigns, inequality, information dissemination preferences, survey experiment
JEL:	C93 D83 D63 D31 H40 I38
Date:	2026–05
URL:	https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18694

By:	Simon Calmar Andersen (Aarhus University [Aarhus]); Bastien Michel (Aarhus University [Aarhus], LEMNA - Laboratoire d'économie et de management de Nantes Atlantique - Nantes Univ - IAE Nantes - Nantes Université - Institut d'Administration des Entreprises - Nantes - Nantes Université - pôle Sociétés - Nantes Univ - Nantes Université); Helena Skyt Nielsen (Aarhus University [Aarhus])
Abstract:	We study the effect of peer coaching separately from the effect of training on teachers' implementation of new teaching techniques. We conducted a preregistered field experiment involving 68 teachers and 1490 students in Denmark. Teachers in an active control group took part in a teaching program that introduced new teaching techniques. On top of the teaching program, the treatment group received coaching from peers. External observers, blinded to the treatment status, assessed teachers' use of the program techniques in the classroom. While we observe greater implementation by teachers, the overall effects are mixed, calling for caution.
Keywords:	Coaching, knowledge transfer, school teachers, field experiment
Date:	2025–04–15
URL:	https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05627631

By:	Ghidoni, Riccardo (University of Bologna); Immordino, Giovanni (University of Naples Federico II); Roberti, Paolo (Free University of Bozen-Bolzano)
Abstract:	Voters often oppose welfare-enhancing policies because they fail to anticipate how others will adjust their behavior. We show that policy design can align political support with efficiency even under biased beliefs. We study priority policies, a remedy whose off-equilibrium incentives make reform attractive even to biased voters. In a theory-guided experiment, participants vote between an inefficient status quo and a treatment-specific welfare-improving reform. A Pigouvian-like tax attracts only 27.5 percent support; adding priority incentives raises it to 41.7 percent, and a pure-priority policy raises it to 70 percent. Treatment effects are mostly driven by biased participants.
Keywords:	reform, priority policy, voting, political failure, experiment
JEL:	C92 D72
Date:	2026–05
URL:	https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18695

By:	Shilei Luo; Song Yao; Dennis J. Zhang
Abstract:	Platform content interventions in recommendation systems are typically evaluated as static "nudges", ignoring that the systems adaptively learn from the resulting user behavior. We investigate this dynamic through a large-scale field experiment on a short-video platform. The experiment involves a "sleep reminder" campaign designed to reduce late-night usage. Paradoxically, the intervention increased late-night engagement by 14.75% and overall platform usage by 2.18%, and the effects persisted for weeks even after the experiment. We explain this through a forced-exploration mechanism, showing that by revealing high latent demand for the promoted content, the intervention triggers a recommendation policy update that routine user behavior would not produce. The data generated by the intervention induced the algorithm to update its post-campaign policy, reinforcing the very engagement loops the campaign aimed to mitigate. Our findings demonstrate that user-facing interventions can effectively retrain the underlying algorithm, triggering durable, system-wide shifts in content distribution that challenge standard evaluation metrics in platform governance and social responsibility initiatives.
Date:	2026–06
URL:	https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2606.08265

By:	Ludolph, Melina; Nghiem, Giang; Tonzer, Lena
Abstract:	We examine whether combining factual information on inflation levels and forecasts with a narrative can persistently shape consumers' inflation expectations. In a preregistered randomized controlled trial with a representative sample of 3, 000 German consumers, participants received either numerical or textual information about inflation rates, with or without an accompanying narrative. All treatments immediately lower inflation expectations, with numerical information eliciting stronger adjustments. Adding a narrative produces no additional immediate effect, confirming that it conveys no new information. However, only the combination of numerical information with a narrative yields a lasting reduction in inflation expectations and forecast uncertainty still observable after four weeks. Our results suggest that combining precise information with a narrative enhances information retention and can lead to more persistent shifts in consumers' beliefs. The effects are strongest when respondents perceive the narrative as relatable and emotionally engaging, and among those with low financial literacy and limited knowledge of inflation.
Keywords:	central bank communication, inflation expectations, narratives
JEL:	D84 D91 E31 E58
Date:	2026
URL:	https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:iwhdps:341628

By:	Sofia Amaral; Kim Chaney; Victoria Kaiser; Nishith Prakash; Abhilasha Sahay
Abstract:	Police officers' discretionary handling of gender-based violence (GBV) complaints is a critical and largely neglected barrier to justice in developing countries. We collaborate with the Madhya Pradesh Police in India, the second largest state, to conduct a lab-in-the-field randomized experiment in which 323 male and female officers participate, and study the effect of randomly confronting officers with evidence of their biased handling of a fictitious GBV case on officer behavior and attitudes towards GBV. We find no statistically significant average effect, but sharply divergent and robust responses by officer gender. Confronted female officers prioritize the victim's statement by 23 percentage points more than controls, a 27 percent increase relative to the control mean. Male officers exhibit a backlash: they deprioritize the victim's statement, elevate the offender's statement, and on a computerized stereotyping task assign significantly more negative stereotypes to GBV victims one week after confrontation. We find no effects on deeper attitudinal outcomes such as beliefs in the truthfulness of rape complaints. A likely explanation for the heterogeneous response is the stark difference in baseline bias: 72 percent of female officers display only mild bias, while 51 percent of male officers are strongly biased. Because policing is male-dominated, the average female officer perceives a work environment more biased than her own, and women are thus willing to de-bias their case handling while men are not. Interventions targeting officer bias must account for these gender-differentiated responses to avoid unintended consequences.
Keywords:	prejudice confrontation, gender heterogeneity, gender-based violence, police bias, backlash, stereotype reduction, lab-in-the-field experiment, India
JEL:	J16 J45 K42 K14 C93 D91 O12 O15
Date:	2026
URL:	https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12717

By:	Robin Musolff; Christopher Roth; Florian Zimmermann
Abstract:	False information often shapes beliefs even after retraction or correction. Using incentivized online experiments, we document a qualitative residue in learning from false information: False quantitative signals generate little to no belief updating, whereas false stories lead to substantial residual belief impact. This effect is robust across a range of design variants. Replacing evaluative stories with more neutral variants eliminates the residue, indicating that the valence of the qualitative information plays a central role. We provide direct evidence that false stories increase mental simulation, measured via self-reports and valence extracted from speech recordings. Respondents are also more confident in beliefs formed after false stories than after false quantitative information, despite being further from the rational benchmark. Additional experiments suggest that the effect also appears among respondents who report not being influenced by the story, consistent with stories partly shaping beliefs below conscious awareness.
Keywords:	stories, learning, mental simulation, fake news
JEL:	D83 D91 C90
Date:	2026
URL:	https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12711

By:	Hönow, Nils Christian; Bensch, Gunther; Kirk, Michael
Abstract:	In regions with low soil fertility, smallholder farmers often clear forest to sustain agricultural yields. This pattern becomes more problematic where forest regrowth is slow, contributing to local forest loss and global environmental challenges such as climate change and biodiversity decline. This paper presents findings from a framed field experiment that examines how different types of monetary incentives affect forest-clearing decisions in northern Namibia, a semi-arid region with negligible forest regrowth. We implemented a common-pool resource game with 518 smallholder farmers across 25 villages, in which a forest stock declines dynamically based on participants' clearing decisions, without immediate regrowth. The game spans three periods: a baseline without incentives, an intervention period with individual or collective rewards or an individual fee, and a post-incentive phase. This setup allows us to assess both the immediate effects of incentives and their persistence after incentive removal. All incentive types reduce clearing compared to the baseline, but not significantly more than in the control condition, where clearing also declined - an unexpected trend likely linked to features of the dynamic game design. Incentive effects largely dissipate after removal, with no strong evidence of lasting motivational crowding-in or crowding-out. Overall, our results suggest that moderate payments may be insufficient to sustain cooperation in persistent resource dilemmas. More broadly, they highlight the importance of multifaceted analysis including control conditions and careful experimental framing in field-laboratory studies, coupled with caution in generalizing findings to other settings or policy applications.
Abstract:	In Regionen mit niedriger Bodenfruchtbarkeit roden Landwirte und Landwirtinnen häufig Wälder, um ihre landwirtschaftlichen Erträge aufrechtzuerhalten. Dies ist problematisch in Regionen mit geringem Waldwachstum und führt zu Verlust von Waldflächen und verstärkt globale Umweltprobleme wie Klimawandel und Biodiversitätsverlust. Diese Studie präsentiert Ergebnisse eines kontrollierten Feldexperiments, das untersucht, wie verschiedene Arten von monetären Anreizen Waldrodungsentscheidungen in der Kavango Region in Namibia, einer semi-ariden Region mit vernachlässigbarem Waldwachstum, beeinflussen. Wir führten ein Common-Pool-Resource Game mit 518 Teilnehmenden in 25 Dörfern durch, bei dem ein Waldbestand dynamisch basierend auf den Rodungsentscheidungen der Teilnehmer abnimmt, ohne unmittelbares Nachwachstum. Das Spiel erstreckt sich über drei Phasen: eine Baseline ohne Anreize, eine Interventionsphase mit individuellen oder kollektiven Belohnungen oder einer individuellen Gebühr sowie eine Phase nach den Anreizen. Dieses Setup ermöglicht es uns, sowohl die unmittelbaren Auswirkungen von Anreizen als auch deren Persistenz nach deren Entfernung zu bewerten. Alle Anreiztypen reduzieren die Rodung im Vergleich zur Baseline, aber nicht signifikant mehr als in der Kontrollbedingung, wo die Rodung ebenfalls abnahm - ein unerwarteter Trend, der wahrscheinlich mit Merkmalen des dynamischen Spieldesigns verbunden ist. Anreizeffekte lösen sich nach deren Entfernung größtenteils auf, ohne starke Belege für anhaltende motivational Crowding-in oder Crowding-out-Effekte. Insgesamt deuten unsere Ergebnisse darauf hin, dass moderate monetäre Anreize möglicherweise nicht ausreichen, um Kooperation in anhaltenden Ressourcendilemmas aufrechtzuerhalten. Allgemeiner betont unsere Studie die Bedeutung einer mehrdimensionalen Analyse, einschließlich Kontrollbedingungen und sorgfältiger experimenteller Rahmensetzung in Feld-Labor-Studien, kombiniert mit Vorsicht bei der Verallgemeinerung von Ergebnissen für politische Maßnahmen.
Keywords:	common-pool resources, framed field experiment, deforestation, conservation policy, sustainable land use
JEL:	C91 D91 Q15 Q23 Q57
Date:	2026
URL:	https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:rwirep:341405

By:	Robin Musolff; Christopher Roth; Florian Zimmermann
Abstract:	False information often shapes beliefs even after retraction or correction. Using incentivized online experiments, we document a qualitative residue in learning from false information: False quantitative signals generate little to no belief updating, whereas false stories lead to substantial residual belief impact. This effect is robust across a range of design variants. Replacing evaluative stories with more neutral variants eliminates the residue, indicating that the valence of the qualitative information plays a central role. We provide direct evidence that false stories increase mental simulation, measured via self-reports and valence extracted from speech recordings. Respondents are also more confident in beliefs formed after false stories than after false quantitative information, despite being further from the rational benchmark. Additional experiments suggest that the effect also appears among respondents who report not being influenced by the story, consistent with stories partly shaping beliefs below conscious awareness.
Keywords:	Stories, Learning, Mental Simulation, Fake News.
JEL:	D83 D91 C90
Date:	2026–06
URL:	https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bon:boncrc:crctr224_2025_757

By:	Llilith Burgstaller; Lars P. Feld
Abstract:	Reliable estimates of undeclared work in Germany are scarce, yet they matter for tax and social security policy. Using two large-scale surveys of the German general population and recipients of transfer benefits particularly, we elicit the prevalence of the supply and demand of undeclared work via direct questions, a crosswise model and a list experiment. In line with economic theory, opportunity and incentives shape the decision to work undeclared. The self- and marginally employed as well as transfer recipients who face high effective marginal tax rates are particularly likely to work undeclared. The potential, especially for envelope wages, is substantial. Methodologically, the crosswise model consistently yields higher prevalence estimates for both supply and demand than direct questioning. We discuss assumptions and challenges when implementing list experiments.
Keywords:	collaborative tax evasion, experimental survey, undeclared work
JEL:	H26 E26 O17 D91 C92
Date:	2026
URL:	https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12728

By:	Bergman, Peter (University of Texas at Austin); Chowanajin, Nat (University of Texas at Austin)
Abstract:	We conduct a meta-analysis of 82 randomized controlled trials across more than 20 countries to estimate the effects of low-cost, remote parental engagement interventions delivered through text messages, phone calls, and apps. We estimate a joint likelihood function that incorporates both written studies and unwritten studies identified through trial registries, funder records, research labs, evidence clearinghouses, and other sources. By also recording sample sizes for unwritten studies, the model estimates the distribution of standard errors, identifies write-up probabilities conditional on significance, and characterizes the file drawer by estimating effect distributions for written \textit{and} unwritten studies. Bias-corrected effects are 0.05 SD for test scores, 0.07 SD for grades, 0.05 SD for attendance, and 0.03 SD for enrollment. In the best-identified domain, test scores, statistically insignificant results are still written up at high rates. We estimate the value of additional RCTs to inform adoption decisions. Any single study estimate is unlikely to dissuade adoption because parent interventions have high marginal value of public funds. Future research is most valuable if it can explain heterogeneity across settings.
Keywords:	meta-analysis, parent engagement, randomized trials
JEL:	I24
Date:	2026–05
URL:	https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18701

By:	Samantha Horn; Peter Schwardmann; Egon Tripodi
Abstract:	Evaluative social interactions are pervasive in labor markets. Inequality in these settings can arise not only from how individuals are treated or perform when evaluated, but from whether they enter evaluation at all. We study these margins in the context of social anxiety. In a controlled online experiment (N = 922), applicants decide whether to complete a live video interview that determines a monetary hiring bonus. We find that inequities associated with social anxiety are concentrated in participation rather than in performance or treatment. Socially anxious applicants are substantially less willing to interview, hold more pessimistic beliefs about being hired, and correctly anticipate a worse experience. Yet they perform no worse and are evaluated no differently. Interview experience does not attenuate the relative pessimism of socially anxious individuals, a pattern that is inconsistent with Bayesian updating under comparable signals. We use our rich audio-visual data and open-ended reflection texts to show that, instead, socially anxious applicants interpret similar interactions more negatively. We then provide evidence on organizational interventions aimed at closing social anxiety gaps. Finally, we show that social anxiety explains a meaningful share of inequalities commonly attributed to gender and social skill differences and is associated with significant earnings gaps in national data.
Keywords:	social anxiety, job interviews, beliefs, mental health, discrimination, learning
JEL:	D83 J71 I10 C90
Date:	2026
URL:	https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12722

By:	Kasberger, Bernhard; Martin, Simon; Normann, Hans-Theo; Werner, Tobias
Abstract:	Reinforcement learning algorithms play an increasingly important role in economic situations. These situations are often strategic, and the artificial intelligence may or may not be cooperative. We compare human and algorithmic cooperation rates in the infinitely repeated two-player prisoner's dilemma and study which strategies they choose to cooperate and punish deviations. Through a sequence of computational Q-learning and human-player experiments, we find that our Q-learning algorithms tend to cooperate less than humans, particularly when cooperation is risky or not incentive-compatible. Algorithms often use different strategies than humans, leading to distinct on- and off-path behavior.
Keywords:	Artificial intelligence, cooperation, Q-learning, repeated prisoner's dilemma
JEL:	C72 C73 C92 D83
Date:	2026
URL:	https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:dicedp:341427

By:	Peter Bergman; Nat Chowanajin; Peter Leopold S. Bergman
Abstract:	We conduct a meta-analysis of 82 randomized controlled trials across more than 20 countries to estimate the effects of low-cost, remote parental engagement interventions delivered through text messages, phone calls, and apps. We estimate a joint likelihood function that incorporates both written studies and unwritten studies identified through trial registries, funder records, research labs, evidence clearinghouses, and other sources. By also recording sample sizes for unwritten studies, the model estimates the distribution of standard errors, identifies write-up probabilities conditional on significance, and characterizes the file drawer by estimating effect distributions for written and unwritten studies. Bias-corrected effects are 0.05 SD for test scores, 0.07 SD for grades, 0.05 SD for attendance, and 0.03 SD for enrollment. In the best-identified domain, test scores, statistically insignificant results are still written up at high rates. We also find that larger studies tend to estimate smaller latent effects, which could indicate that true effects are correlated with study precision, violating a common meta-analysis assumption. In smaller-sample domains, our approach helps identify selection probabilities by anchoring the absolute write-up rates. Finally, we estimate the value of additional RCTs to inform adoption decisions. Any single study estimate is unlikely to dissuade adoption because parent interventions have high marginal value of public funds. Instead, future research is most valuable when it can explain heterogeneity across settings.
Keywords:	meta-analysis, parent engagement, publication bias, randomized trials
JEL:	I24
Date:	2026
URL:	https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12718

By:	Abay, Kibrom A.; Berhane, Guush; Gilligan, Daniel O.; Meles, Tensay H.; Tafere, Kibrom
Abstract:	Community-based targeting (CBT), which leverages community leaders to identify eligible beneficiaries, is widely used in social protection programs and development interventions, especially in data-scarce settings. Yet, little is known about how these leaders respond to opportunities for potential resource leakages and elite capture, and whether such behavior is moderated by budget constraints or the level of discretion given to leaders. Similarly, how community leaders involved in CBT aggregate individual preferences into collective decisions remains understudied. We conduct a cluster-randomized experiment in 180 Ethiopian villages to study the effects of incentive structures and discretion on administrative capture—defined as funds retained under the disguise of covering “administrative” costs. Local leaders were tasked with allocating real or hypothetical transfer budgets, with discretion to retain up to 10 percent as “administrative costs”. To uncover decision-making and preference aggregation within CBT committees, we elicited these decisions (proposals to retain a portion of the budget) individually as well as collectively. We find that financial incentives significantly increase administrative (elite) capture, and that capture increases with budget size. Group decisions yield higher appropriation than individual proposals, suggesting implicit collusion rather than prosocial restraint in group-based decisions. Moreover, when real stakes are at play, group outcomes are disproportionately shaped by extreme (outlier) preferences, whereas in hypothetical settings without actual transfers, popular preferences dominate. These findings highlight behavioral mechanisms underlying collective decision-making and administrative capture in CBT, which can inform the design of more accountable CBT systems.
Keywords:	social protection; targeting; decision-making; resources; Ethiopia; Eastern Africa; Sub-Saharan Africa; Africa
Date:	2025–12–29
URL:	https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:179323

By:	Amaral, Sofia (World Bank); Chaney, Kim (University at Buffalo); Kaiser, Victoria (Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy); Prakash, Nishith (Northeastern University); Sahay, Abhilasha (The World Bank)
Abstract:	Police officers' discretionary handling of gender-based violence (GBV) complaints is a critical barrier to justice in developing countries. We collaborate with the Madhya Pradesh Police in India to conduct a lab-in-the-field experiment with 323 officers, studying the effect of confronting officers with evidence of their biased handling of a fictitious GBV case. We find no average effect, but sharply divergent responses by officer gender. Confronted female officers prioritize the victim's statement by 23 percentage points more than controls, a 27 percent increase relative to the control mean. Male officers exhibit a backlash: they deprioritize the victim's statement, elevate the offender's, and assign more negative stereotypes to GBV victims one week after confrontation. A likely explanation is the stark difference in baseline bias: 72 percent of female officers display only mild bias, while 51 percent of male officers are strongly biased. Because policing is male-dominated, women are more willing to de-bias their case handling while men are not. Interventions targeting officer bias must account for gender-differentiated responses to avoid unintended consequences.
Keywords:	prejudice confrontation, gender heterogeneity, gender-based violence, police bias, backlash, stereotype reduction, lab-in-the-field experiment, India
JEL:	J16 J45 K42 K14 C93 D91 O12 O15
Date:	2026–05
URL:	https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18699

By:	Foresta, Alessandra (University of Southampton); Tonei, Valentina (University of Southampton); Vecchi, Martina (University of Southampton)
Abstract:	We provide causal evidence that the context in which harmful conduct occurs shapes how it is evaluated. We study this using a vignette-based survey experiment that holds behaviour constant while randomising whether an incident of sexual harassment occurs online or in person. Online settings generate a systematic discount in perceived seriousness (7% of the mean), with larger effects on willingness to report (13% of the mean) and preferred sanctions. The discount is concentrated in image-based harassment and larger among male respondents. In addition, it is not moderated by either direct or vicarious experience of harassment, suggesting that it may reflect normative perceptions of online harm as less serious rather than lack of exposure alone. These context-dependent distortions have implications for the enforcement of emerging legal protections, victim support, and the design of public communication around digital abuse.
Keywords:	sexual harassment, misperceptions, perceived harm, social norms, digital environments
JEL:	D83 J16 C93 K42 D91
Date:	2026–06
URL:	https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18715

By:	Felipe Araujo; Neeraja Gupta; Lise Vesterlund
Abstract:	We assess the empirical evidence for the hypothesis that women more than men respond to changes in treatment. First, we examine whether the results of over two hundred experimental economics papers support the female sensitivity hypothesis. Second, using data from two studies (DellaVigna and Pope, 2022; Exley et al., 2025), we conduct over two hundred pairwise tests of the hypothesis. Both analyses show that gender is not predictive of responsiveness to treatment. We further examine how the hypothesis has been disseminated in the literature and find that it is referenced predominantly by papers that support it.
JEL:	C9 J16
Date:	2026–06
URL:	https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:35324

By:	Aksoy, Cevat Giray; Bloom, Nicholas; Davis, Steven; Marino, Victoria; Özgüzel, Cem
Abstract:	Remote work has expanded rapidly, but the value of regular in-person contact remains unclear. We report a randomized controlled trial with a large business-process-outsourcing provider serving a multinational telecommunications client, in which 248 customer-service employees were assigned either to remain fully remote or to work from the office together one day per month. Monthly office days gradually increased productivity, with treated employees handling 7.8% more calls per hour in the post-intervention period. Office days also strengthened workplace communication: treated employees spent 36 additional minutes communicating with colleagues in the week after an office visit, were more likely to report receiving manager feedback, and employee pairs randomly assigned as desk neighbors were 11 percentage points more likely to communicate afterward. In addition, monthly office days reduced attrition by a third. The resulting gains in productivity and retention generated a benefitâ€“cost ratio of about 5:1. These findings show that even limited but coordinated in-person contact can improve communication, performance, and retention in remote teams.
Keywords:	Remote work; Productivity; Workplace interactions
JEL:	M54 D23
Date:	2026–06
URL:	https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:21597

By:	Valerio Fedele Addis; Giuseppe Attanasi; Giovanni Di Bartolomeo; Michele Mariella; Valentina Peruzzi
Abstract:	We study whether a large language model can reliably evaluate human creativity in constrained, innovation-like tasks. Using expert-generated creative outputs from a validated experiment with workers in cultural and creative industries, we embed ChatGPT as an evaluator and benchmark its assessments against expert human judgments obtained through the Consensual Assessment Technique. In Study 1, we show that AI-based creativity evaluations exhibit internal consistency comparable to that of expert judges across repeated and independent runs, even under conservative scenarios. Replacing a human judge with an AI evaluator does not reduce inter-rater reliability across drawing, mathematical, and verbal tasks. In Study 2, we find that AI evaluations are systematically structured along fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration, with task-specific weighting of these dimensions. Overall, the results indicate that AI can serve as a reliable and structured evaluator of creativity in constrained innovation environments.
Keywords:	Artificial intelligence, Creativity evaluation, Constrained creativity tasks, Consensual Assessment Technique, Cultural-and-creative-industry professionals, Innovation-like tasks
JEL:	O31 D83 M14 C91
Date:	2026
URL:	https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ter:wpaper:00197

By:	Cevat Giray Aksoy; Nicholas Bloom; Steven J. Davis; Victoria Marino; Cem Ozguzel
Abstract:	Remote work has expanded rapidly, but the value of regular in-person contact remains unclear. We report a randomized controlled trial in which a large multinational randomly assigned 248 customer-service employees to remain fully remote or to work at the office together one day a month. Monthly office days gradually increased productivity, with treated employees handling 7.8% more calls per hour in the post-intervention period. Office days also strengthened workplace communication: treated employees spent 36 additional minutes communicating with colleagues in the week after an office visit, were more likely to report receiving manager feedback, and employee pairs randomly assigned as desk neighbors were 11 percentage points more likely to communicate afterward. In addition, monthly office days reduced attrition by a third. The resulting gains in productivity and retention generated a benefit–cost ratio of about 5:1. These findings show that limited, coordinated in-person contact can improve communication, performance, and retention in remote teams.
JEL:	J0
Date:	2026–06
URL:	https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:35331

By:	Baumann, Ursel; Cullen, Zöe; Faia, Ester; Ferrando, Annalisa; Perez-Truglia, Ricardo; Rariga, Judith
Abstract:	How well does innovation diffuse across geographic boundaries? To shed light on this question, we present a large-scale field experiment involving 3, 300 firms across twelve European Union (EU) countries. We elicit firms' perceptions of the share of similar firms in their own country that had invested in AI, as well as the corresponding share among similar firms in the three largest EU economies. We randomly provide half of the sample with accurate information about both domestic and foreign AI investment. We show that firms substantially underestimate competitors' current AI investment, both domestically and abroad, and that they update their expectations about competitors' future adoption in response to the information treatment. The treatment also causes a statistically significant increase in firms' own expected AI investment rate (p-value
Keywords:	Innovation
JEL:	O33 D22 C93 L21
Date:	2026–06
URL:	https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:21601

By:	Eßer, Jana
Abstract:	Carbon pricing is a key policy tool for mitigating climate change by increasing prices and thereby reducing demand for carbon-intensive products and activities. However, be- havioral effects - such as crowding-in or -out of intrinsic motivation, moral licensing, or defiant behavior - can either amplify or weaken its standalone price effect. This study examines the behavioral effects of carbon pricing on the demand for fuel using a multiple price list approach in an incentivized online survey experiment, which was conducted in 2024 in Germany in a general population sample of 2, 600 participants. The findings sug- gest that carbon price salience crowds in intrinsic motivation on average compared to a situation in which carbon pricing is in place but less salient, reinforcing the price effect. In contrast, in certain subgroups this salience weakens the price effect and tends to even increase demand for fuel due to crowding-out of intrinsic motivation and moral licensing.
Abstract:	Die CO2-Bepreisung ist ein zentrales politisches Instrument zur Eindämmung des Klimawandels. Sie erhöht die Preise und senkt dadurch die Nachfrage nach CO2-intensiven Produkten und Aktivitäten. Verhaltensauswirkungen wie das Verdrängen oder Hervorrufen intrinsischer Motivation, moralische Lizenzierung oder Trotzreaktionen können jedoch den reinen Preiseffekt entweder verstärken oder abschwächen. In dieser Studie werden die Verhaltensauswirkungen der CO2-Bepreisung auf den Kraftstoffverbrauch untersucht. Dazu wurde ein Multiple-Price-List-Ansatz in einem incentivierten Online-Befragungsexperiment verwendet, das 2024 in Deutschland mit einer Stichprobe von 2.600 Teilnehmenden aus der Allgemeinbevölkerung durchgeführt wurde. Die Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass die Sichtbarkeit des CO2-Preises im Durchschnitt die intrinsische Motivation verstärkt im Vergleich zu einer Situation, in der die CO2-Bepreisung zwar vorhanden, aber weniger sichtbar ist. Dies verstärkt den Preiseffekt. In bestimmten Untergruppen schwächt diese Sichtbarkeit jedoch den Preiseffekt und führt aufgrund der Verdrängung der intrinsischen Motivation und moralischer Lizenzierung tendenziell sogar zu einem Anstieg der Nachfrage nach Kraftstoff.
Keywords:	carbon pricing, willingness to pay, demand for fuel, motivation crowding, moral licensing
JEL:	C93 D01 D12 D91 Q41 Q58
Date:	2026
URL:	https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:rwirep:341634

By:	Bianchi, Francesco; Faccini, Renato; Melosi, Leonardo; Wehrhöfer, Nils
Abstract:	We study how debt news shapes firms' inflation expectations in a monetary union. In an active-control experiment, German firms receive optimistic or pessimistic projections of France, Italy, and Spain's debt-to-GDP ratios. Pessimistic news raises debt beliefs and increases one- and three-year inflation expectations, with no detectable effect at five years. The response is driven by low-trust firms and by firms expecting relatively low ECB policy rates. A salient German debt-financed fiscal shock generates no comparable response. Within a Fisherian framework, the evidence suggests that debt news becomes inflationary when firms perceive incomplete fiscal backing and expect monetary accommodation.
JEL:	E31 E52 E62 D84 C93
Date:	2026–06
URL:	https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:21595

By:	Harrison H Li; Shanna Pearson-Merkowitz; David Yokum
Abstract:	Prolonged unemployment carries serious economic, health, and wellbeing costs. With federal support, most U.S. states now operate a Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment (RESEA) program to help Unemployment Insurance (UI) claimants return to work faster. We report results from a large (N = 23, 549) preregistered randomized controlled trial (RCT) evaluating Rhode Island's RESEA program from February 2022 to September 2023. We estimate that selection into the program increased annualized wages by \$1, 153, increased reemployment by 1.5 percentage points, and reduced UI duration by nearly two weeks. The vast majority of these wage and reemployment effects appeared within two quarters of claimants' first pay dates and persisted through at least the following year, and we estimate that each dollar spent on the program saved the state \$2.64. Using causal forests, a machine learning technique for estimating heterogeneous treatment effects (HTE), we also conduct an exploratory analysis to investigate if there are differential effects of selection into the RESEA program. We find that all participants experienced positive wage benefits from RESEA selection, with particularly large effects for older and lower-income workers. Finally, we improve upon prior RESEA evaluations by explicitly controlling for the week of treatment assignment -- a methodological refinement absent from several existing RCTs of job-training programs that is important to eliminate confounding bias. We also discuss ways to harvest precision gains from baseline covariate adjustment without introducing large-sample bias.
Date:	2026–06
URL:	https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2606.14621

By:	Nicolas Camilotto (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, UniCA - Université Côte d'Azur)
Keywords:	Trust, Trust Game
Date:	2026–05–26
URL:	https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05659421

By:	Suparee Boonmanunt; Wasinee Jantorn; Varunee Khruapradit; Weerachart Kilenthong
Abstract:	This study investigates childrenâ€™s social preferences and their associated factors using a longitudinal dataset from an ongoing early childhood panel in rural Thailand with rich information on children, family structure, caregivers, and households. We find several factors, from internalizing behavior problems and child order to family structure and household donation decisions, are correlated with childrenâ€™s social preferences, whereas other variables, such as screen time, socialization activities, and caregiversâ€™ characteristics, are not.
Keywords:	Children; Family structure; Lab-in-the-field experiment; Skill formation; Social preferences
JEL:	C93 D64 J12 J13 J24
Date:	2026–06
URL:	https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pui:dpaper:257

By:	Francesco Bianchi; Renato Faccini; Leonardo Melosi; Nils Wehrhöfer
Abstract:	We study how debt news shapes firms’ inflation expectations in a monetary union. In an active-control experiment, German firms receive optimistic or pessimistic projections of France, Italy, and Spain’s debt-to-GDP ratios. Pessimistic news raises debt beliefs and increases one- and three-year inflation expectations, with no detectable effect at five years. The response is driven by low-trust firms and by firms expecting relatively low ECB policy rates. A salient German debt-financed fiscal shock generates no comparable response. Within a Fisherian framework, the evidence suggests that debt news becomes inflationary when firms perceive incomplete fiscal backing and expect monetary accommodation.
JEL:	C93 D84 E31 E32 E62
Date:	2026–06
URL:	https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:35341

By:	Shan Huang; Renke Schmacker; Hannes Ullrich
Abstract:	AI can raise productivity by extracting information from rich data, yet little is known about how experts weigh AI-generated signals against established decision-support tools. We conduct a nationwide survey experiment with 372 Danish primary care physicians (21.5% of all clinics), who make diagnostic and treatment decisions on urinary tract infection vignettes before and after receiving a diagnostic signal. Holding accuracy constant, we randomize between-subjects whether the signal appears as an AI prediction or a commonly used dipstick test result. Physicians update beliefs 41% less in response to AI than to dipstick signals, consistent with AI skepticism. Roughly one-third of physicians ignore the AI tool; linked administrative data show that these non-adopters resemble adopters on a range of observables, including clinical practice and prescribing measures, except for lower baseline technology use at their clinics. When physicians use the AI tool, they ignore asymmetry in informativeness between positive and negative signals and, when shown both the AI and a redundant signal, exhibit correlation neglect. These frictions in information processing lead to increased antibiotic prescribing with the AI signal. Our findings highlight the importance of training and information design for AI implementation.
Keywords:	expert decision-making, artificial intelligence, healthcare, mental models
JEL:	I11 D81 D83 J24 O33
Date:	2026
URL:	https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp2168