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on Experimental Economics |
| By: | Ilke Aydogan (IESEG School of Management, Univ. Lille, CNRS, UMR 9221 - LEM - Lille Economie´ Management, F-59000 Lille, France; and iRisk Research Center on Risk and Uncertainty); Loïc Berger (CNRS, Univ. Lille, IESEG School of Management, UMR 9221 - LEM - Lille Economie´ Management, F-59000 Lille, France; iRisk Research Center on Risk and Uncertainty; RFF-CMCC European Institute on Economics and the Environment (EIEE), and Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici, Italy); Vincent Theroude (Université de Lorraine, Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, BETA, 54000, Nancy, France) |
| Abstract: | We investigate the validity of a double random incentive system where only a subset of subjects is paid for one of their choices. By focusing on individual decisionmaking under risk and ambiguity, we show that using either a standard random incentive system, where all subjects are paid, or a double random system, where only 10% of subjects are paid, yields similar preference elicitation results. These findings suggest that adopting a double random incentive system could significantly reduce experimental costs and logistic e orts, thereby facilitating the exploration of individual decision-making in larger-scale and higher-stakes experiments. |
| Keywords: | Experimental methodology, Payment methods, Incentives, Ambiguity elicitation |
| Date: | 2024–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ies:wpaper:e202417 |
| By: | John List |
| Abstract: | Contingent valuation is a widely used method for estimating the value of nonmarket commodities. Yet, a persistent issue is whether responses to Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) questions accurately reflect true values. Recent studies indicate that hypothetical bias is a significant factor that creates a gap between intentions and actions. I use a novel approach within non-market valuation - a List Experiment in the field - to test whether it can attenuate the hypothetical bias observed within CVM surveys. Using data from 400 subjects in a field experiment, I find initial promising results. |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:feb:framed:00809 |
| By: | Lauber, Arne; March, Christoph; Sahm, Marco |
| Abstract: | We conduct a laboratory experiment to compare the fairness and intensity of round-robin tournaments with three symmetric players, a single prize, and two alternative match formats. Matches are either organized as lottery contests or all-pay auctions. Whereas we confirm the theoretical prediction that tournaments are less fair if matches are organized as all-pay auctions, we reject the predicted difference in tournament intensity. Moreover, the reason for the reduced fairness of tournaments based on all-pay auctions is also at odds with theory. In the lab, such tournaments heavily disfavor (in payoff-terms) the player acting in the final two matches. The reason is the substantially weaker than predicted discouragement of this player when competing first against the loser of the first match. Subjects try to exploit a perceived negative psychological momentum in such situations but only manage to end up in a dissipation trap: an effort-intense, final-like last match which significantly reduces their payoffs. |
| Keywords: | Sequential Round-Robin Tournament, Lottery Contest, All-Pay Auction, Laboratory Experiment, Discouragement Effect, Dissipation Trap |
| JEL: | C72 C91 D72 Z20 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:bamber:311830 |
| By: | Motta, Matt (Boston University School of Public Health); Callaghan, Timothy; Ross, Jennifer; Padmanabhan, Medini; Gargano, Lisa; Bowman, Sarah; Yokum, David Vincent (North Carolina) |
| Abstract: | Importance: While high levels of annual vaccination remains a key strategy for preventing the spread of new COVID-19 variants, most eligible Americans chose not to receive an updated vaccine in 2023. Objective: To assess the effectiveness of two new COVID-19 vaccine uptake communication strategies on annual COVID-19 vaccine uptake among vaccine hesitant sub-populations in a high vaccination state, and determine whether or not the messages “scale up” into an effective national messaging strategy. Design: We administered four randomized controlled trials embedded in two large and representative public opinion surveys before and following the availability of updated COVID-19 vaccines. Trials 1 and 2 were conducted in June 2023, and randomly exposed a representative cross-section of adults in a highly vaccinated state (Rhode Island; Trial 1, N = 800) and a nationally representative cross-section US adults (Trial 2, N = 1, 000) with messages that normalize the risks posed by endemic COVID-19 (vs. a control group). Trials 3 and 4 were conducted in October 2023, and randomly exposed analogous state (Trial 3, N = 800) and nationally representative survey respondents (Trial 4, N = 1, 200) to messages that “de-normalize” constantly-mutating viral threats posed by endemic COVID-19 (vs. a control group). Setting: Survey respondents were administered the trials online. Participants: All adults aged 18 or over, residing in either the US (Trials 1, 3) or Rhode Island (specifically; Trials 2, 4), and who were members of a large, online, opt-in survey panel recruitment pool maintained by YouGov, were eligible for inclusion in this study. Interventions: Respondents were randomly assigned to read a short message promoting annual COVID-19 vaccine uptake (vs. a control group, shown an unrelated message). In Trials 1 and 2, messages either made an effort to (a) normalize COVID-19 as endemic (“normalization” [NORM]), (b) both normalize and highlight the Long COVID health risks posed by endemic COVID-19 (“normalization + risk” [NR]), or (c) a control message unrelated to vaccination. In Trials 3 and 4, respondents were randomly assigned to either read (a) the aforementioned “NORM” message, (b) a message “de-normalizing” (DENORM) COVID-19 as a constantly mutating viral risk, or (c) a study-wide control message. Outcomes & Measures: The primary outcome variable in this study measures respondents’ self-reported intentions to receive an annual COVID-19 vaccine. The primary explanatory variable in our analyses is an indicator of experimental condition assignment, stratified by whether respondents (a) received a full COVID-19 vaccine sequence & at least one booster shot, (b) received some form of COVID-19 vaccination, but no boosters, or (c) are unvaccinated against COVID-19. Results: In Trials 1 and 2, we find that unvaccinated Rhode Islanders exposed to the NR messaging, but not NORM messaging, were significantly more likely to intend to receive an annual COVID-19 vaccine (NORM: B = 0.13, CI = -0.03, 0.30, p = 0.11; NR: B = 0.22, CI = 0.00, 0.44, p = 0.05). In Trials 3 and 4, we find that exposure to DENORM messaging, but not NORM messaging, is also associated with annual COVID-19 vaccine uptake among unvaccinated Rhode Islanders (NORM: B = 0.19, CI = -0.03, 0.41, p = 0.10; DENORM: B = 0.23, CI = 0.01, 0.44, p = 0.04). We detect no significant effects in either of our national samples, which post hoc analyses suggest might result from observed and unobserved differences in unvaccinated populations across Rhode Island and national samples. Conclusions: Our work suggests that messaging emphasizing both the endemic health risks (“NR”) and challenges of combating new COVID-19 variants (“DENORM”) may be effective at increasing annual COVID-19 vaccine uptake in unvaccinated populations, and suggest opportunities for future research regarding how differences in state public health contexts might moderate the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccine communication. |
| Date: | 2024–10–15 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:fpxj7_v1 |
| By: | Asim, Salman; Gera, Ravinder Madron Casley; Harris, Donna Oretha; Dercon, Stefan |
| Abstract: | Evidence from high-income countries suggests that the quality of school leadership has measurable impacts on teacher behaviors and student learning achievement. However, there is a lack of rigorous evidence in low-income contexts, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. This study tests the impact on student progression and test scores of a two-year, multi-phase intervention to strengthen leadership skills for head teachers, deputy head teachers, and sub-district education officials. The intervention consists of two phases of classroom training along with follow-up visits, implemented over two years. It focuses on skills related to making more efficient use of resources; motivating and incentivizing teachers to improve performance; and curating a culture in which students and teachers are all motivated to strengthen learning. A randomized controlled trial was conducted in 1, 198 schools in all districts of Malawi, providing evidence of the impact of the intervention at scale. The findings show that the intervention improved student test scores by 0.1 standard deviations, equivalent to around eight weeks of additional learning, as well as improving progression rates. The outcomes were achieved primarily as a result of improvements in the provision of remedial classes. |
| Date: | 2024–07–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:10846 |
| By: | John A. List |
| Abstract: | The traditional approach in experimental economics is to use a between-subject design: the analyst places each unit in treatment or control simultaneously and recovers treatment effects via differencing conditional expectations. Within-subject designs represent a significant departure from this method, as the same unit is observed in both treatment and control conditions sequentially. While many might consider the choice straightforward (always opt for a between-subject design), given the distinct benefits of within-subject designs, I argue that researchers should meticulously weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each design type. In doing so, I propose a categorization for within-subject designs based on the plausibility of recovering an internally valid estimate. In one instance, which I denote as stealth designs, the analyst should unequivocally choose a within-subject design rather than a between-subject design. |
| JEL: | C9 C90 C91 C92 C93 C99 |
| Date: | 2025–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:33456 |
| By: | Nicolas Jacquemet (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Paris School of Economics); Céline Launay (CLLE, Université de Toulouse); Stéphane Luchini (Université Aix Marseille (Aix-Marseille School of Economics) et EHESS); Danica Mijovic-Prelec (MIT Neuroeconomics laboratory, Sloan School of Management); Drazen Prelec (MIT Neuroeconomics laboratory, Sloan School of Management); Jacques Py (CLLE, Université de Toulouse); Julie Rosaz (Burgundy School of Business); Jason F. Shogren (Department of Economics, University of Wyoming) |
| Abstract: | Eyewitness testimony is the most powerful form of evidence in a court of law. Eyewitnesses affect both the odds of conviction and the severity of sentences of the guilty. But eyewitnesses also lie, and false testimony is the primarily cause of wrongful convictions. Most of the extant literature focuses on eyewitness reliability and credibility assessment, but very little is known about the efficiency of the main mechanism used in-field to foster eyewitness honesty: a solemn truth-telling oath–the most ancient and worldwide institution used in the solemn legal ceremony underpinning criminal cases. Herein we examine how the truth-telling oath actually affects the level of eyewitness deception. Using a controlled experimental test designed to address this question, we show that an eyewitness who is exogenously incentivized to lie and takes a solemn oath is significantly less likely to use deception. In contrast with the related literature focusing on the detection of lies, we show that an oath actually works to improvetru th-telling. The oath is not just ceremonial, it plays a key role in improving efficiency within the court |
| Keywords: | Eye-witness testimony; Truth-telling oath; Controlled experiment |
| JEL: | C9 H4 |
| Date: | 2024–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mse:cesdoc:24013 |
| By: | Donati, Dante; Rao, Nandan; Victor Hugo Orozco Olvera; Ana Maria Munoz Boudet |
| Abstract: | This study uses a cluster randomized controlled trial to evaluate the impact of a nationwide malaria prevention advertising campaign delivered through social media in India. Ads were randomly assigned at the district level, and the study relies on data from two independently recruited samples (8, 257 individuals) and administrative records. Among users residing in solid (concrete) dwellings, where malaria risk is lower, the campaign led to an 11 percent increase in mosquito net usage and a 13 percent increase in timely treatment seeking. Self-reported malaria incidence decreased by 44 percent. Consistently, recorded health facility data indicate a reduction in urban monthly incidence of 6.2 cases per million people, corresponding to 30 percent of the overall monthly incidence rate of malaria. Conversely, the study finds no impact on households living in non-solid dwellings, which face higher malaria risk, nor among rural settlements where such dwellings are more prevalent. To disentangle if this lack of impact stems from ineffective content or insufficient reach, an individual-level trial was conducted (1, 542 individuals), ensuring campaign exposure for both household types. The findings indicate an increase in bed net usage and timely treatment seeking for both groups, underscoring the need for improved targeting in social media campaigns to fulfill public health goals. |
| Date: | 2024–11–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:10967 |
| By: | Emanuele Colonnelli; Timothy McQuade; Gabriel Ramos; Thomas Rauter; Olivia Xiong |
| Abstract: | We examine job-seekers' heterogeneous preferences for nonwage amenities, with a focus on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices, using an incentivized field experiment in Brazil. Our findings reveal that ESG is the most polarizing nonwage amenity across multiple sociodemographic groups, with the strongest preferences observed among highly educated, white, and politically liberal individuals (Colonnelli et al., 2025). While women report a stronger preference for work-from-home policies, all other nonwage amenities exhibit minimal variation across sociodemographic groups. Our findings highlight the critical role of corporate values in shaping economic outcomes within an increasingly polarized society. |
| JEL: | G0 J0 P0 |
| Date: | 2025–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:33455 |
| By: | Luca Delle Foglie (DEF, University of Rome "Tor Vergata"); Stefano Papa (DEF, University of Rome "Tor Vergata"); Giancarlo Spagnolo (CEIS & DEF, University of Rome "Tor Vergata") |
| Abstract: | We examine how betrayal aversion and ambiguity attitudes influence trust. To disentangle these effects, we use a Trust game and manipulate trustors’ perception of being the intentional recipients of trustees’ betrayal by varying the nature of the latter: a human or a machine that replicates human choices in probability. After confirming that this manipulation does not affect ambiguity attitudes or beliefs about others’ behavior, we find that both factors significantly influence trust. Nonetheless, even when controlling for these attitudes and beliefs, participants exhibit lower trust in humans than in machine. Furthermore, using Noldus’ FaceReader technology to measure emotions during trustors’ decision-making process, we find that participants express greater anger toward human trustees. Our results indicate that both betrayal aversion and ambiguity attitudes play important roles in shaping trust decisions. |
| Keywords: | Ambiguity attitudes, Anger, Betrayal cost, Emotions, FaceReader, Trust game |
| JEL: | A13 C91 D03 D64 D90 |
| Date: | 2025–02–21 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rtv:ceisrp:593 |
| By: | Christopher Alexander Hoy; Filip Jolevski; Anthony Obeyesekere |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the pervasiveness of tax evasion among firms in Indonesia and the characteristics associated with higher levels of noncompliance. Tax evasion is estimated through a randomized, double-list experiment embedded in a nationally representative survey of 2, 955 registered firms. This revealed whether firms pay all the taxes they owe without them having to disclose this directly. Across both list experiments, around a quarter of the firms indirectly reveal that they have evaded taxes. Firms that do not export, face intense competition from informal firms, and believe tax administration is a major obstacle to their business are the most likely to evade taxes. These findings help to inform the enforcement activities of tax authorities in middle-income countries, which face substantial challenges in estimating levels of tax evasion and identifying noncompliant taxpayers. |
| Date: | 2024–07–22 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:10857 |
| By: | Cilliers, Jacobus; Nour Elashmawy; David McKenzie |
| Abstract: | The post-double selection Lasso estimator has become a popular way of selecting control variables when analyzing randomized experiments. This is done to try to improve precision, and reduce bias from attrition or chance imbalances. This paper re-estimates 780 treatment effects from published papers to examine how much difference this approach makes in practice. PDS Lasso is found to reduce standard errors by less than one percent compared to standard Ancova on average and does not select variables to model treatment in over half the cases. The authors discuss and provide evidence on the key practical decisions researchers face in using this method. |
| Date: | 2024–09–26 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:10931 |
| By: | John List |
| Abstract: | In 2019 I put together a summary of data from my field experiments website that pertained to framed field experiments (see List 2024; 2025). Several people have asked me if I have an update. In this document I update all figures and numbers to show the details for 2024. I also include the description from the 2019 paper below. |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:feb:framed:00808 |
| By: | Hannig, Martin |
| Abstract: | Service robots are on the rise and are increasingly being used by companies in the workplace and at the customer interface. Recent developments in AI are enhancing the capabilities of service robots. In the workplace, service robots can be used by knowledge workers, i.e., employees who use knowledge as a powerful resource to perform tasks. At the customer interface, service robots are especially on the rise in retail, health care, food service, and hospitality. However, it is unclear how knowledge workers and external customers provide personal information to service robots, especially in the light of growing privacy concerns. Therefore, the overall goal of this dissertation is to investigate privacy concerns and patterns of information disclosure in customer-robot interactions. A particular focus is on android service robots, which look very much like human service providers. The behavior of knowledge workers and external customers towards these android robots is compared to both humanoid robots and human employees. Thus, this dissertation contributes to scientific research at the interface between marketing management and human-robot interaction. With both types of robots, experimental studies were conducted in the workplace, where the service robots performed autonomous tasks in the HR department. Study 1 describes the preparation of these service robots for autonomous customer-robot interactions in the workplace from a design science perspective. Study 2 contributes to the overall goal of this dissertation by examining the influence of privacy concerns on the reluctance to provide personal information in a field experiment. The results show that privacy concerns do not prevent knowledge workers from working with service robots for long periods of time, nor do they mirror actual information reluctance. As the task complexity of customer-robot interactions increases, privacy concerns increase, but information reluctance decreases. There are also differences in the behavior of knowledge workers when providing personal information to humanoid robots versus android robots, depending on task complexity. Study 3 contributes to the overall goal of this dissertation by examining the conversational flow in the interactions with the service robots using video analysis of the field experiment. It can be seen that knowledge workers show more variation in verbal and nonverbal forms of expression when talking to android robots than when talking to humanoid robots. In addition to the field experiment in the workplace, further studies have been conducted with the service robots. Study 4 deals with the effect of social influence on information disclosure when interacting with service robots. It turns out that customers are more willing to provide personal information to android robots when they have previously observed this behavior from peers. Study 5 contributes to the overall goal of this dissertation by introducing a new theoretical concept to research on service robots and information disclosure, the so-called "Blurring Paradox". Based on political speeches in which politicians talk a lot but say little, it is suggested that customers may also tend to talk a lot but say little when interacting with a service robot. In addition to introducing this theoretical concept, this dissertation integrates various theoretical perspectives from different research disciplines, such as the CASA paradigm, task-technology-fit theory, communication accommodation theory, and social impact theory. In addition, this dissertation provides methodological contributions by introducing a scale for measuring the conversational flow when interacting with service robots. From a content-related perspective, the different studies show that employees and external customers adapt the way they provide information depending on whether they are interacting with a service robot or a human service provider. Thus, this dissertation contributes to scientific research and managerial practice in several important ways. |
| Date: | 2025–02–17 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dar:wpaper:153092 |
| By: | Zack Dorner (Lincoln University); Steven Tucker (University of Waikato); Abraham Zhang (Adam Smith Business Svchool, University of Glasgow); Anna Huber (University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna) |
| Abstract: | Information represents the "third wave" of environmental policy. Existing evidence shows consumers increase their willingness to pay (WTP) for environmentally friendly products with clear labelling. However, there is a gap in the literature regarding whether consumers have a willingness to engage (WTE) with detailed information, for example, through a Digital Product Passport (DPP). This technological innovation is part of the European Union's new circular economy action plan. In our theoretical model, a green consumer decides whether to invest in information on how to mitigate their environmental damage, but at a cognitive cost. We test the model in a lab experiment selling an environmentally friendly toothbrush, but information about its environmental credentials is only available through a DPP. We find education on the DPP's purpose is key to increasing revealed WTE when a DPP is available. Participants with a high stated WTE engage with the DPP regardless; the increase in revealed WTE comes from those with a lower stated WTE. Engagement with the DPP, in the case that it contains positive environmental information, increases WTP. The policy implications of our results are that education about the purpose of the DPP is required in order to increase the likelihood of actual consumer engagement with it, as long as it is user friendly. However, engagement with a DPP may not lead to further shifts in environmental orientation and behavior. Our study also demonstrates novel measures of WTE, and how these can be used to understand pro-environmental consumer behavior in a theoretically informed manner. |
| Keywords: | Circular economy; digital product passport; consumer behavior; ecolabel; green consumerism; information-based instruments; pro-environmental behavior |
| JEL: | C92 D12 D18 D63 D64 D91 |
| Date: | 2025–02–21 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wai:econwp:25/03 |
| By: | Devoto, Florencia; Emanuela Galasso; Kathleen G. Beegle; Stefanie Brodmann |
| Abstract: | In some developing countries, women’s labor force participation remains persistently low. This gives rise to questions regarding what types of employment opportunities or interventions can draw women into work in such contexts. In this study in urban Djibouti, with restrictive gender norms and very low female employment rates, women were randomly offered the opportunity to be employed in a public works program designed specifically to facilitate their participation. Program take-up is very high, and most participants do not delegate their work opportunity to another adult. However, in the medium term after the program ends, women who receive the temporary employment offer revert back to non participation in the labor market. These results suggest that while social norms can be a deterrent to women’s work in settings with very low employment rates, women will participate in work opportunities when they are offered and suitable. |
| Date: | 2024–09–16 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:10906 |
| By: | Christian Koch (Department of Economics, University of Vienna); Stefan P. Penczynski (School of Economics and Centre for Behavioural and Experimental Social Science, University of East Anglia); Sihong Zhang (McKinsey & Company, Inc.) |
| Abstract: | When sellers disclose verifiable information, buyers must exercise sufficient skepticism to account for potentially selective disclosure, yet previous evidence suggests they often fail to do so. We experimentally examine how buyers adapt their skepticism in response to uncertainty about the pool of available verifiable information. Contrary to previous findings on institutional manipulations in the literature, we discover that buyers adapt to our institutional change quite effectively, even—if anything—enhancing their skepticism. These results suggest that buyers’ skepticism may adjust appropriately, or not, depending on the specific context, implying that consumer naivety may be less frequent, at least when real-world features prompt scrutiny. |
| Keywords: | Disclosure, verifiable information, competition, Peltzman effect |
| JEL: | D40 D83 |
| Date: | 2025–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uea:wcbess:25-02 |
| By: | Liu, Chuanjun (Sichuan University); Zou, Lemei; Wu, Junhong; Wang, Taolin; Abbas, Syed Zain |
| Abstract: | Previous studies have highlighted the paradoxical nature of unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB), yet no measurement tools specifically targeting this paradox have been developed. This study introduces a new thought experiment measure based on the five-phase development framework by Hinkin (1995, 1998). Phase one, concept clarification, adopted the widely accepted UPB definition from Umphress et al. (2010). Phase two developed and initially validated seven UPB scenarios with high content and ecological validity, capturing the paradox that employees experience regarding UPB (Study 1). Phase three demonstrated that the employees’ UPB choices in these scenarios showed high internal consistency and structural validity (Study 2). Phase four demonstrated high criterion and discriminant validity compared to Umphress et al.’s UPB scale, along with high test-retest reliability (Study 3). Phase five examined the cognitive process underlying UPB through the lens of dual-process theory (Study 4). Cognitive load manipulations (with or without load) revealed that employees under cognitive load made faster decisions but exhibited lower UPB choice frequency, thereby supporting the paradoxical nature of UPB and its cognitive underpinnings. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed. |
| Date: | 2025–02–13 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:uamxy_v2 |
| By: | Ebun Akinsete (ICRE8); Alina Velias; Lydia Papadaki; Lazaros Antonios Chatzilazarou; Phoebe Koundouri |
| Abstract: | Efficient and sustainable water management is imperative due to the mounting pressure on global water supplies from over-exploitation, desertification, and pollution. Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) strategies have demonstrated efficacy in decision support; however, a more comprehensive integration of participatory and economic methodologies is required. The objective of this research is to enhance water resource management through collaborative, stakeholder-driven innovation by integrating experimental economics with Living Labs (LLs). Living Labs offer genuine environments for collaborative creation, enabling scientists and stakeholders to resolve water-related concerns such as supply, demand, and scarcity. These environments establish a connection between controlled experimental conditions and real-world applications, offering a comprehensive understanding of policy formulation and behavioral reactions. We use the Limassol Water Futures Living Lab (LWFLL) as a case study that is dedicated to the creation of a comprehensive, intelligent decision-making framework that will enable the effective management of water resources in the presence of unpredictable climate conditions. LLs can be strengthened and improved by economic methodologies, particularly in water valuation, through integrated frameworks that account for environmental externalities and opportunity costs. Real-time input is provided by technological innovations such as smart meters, desalination technologies or soil moisture sensors, which enables dynamic pricing models to accurately depict the economic and environmental costs associated with water consumption. Experimental economics' external validity is enhanced by the integration of behavioral insights and experimental approaches into LLs, which places interventions in real-world settings. |
| Keywords: | Behavioral Microeconomics, Field Experiments, Water Resource Management, Water Supply and Demand, Analysis of Collective Decision-Making |
| Date: | 2025–02–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aue:wpaper:2521 |
| By: | Simonsen, Nick (Aarhus University) |
| Abstract: | Discrete choice experiments are widely used in the social sciences to understand individuals’ stated preferences. Given their popularity, many diQerent software packages, such as Ngene, are available to create discrete choice experiment designs. However, integrating these designs into online platforms like Qualtrics can be time-consuming and often challenging. This paper addresses these challenges and provides a detailed tutorial on converting Ngene outputs into a Qualtrics-compatible format using custom code and integrating it into Qualtrics to create a fully functional online discrete choice experiment. The provided code simplifies the process, making it more accessible and manageable for researchers. This approach minimizes time and eQort and potential human errors when integrating the design into the online survey platform. Lastly, the paper provides code for extracting and formatting the post-experiment choice data into a meaningful data format that can be used for data analysis. In sum, this paper equips researchers with tools to easily deploy discrete choice experiment designs created using the Ngene software to Qualtrics and data extraction post-data collection. |
| Date: | 2025–02–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:rj7yh_v1 |
| By: | Capitán, Tabaré (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences); Thunstrom, Linda; van 't Veld, Klaas; Nordström, Jonas; Shogren, Jason F. |
| Abstract: | Calorie labeling is a popular policy to address the obesity epidemic, but it has had little empirical success. Under the premise that willful avoidance of information plays a role in this result, we propose a novel approach—pre-nudges—to make consumers more receptive to calorie information. Unlike nudges, which are used to directly influence a choice, pre-nudges are used to directly influence how consumers react to the nudge itself (the calorie label). In line with predictions from our theoretical analysis, we test two pre-nudges in the context of menu labeling: one aims to increase self-efficacy, and the other one highlights the long-term health risks of overeating. In a large-scale laboratory experiment, we find that both pre-nudges reduce calorie information avoidance. Overall, our paper suggests a possible role for pre-nudges in addressing the obesity epidemic—one of the largest public health issues globally—and illustrates the potential usefulness of pre-nudges more generally |
| Date: | 2025–02–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:vy6af_v2 |
| By: | Stefan P. Penczynski (School of Economics and Centre for Behavioural and Experimental Social Science, University of East Anglia); Christian Koch (Department of Economics, University of Vienna); Sihong Zhang (McKinsey & Company, Inc.) |
| Abstract: | This study investigates experimentally information disclosure in settings with and without seller competition. Sellers often choose to report information selec-tively and buyers account for this—even though not fully—by bidding skeptically. As expected, competition increases sellers’ information disclosure but leads, sur-prisingly and replicably, to more buyer na¨ıvety, offsetting the welfare benefits from improved disclosure. A framing effect generates this result: merely describing a situation as competitive rather than monopolistic alters buyer behavior. Akin to the so-called Peltzman effect, buyers seemingly perceive competition as a safer en-vironment to which they behaviorally adapt by abandoning their skepticism. Con-sequently, consumer benefits hinge on perceived competitiveness—a vulnerability firms may leverage to their advantage. |
| Keywords: | Disclosure, verifiable information, competition, Peltzman effect |
| JEL: | D40 D83 |
| Date: | 2025–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uea:wcbess:25-01 |
| By: | Antonio Cabrales; Gema Pomares; David Ramos Muñoz; Angel Sánchez |
| Abstract: | We study experimentally a new model to study the effect of climate externalities and contractual incompleteness on network formation. We model a network where good/green firms enjoy direct and indirect benefits from linking with one another. Bad/brown firms benefit from having a connection with a good firm, but they are a cost to both direct and indirect connections. In efficient networks the green firms should form large connected components with very few brown firms attached. The equilibrium networks, on the other hand, have many more brown firms attached, and components are also smaller than the efficient ones. Our experiments show that empirical results are broadly in line with the theoretical equilibrium predictions, although the precise quantitative outcomes are different from the theory. |
| Keywords: | network formation, climate change, contractual externalities, efficiency and equilibrium |
| JEL: | C92 D62 D85 Q54 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11663 |
| By: | Patrick Premand; Thomas Bossuroy; Sambo, Soumaila Abdoulaye; Markus, Hazel; Walton, Gregory; Thomas, Catherine |
| Abstract: | Poverty is multidimensional, associated not only with a lack of financial resources, but also often social-psychological constraints, such as diminished agency and aspirations. Through a series of field experiments, this paper assesses the causal impacts of culturally wise interventions designed to build women’s agency on poverty reduction efforts in rural Niger. Moreover, the study identifies a model of agency that is “culturally wise” because it is the most motivational and functional in the study cultural context. Study 1 reports descriptive evidence that an interdependent model of agency—that is grounded in social harmony, respect, and collective advancement and that accounts for relational affordances for individual goals—is predominant in rural Niger. This stands in contrast to a more self-oriented, independent model grounded in personal aspirations, self-direction, and self-advancement that is more common in the West. Study 2 explores the psychosocial mechanisms of a highly effective, multifaceted poverty reduction program that included two psychosocial interventions—a community sensitization and a life skills training, which incorporated both models of agency. Although the results support the role of intrapersonal processes (including enhanced self-efficacy and optimistic future expectations) in driving economic impacts, there is equal, if not greater, support for relational processes (including increased subjective social standing, control over earnings, and social support). Study 3 conducts a mechanism experiment to disentangle the causal effects of interventions grounded in independent agency (“personal initiative”) or interdependent agency (“interpersonal initiative”). The results show that the interdependent agency intervention, which is considered to be most “culturally wise, ” led to significant effects on economic outcomes as well as both intrapersonal and relational processes. By contrast, the independent agency intervention showed impacts on intrapersonal processes alone. These findings show the promise of an emerging area of research at the intersection of behavioral science, cultural psychology, and development economics for addressing complex global problems like poverty and inequality. |
| Date: | 2024–06–26 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:10824 |
| By: | Pat Pataranutaporn; Nattavudh Powdthavee; Pattie Maes |
| Abstract: | We investigate whether artificial intelligence can address the peer review crisis in economics by analyzing 27, 090 evaluations of 9, 030 unique submissions using a large language model (LLM). The experiment systematically varies author characteristics (e.g., affiliation, reputation, gender) and publication quality (e.g., top-tier, mid-tier, low-tier, AI generated papers). The results indicate that LLMs effectively distinguish paper quality but exhibit biases favoring prominent institutions, male authors, and renowned economists. Additionally, LLMs struggle to differentiate high-quality AI-generated papers from genuine top-tier submissions. While LLMs offer efficiency gains, their susceptibility to bias necessitates cautious integration and hybrid peer review models to balance equity and accuracy. |
| Date: | 2025–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2502.00070 |
| By: | Peez, Anton (Goethe University Frankfurt); Bethke, Felix S. |
| Abstract: | Does public opinion on international affairs affect elites’ policy preferences? Most research assumes that it does, but this key assumption is difficult to test empirically given limited research access to elite decisionmakers. We examine elite responsiveness to public opinion on sanctioning Russia during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. We fielded a pre-registered experiment within the 2022 TRIP survey of US foreign policy practitioners, offering a rare opportunity for a fairly large elite survey experiment (N = 253). We used contemporary public polling highly supportive of increasing sanctions as an information treatment. Our research design, involving a salient issue and real-world treatment, substantially expands on previous work. Exposure to the treatment raises elite support for increasing sanctions from 68.0% to 76.3% (+8.3 pp.). While meaningful, this effect is smaller than those identified elsewhere. We argue that this difference is driven by pre-treatment dynamics related to issue salience and ceiling effects, and is therefore all the more notable. We provide evidence for substantial treatment effect heterogeneity depending on subject-matter expertise, degree of involvement in political decision-making, and gender, but not party identification. While our results support previous research, they highlight issues of external validity and the context-dependence of elite responsiveness. |
| Date: | 2024–12–19 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:qzrj2_v1 |
| By: | Baquie, Sandra; Behrer, Arnold Patrick; Du, Xinming; Fuchs Tarlovsky, Alan; Nozaki, Natsuko Kiso |
| Abstract: | Middle-income countries host the majority of the world’s population exposed to unhealthy levels of air pollution, and the majority of this population lives in urban environments. This study investigates the impact of information provision on household behavior in connection with indoor and outdoor air pollution in a middle-income country’s major urban center — Tbilisi, Georgia. The study implemented a randomized controlled trial to assess whether providing households with different levels of pollution information changes their knowledge of air pollution and avoidance behavior with respect to air pollution, and improves their health outcomes. The study evaluates three treatments: a pamphlet with general information on pollution, the pamphlet combined with daily text messages about local outdoor pollution, and the pamphlet with messages about both indoor and outdoor pollution levels, supplemented with an indoor air pollution monitor. The findings show that while the pamphlet alone did not lead to behavioral change, daily text messages significantly enhanced knowledge about pollution, led to increased avoidance behaviors, and improved health outcomes. The study also examined infiltration rates throughout the city and document three facts: indoor air pollution levels are generally higher than outdoor ones, infiltration rates are high on average, and their variation is driven primarily by behaviors. |
| Date: | 2024–07–16 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:10852 |
| By: | Rachel Cassidy; Menaal Fatima Ebrahim; Diego Javier Ubfal |
| Abstract: | Business training has long been a staple of development policy, with annual expenditures exceeding US$ 1 billion in low- and middle-income countries. The vast majority of training is delivered in person, but there is growing interest in alternative modalities to deliver at scale. Digital delivery offers the potential to enhance impact, cost-effectiveness, and accessibility—especially for women, who may face constraints on their time and mobility. Challenges may include gaps in digital skills and ensuring participants’ engagement. This study conducted a randomized controlled trial to evaluate a business training program targeted at women entrepreneurs in Ethiopia. The paper tests two modalities: a smartphone app or in-person sessions, versus a control group. The findings reveal high initial take-up rates for both modalities (over 75 percent), but a significant disparity in completion rates (22 percent for the digital training, versus 71 percent for the in-person training). These results suggest that the potential of digital platforms for scaling up business training must be carefully tested and treated with caution. Despite the high take-up of in-person training, negligible impacts are observed on business practices and performance from either modality. This finding underscores the stylized fact that business training alone may offer limited benefits for women entrepreneurs. |
| Date: | 2024–12–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:10992 |
| By: | Derex, Maxime; Bonnefon, Jean-François; Boyd, Robert; McElreath, Richard; Mesoudi, Alex |
| Abstract: | In many domains, learning from others is crucial for leveraging cumulative cultural knowledge, which encapsulates the efforts of successive generations of innovators. However, anecdotal and experimental evidence suggests that reliance on social information can reduce the exploration of the problem space. Here, we experimentally investigate the extent to which cultural transmission fosters the persistence of arbitrary solutions in a context where participants are incentivized to improve a physical system across multiple trials. Participants were exposed to various theories about the system, ranging from accurate to misleading. Our findings indicate that even under conditions conducive to exploration, the transmission of cultural knowledge canalizes learners’ focus, limiting their consideration of alternative solutions. This effect was observed in both the theories produced and the solutions attempted by participants, irrespective of the accuracy of the provided theories. These results challenge the notion that arbitrary solutions persist only when they are efficient or intuitive and underscore the significant role of cultural transmission in shaping human knowledge and technologies. |
| Keywords: | cultural evolution; cumulative culture; innovation, cultural inertia; social learning |
| Date: | 2025–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tse:wpaper:130345 |
| By: | DiGiuseppe, Matthew (Leiden University); Garriga, Ana Carolina (University of Essex); Kern, Andreas |
| Abstract: | Why do citizens support central bank independence (CBI)? Despite important research on economic and political reasons to grant independence to central banks, we know little about what the public thinks about CBI. This is important given citizens' potential role in constraining politicians' ability to alter CBI. We hypothesize that support for CBI is influenced by citizens' limited understanding of central bank governance and their beliefs about who will gain control over monetary policy if independence is reduced. Our expectations are confirmed by a preregistered survey experiment and a pre-post-election test in the U.S. Support for CBI increases when respondents learn that the President would gain more influence if independence was reduced. This support decreases when respondents expect a co-partisan to lead the executive branch. These findings shed light on the legitimacy basis of monetary institutions in politically polarized contexts and, from a policy perspective, indicate the limits of central bank communication. |
| Date: | 2025–02–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:trpgz_v1 |
| By: | Leng, Alyssa Amanda; Edwards, Ryan Barclay (Australian National University); Wood, Terence |
| Abstract: | Exposure to quantitative information about immigrants or narratives around the costs and benefits of immigration can alter people’s immigration policy preferences. Using a survey experiment with a representative sample of over 5, 000 respondents in Australia, we find substantial and contradictory misperceptions across the number, origins and labour market attributes of immigrants. Most respondents prefer less immigration overall, but favour increased high-skilled immigration. Support for increased immigration rises by 4.5—7 percentage points when respondents are shown narratives on how immigrants can help improve housing affordability. Conversely, highlighting the perceived negative impacts of immigration on housing affordability reduces support for increasing or maintaining current immigration levels. Providing quantitative information on immigrants’ characteristics generates smaller increases in support for more immigration than narratives. For immigration from Pacific Island countries, exposure to quantitative information increases support for relaxing visa requirements but there is no evidence that narratives have any effect. |
| Date: | 2025–02–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:c63uq_v1 |
| By: | Francisco Moraes Leitao Campos; Frese, Michael; Leonardo Iacovone; Hillary C. Johnson; David McKenzie; Mensmann, Mona |
| Abstract: | A randomized experiment in Togo found that personal initiative training for small businesses resulted in large and significant impacts for both men and women after two years (Campos et al, 2017). This paper revisits these entrepreneurs after seven years, and finds long-lasting average impacts of personal initiative training of $91 higher profits per month, which is larger than the 2-year impacts. However, these long-term impacts are very different for men and women: the impact for men grows over time as they accumulate more capital and increase self-efficacy, whereas the impact for women dissipates, and capital build-up is much more limited. |
| Date: | 2024–10–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:10938 |
| By: | Michelle Dugas; Daniel Alejandro Pinzon Hernandez; Jungkyu Rhys Lim; Renos Vakis; Zeina Afif; Takahiro Hasumi; Diya Nitham Mousa Elfadel |
| Abstract: | The proliferation of misinformation and disinformation threatens to erode the credibility of public institutions and limit their capacity to implement policies that enhance public well-being. While health misinformation represents an urgent global challenge, relatively little research has examined solutions in low- and middle-income countries. This study experimentally tests the impact of a novel WhatsApp chatbot game pre-bunking inoculation intervention in Jordan to boost capacity to identify common misinformation techniques and reduce the likelihood of sharing misleading headlines with others effectively “inoculating” them against health misinformation. A sample of 2, 851 participants was recruited online and randomly assigned to five study arms: (1) comprehensive game-based inoculation, (2) brief game-based inoculation that highlighted examples of only misinformation, (3) infographics-based inoculation, (4) exposure to placebo infographics unrelated to misinformation, and (5) pure control. To evaluate the impact of the intervention, the study assesses two main outcomes: (1) ability to discern accurately headlines using misinformation techniques and headlines that do not use misinformation techniques, and (2) discernment in sharing the two types of headlines. Compared to the placebo group, the comprehensive game significantly improved discernment of misinformation and reduced the likelihood of sharing misleading headlines. A brief version of the game yielded weaker effects on discernment of misinformation, but similarly reduced intentions to share misleading headlines. In contrast, exposure to infographics teaching similar techniques showed no significant impacts on discernment of misinformation, and marginal effects on intention to share misleading headlines. These findings suggest that games can effectively inoculate the public against misinformation in the context of a middle-income country in the short term. Future research is needed to explore the boundary conditions of the findings. |
| Date: | 2024–09–30 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:10933 |
| By: | Silvia Angerer; Daniela Glätzle-Rützler; Wanda Mimra; Thomas Rittmannsberger; Christian Waibel |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we experimentally investigate the effect of public consumer ratings on market outcomes in credence goods markets. Contrary to search or experience goods, consumers cannot evaluate all dimensions of trade for credence goods, which may inhibit the information and reputation-building value of public rating systems. We implement a market in which experts have an informational advantage over consumers with respect to the appropriate service level. The rating system takes the form of a five-star rating system as is common on online rating websites. The value of this rating system is compared in two different expert market settings: First, one in which consumers cannot rely on information from personal experience with the expert, reflecting markets in which consumerexpert interactions are often first-time and infrequent (e.g. specialist visits in healthcare markets). Second, one in which consumers have personal experience with the expert, reflecting markets in which consumer-expert interactions are frequent and repeated (e.g. general practitioner visits in healthcare markets). We find that the public rating system significantly improves market outcomes. Furthermore, a public rating system is a good substitute for personal experience information in terms of market efficiency and consumer surplus. Combined, however, we find no complementarity between public ratings and personal experience information, mainly due to the already high market efficiency in the presence of either one. |
| Keywords: | Credence goods, expert behavior, ratings, feedback, laboratory experiment |
| JEL: | C91 D82 I11 L15 |
| Date: | 2025–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:inn:wpaper:2025-03 |
| By: | Konrad Menzel |
| Abstract: | In contrast to problems of interference in (exogenous) treatments, models of interference in unit-specific (endogenous) outcomes do not usually produce a reduced-form representation where outcomes depend on other units' treatment status only at a short network distance, or only through a known exposure mapping. This remains true if the structural mechanism depends on outcomes of peers only at a short network distance, or through a known exposure mapping. In this paper, we first define causal estimands that are identified and estimable from a single experiment on the network under minimal assumptions on the structure of interference, and which represent average partial causal responses which generally vary with other global features of the realized assignment. Under a fixed-population, design-based approach, we show unbiasedness, consistency and asymptotic normality for inverse-probability weighting (IPW) estimators for those causal parameters from a randomized experiment on a single network. We also analyze more closely the case of marginal interventions in a model of equilibrium with smooth response functions where we can recover LATE-type weighted averages of derivatives of those response functions. Under additional structural assumptions, these "agnostic" causal estimands can be combined to recover model parameters, but also retain their less restrictive causal interpretation. |
| Date: | 2025–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2501.19394 |
| By: | Andrew Caplin; Daniel Martin; Philip Marx; Anastasiia Morozova; Leshan Xu |
| Abstract: | We introduce the first general test of capacity-constrained learning models. Cognitive economic models of this type share the common feature that constraints on perception are exogenously fixed, as in the widely used fixed-capacity versions of rational inattention (Sims 2003) and efficient coding (Woodford 2012). We show that choice data are consistent with capacity-constrained learning if and only if they satisfy a No Improving (Action or Attention) Switches (NIS) condition. Based on existing experiments in which the incentives for being correct are varied, we find strong evidence that participants fail NIS for a wide range of standard perceptual tasks: identifying the proportion of ball colors, recognizing shapes, and counting the number of balls. However, we find that this is not true for all existing perceptual tasks in the literature, which offers insights into settings where we do or do not expect incentives to impact the extent of attention. |
| Date: | 2025–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2502.00195 |
| By: | Balavac-Orlic, Merima; Giles, John T.; Hari, Siddharth; Ovadiya, Mirey |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the effect of compensating a private sector provider of employment services for successful placement of jobseekers with employers. Within this program, active job matching, relative to only job counseling, contributes to a significantly higher rate of employment, and these effects are more pronounced for subgroups that are less likely to find employment without assistance, including youth and low-skilled workers. Among the jobseekers randomly allocated to matching, those who were judged by counselors to be “employable” were far more likely to be matched to employers. To understand the decisions made to rate jobseekers as employable, the paper makes use of both information directly observable to job counselors and characteristics and personality traits from a separate survey of the jobseekers. Evidence suggests that under incentivized matching, counselor assessments of employability and designation for more intensive effort are consistent with cream-skimming. |
| Date: | 2024–06–26 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:10826 |