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on Experimental Economics |
| By: | Eßer, Jana; Flörchinger, Daniela; Frondel, Manuel; Sommer, Stephan |
| Abstract: | Habits pose a potentially strong barrier to reducing meat consumption. Drawing on data from a framed field experiment over 14 months, we address the challenge of changing meat consumption habits and examine whether repeated informational and supportive newsletter interventions reduce self-reported meat consumption. While on average we find no evidence for a reduction in meat intake in response to the interventions, individuals with favorable pre-conditions, such as those with a low baseline consumption, moderately decrease their meat consumption. In addition, the interventions were effective in changing meat consumption among female but not male respondents. A back-of-the-envelope calculation indicates that the scope for reducing nutrition-related carbon emissions through newsletters is small. |
| Abstract: | Gewohnheiten stellen ein potenziell großes Hindernis für die Reduzierung des Fleischkonsums dar. Anhand von Daten aus einem über 14 Monate durchgeführten Feldversuch befassen wir uns mit der Herausforderung, Fleischkonsumgewohnheiten zu ändern, und untersuchen, ob wiederholte informative und unterstützende Newsletter-Interventionen den selbst angegebenen Fleischkonsum reduzieren. Während wir im Durchschnitt keine Hinweise auf eine Verringerung des Fleischkonsums als Reaktion auf die Interventionen finden, reduzieren Personen mit günstigen Voraussetzungen, wie z. B. diejenigen mit einem geringen Ausgangskonsum, ihren Fleischkonsum moderat. Darüber hinaus waren die Maßnahmen bei der Änderung des Fleischkonsums bei weiblichen, jedoch nicht bei männlichen Befragten wirksam. Eine überschlägige Berechnung zeigt, dass der Spielraum für die Reduzierung ernährungsbedingter CO2-Emissionen durch Newsletter gering ist. |
| Keywords: | Framed field experiment, meat consumption, climate change mitigation |
| JEL: | D12 D91 Q18 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:rwirep:333894 |
| By: | Simon Dato; Eberhard Feess; Jan-Patrick Mayer; Gerd Muehlheusser; Petra Nieken |
| Abstract: | Using a behavioral game-theoretical model and an experiment we study how information and communication influence coordination in groups when they can misreport the outcome of a binary lottery. Both group members receive a positive payoff only if their reports match. Consistent with our theory, nearly all groups coordinate when allowed to communicate prior to submitting their individual reports. The extent of coordination on either truth-telling or lying is correlated with the individual lying costs. Overall, both information and communication promote coordination on more dishonesty. These findings underscore how information and communication can increase coordination and dishonesty depending on intrinsic lying-aversion. |
| Keywords: | group decisions, unethical behavior, lying, coordination, group video chat |
| JEL: | C92 D70 D83 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12339 |
| By: | Sébastien Houde; Maya Papineau; Nicholas Rivers; Kareman Yassin |
| Abstract: | We introduce the concept of marginal hassle cost (MHC)–the opportunity cost of time required to complete burdensome administrative tasks–as a measure of non-pecuniary transaction costs. We then propose an experimental procedure to elicit the MHC and validate the approach through a large-scale field experiment on heat pump adoption in Canada. On average, the MHC is equal to respondents’ wage rate, but it exhibits substantial individual heterogeneity and is only weakly correlated with wages. MHCs are systematically higher for human-assisted than for computer-assisted tasks. Our findings highlight that total hassle costs are economically significant and deter participation in government programs aimed at decarbonization. |
| Keywords: | hassle costs, government programs, decarbonization, field experiments |
| JEL: | H20 H31 Q40 Q58 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12326 |
| By: | Larissa Fuchs; Matthias Heinz; Pia Pinger; Max Thon |
| Abstract: | We conduct a randomized controlled trial (RCT) with a leading technology firm to study how highlighting flexibility and career advancement in job advertisements causally affects the applicant pool. Highlighting career advancement increases the number of applications from men for entry-level positions and attracts additional applicants with strong qualifications and a good fit, which in turn leads to more interview invitations. By contrast, highlighting flexibility increases applications from both women and men at the entry level but provides limited evidence of attracting higher-quality or better-fit applicants. A complementary survey experiment among STEM students shows how job advertisements shape beliefs about the firm’s job characteristics and work environment. Overall, our results show that the amenities firms choose to highlight can powerfully influence both the size and characteristics of their applicant pool. |
| Keywords: | hiring, field experiments, job advertisements, gender |
| JEL: | M51 M52 D22 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12331 |
| By: | Salvatore Nunnari; Andrew T. Little |
| Abstract: | Debates about when and whether (partisan) directional motives influence information processing are hard to resolve because rational and motivated learning often look similar. We develop an experimental design to distinguish between these possibilities which focuses on the order in which information is presented. A core tenet of Bayesian updating is that order should not impact final beliefs, but if some information changes the motivation to process other information, order effects may emerge. In our first study, we randomize the partisanship of real endorsements for ballot propositions, as well as whether participants learn about these endorsements before observing other information about the propositions. We find no evidence of motivated information processing across several tests. In a second study, we randomize whether participants themselves argue for or against a proposition, and whether they know this position before observing other information. This produces a strong order effect: being randomized to argue for versus against a position affects beliefs more when it is learned before information about the proposition is provided. We also find suggestive evidence that this order effect is driven by selective attention to information. Overall, our results suggest that motivated reasoning about politics is less prevalent than commonly believed, but may arise primarily when people are in an argumentative mindset. |
| Keywords: | motivated reasoning, Bayesian learning, political information processing, selective memory, selective attention |
| JEL: | D83 D91 C90 D72 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12315 |
| By: | Harou, Aurelie P.; Tamim, Abdulrazzak |
| Keywords: | Food Security and Poverty |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea24:344029 |
| By: | Surve, Aditi A. |
| Keywords: | Consumer/Household Economics, International Development, Livestock Production/Industries |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea24:343650 |
| By: | Sara Giunti; Andrea Guariso; Mariapia Mendola; Irene Solmone |
| Abstract: | In advanced economies, growing population diversity often fuels hostility toward immigrants and deepens social divides. We study a short educational program for high-school students designed to promote cultural diversity and improve attitudes toward immigration through active learning. Using a randomized controlled trial involving 4, 500 students from 252 classes across 40 schools in northern Italy, we find that the program fostered more positive attitudes and behaviors toward immigrants, particularly in more diverse classrooms. In terms of mechanisms, the intervention reduced students’ misperceptions and shifted perceived classroom norms, but did not affect implicit bias, empathy, or social networks. Our findings indicate that anti-immigration attitudes largely stem from stereotypes and broad societal concerns, and that educational programs combining factual learning with norm-shaping elements, such as critical thinking and structured intergroup engagement, can effectively mitigate them. |
| Keywords: | Immigration attitudes, Ethnic Stereotypes, Social Inclusion Policy, Impact Evaluation. |
| JEL: | F22 J15 J61 D72 |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mib:wpaper:564 |
| By: | Hernan Bejerano (Center for Economic Research and Teaching (CIDE) and Economic Science Institute, Chapman University); Matias Busso (Inter-American Development Bank); Juan Francisco Santos (Inter-American Development Bank) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies trust, reciprocity, and bargaining using a large-scale online experiment in six Latin American countries. Participants were randomly assigned to play trust and ultimatum games under conditions in which the gender of their counterpart was either disclosed or withheld. On average, gender disclosure did not affect behavior. However, disaggregated results show systematic differences. Men displayed higher levels of trust and reciprocity, particularly when interacting with women, and offered larger shares to women in bargaining. Women, by contrast, reciprocated more when paired with men. These findings show how gendered interactions can influence economic behavior, even when counterpart information is conveyed minimally. |
| Keywords: | Trust; Reciprocity; Bargaining; Gender; Latin America |
| JEL: | C92 D91 J16 O54 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:chu:wpaper:25-17 |
| By: | Georgalos, Konstantinos (Department of Economics, Lancaster University Management School); Gonçalves, Ricardo (Católica Porto Business School, Universidade Católica Portuguesa); Ray, Indrajit (Economics Section, Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University); SenGupta, Sonali (Department of Economics, Queen’s Business School, Queen’s University Belfast) |
| Abstract: | This paper reports results from a laboratory experiment on a continuous Japanese-English auction in a common-value ‘wallet game’. The main objective is to test whether bidders follow the equilibrium bidding strategy predicted by theory. We find systematic deviations from equilibrium behaviour: instead of bidding according to the Nash equilibrium, subjects appear to rely on expected value (EV) bidding. As a consequence, observed auction prices are higher than the theoretical benchmark, and the winner’s curse occurs in a substantial fraction of auctions. We analyse bidding behaviour in detail and discuss the implications of our findings |
| Keywords: | Japanese-English auction (JEA); Wallet game; Continuous bids; Winner’s curse; Expected value bidding |
| JEL: | C72 C91 C92 D63 D83 |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdf:wpaper:2025/25 |
| By: | Yigit Oezcelik (University of Liverpool); Michel Tolksdorf (TU Berlin) |
| Abstract: | We conduct an online experiment to assess the effect of the anchoring bias on consumer ratings. We depart from the canonical anchoring literature by implementing non-numerical (visual) anchors in a framed rating task. We compare three anchoring conditions, with either high, low, or socially derived anchors present, against two control conditions – one without anchors and one without framing. Our framing replicates the common observation of overrating. We unveil asymmetric non-numerical anchoring effects that contribute to the explanation of overrating. Both high anchors and socially derived anchors lead to significant overrating compared to the control condition without anchors. The latter finding is driven by instances of high social anchors. The upward rating bias is exacerbated in a social context, where participants exhibit more trust in anchors. In contrast, low anchors and instances of low social anchors have no effect compared to the control condition without anchors. Beyond consumer ratings, our results may have broader implications for online judgment environments, such as surveys, crowdfunding platforms, and other user interfaces that employ visual indicators such as stars, bars, or progress displays. |
| Keywords: | anchoring bias; consumer judgment; economic experiment; online feedback systems; user interface design; |
| JEL: | C91 D80 D91 |
| Date: | 2025–12–22 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rco:dpaper:556 |
| By: | Radosveta Ivanova-Stenzel (TU Berlin); Michel Tolksdorf (TU Berlin) |
| Abstract: | Despite the documented benefits of algorithmic decision-making, individuals often prefer to retain control rather than delegate decisions to AI agents. To what extent are the aversion to and distrust of algorithms rooted in a fundamental discomfort with giving up decision authority? Using two incentivized laboratory experiments across distinct decision domains, hiring (social decision-making) and forecasting (analytical decision-making), and decision architecture (nature and number of decisions), we elicit participants’ willingness to delegate decisions separately to an AI agent and a human agent. This within-subject design enables a direct comparison of delegation preferences across different agent types. We find that participants consistently underutilize both agents, even when informed of the agents’ superior performance. However, participants are more willing to delegate to the AI agent than to the human agent. Our results suggest that algorithm aversion may be driven less by distrust in AI and more by a general preference for decision autonomy. This implies that efforts to increase algorithm adoption should address broader concerns about control, rather than focusing solely on trust-building interventions. |
| Keywords: | algorithm; delegation; artificial intelligence; trust in ai; experiment; preferences; |
| JEL: | C72 C91 D44 D83 |
| Date: | 2025–12–22 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rco:dpaper:558 |
| By: | Kim, Da Eun; Ellison, Brenna |
| Keywords: | Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Consumer/Household Economics |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea24:343811 |
| By: | James C. Cox (Georgia State University); Cary Deck (University of Alabama and Chapman University, Economic Science Institute); Laura Razzolini (University of Alabama); Vjollca Sadiraj (Georgia State University) |
| Abstract: | Deviations from choices predicted by self-regarding preferences have regularly been observed in standard dictator games. Such behavior is not inconsistent with conventional preference theory or revealed preference theory, which accommodate other-regarding preferences. By contrast, experiments in which giving nothing is not the least generous feasible act produce data that is inconsistent with conventional preference theory including social preference models and suggest the possible relevance of reference point models. Two such models are the reference-dependent theory of riskless choice with loss aversion and choice monotonicity in moral reference points. Our experiment includes novel treatments designed to challenge both theoretical models of reference dependence and conventional rational choice theory by poking holes in or adding to the dictator’s feasible set along with changes to the initial endowment of the players. Our design creates tests that at most one of these models can pass. However, we do not find that any of these models fully capture behavior. In part this result is due to our observing behavior in some treatments that differs from previous experiments for reasons attributable to implementation differences across studies. |
| Keywords: | Rational Choice Theory, Reference Dependence, Behavioral Models, Laboratory Experiments |
| JEL: | C7 C9 D9 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:chu:wpaper:25-13 |
| By: | Cary Deck (University of Alabama and Economic Science Institute, Chapman University); Aidan Hathaway (University of Alabama); Emma Kate Henry (University of Alabama); Tigran Melkonyan (University of Alabama); Samuel Redinger (University of Alabama) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines behavior in contests where the prize value is ambiguous. We develop a theoretical model of bidding in a Tullock contest with an ambiguous prize where contestants account for the ambiguity attitude of their rival. Ambiguity affects optimal behavior via two countervailing channels - a direct effect arising from contestants’ ambiguity about the value of the prize and an indirect effect corresponding to the effect of ambiguity on the opponent’s behavior. Using a controlled laboratory experiment, we elicit individual risk and ambiguity attitudes and compare predicted and observed behavior in contests with an ambiguous prize, a risky prize and certain prizes. A comparison between contests with ambiguous and risky prizes, shows that participants invest significantly less under ambiguity. Additionally, we decompose the effect of changing from a certain prize to an ambiguous prize into two components - the first is the effect of introducing risk and the second is the effect of introducing ambiguity. Empirically, we find that both effects are significant, but work in opposite directions. |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:chu:wpaper:25-16 |
| By: | Mira Fischer (Federal Institute for Population Research, WZB Berlin, IZA - Institute of Labor Economics); Holger A. Rau (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen); Rainer Michael Rilke (WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management) |
| Abstract: | We study how AI tutoring affects learning in higher education through a randomized experiment with 334 university students preparing for an incentivized exam. Students either received only textbook material, restricted access to an AI tutor requiring initial independent reading, or unrestricted access throughout the study period. AI tutor access raises test performance by 0.23 standard deviations relative to control. Surprisingly, unrestricted access significantly outperforms restricted access by 0.21 standard deviations, contradicting concerns about premature AI reliance. Behavioral analysis reveals that unrestricted access fosters gradual integration of AI support, while restricted access induces intensive bursts of prompting that disrupt learning flow. Benefits are heterogeneous: AI tutors prove most effective for students with lower baseline knowledge and stronger self-regulation skills, suggesting that seamless AI integration enhances learning when students can strategically combine independent study with targeted support. |
| Keywords: | ai tutors; large language models; self-regulated learning; higher education; |
| JEL: | C91 I21 D83 |
| Date: | 2025–12–22 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rco:dpaper:557 |
| By: | Silke Anger (IAB, University of Bamberg, IZA); Bernhard Christoph (IAB); Agata Gałkiewicz (University of Potsdam, IAB, CEPA); Shushanik Margaryan (University of Potsdam, IZA, Berlin School of Economics, CEPA); Malte Sandner (Nuremberg Institute of Technology, IAB, IZA); Thomas Siedler (University of Potsdam, IZA, Berlin School of Economics, CEPA) |
| Abstract: | Tutoring programs for low-performing students, delivered in-person or online, effectively enhance school performance, yet their medium- and longer-term impacts on labor market outcomes remain less understood. To address this gap, we conduct a randomized controlled trial with 839 secondary school students in Germany to examine the effects of an online tutoring program for low-performing students on academic performance and school-to-work transitions. The online tutoring program had a non-significant intention-to-treat effect of 0.06 standard deviations on math grades six months after program start. However, among students who had not received other tutoring services prior to the intervention, the program significantly improved math grades by 0.14 standard deviations. Moreover, students in non-academic school tracks experienced smoother school-to-work transitions, with vocational training take-up 18 months later being 5 percentage points higher—an effect that was even larger (12 percentage points) among those without prior tutoring. Overall, the results indicate that tutoring can generate lasting benefits for low-performing students that extend beyond school performance. |
| Keywords: | online tutoring, randomized controlled trial, disadvantaged youth, school grades, school-to-work transition |
| JEL: | C93 I20 I24 |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pot:cepadp:95 |
| By: | Paul Hufe; Daniel Weishaar |
| Abstract: | The measurement of preferences often relies on surveys in which individuals evaluate hypothetical scenarios. This paper proposes and validates a novel factorial survey tool to measure fairness preferences. We examine whether a non-incentivized survey captures the same distributional preferences as an impartial spectator design, where choices may apply to a real person. In contrast to prior studies, our design involves high stakes, with respondents determining a real person’s monthly earnings, ranging from $500 to $5, 700. We find that the non-incentivized survey module yields nearly identical results compared to the incentivized experiment and recovers fairness preferences that are stable over time. Furthermore, we show that most respondents adopt intermediate fairness positions, with fewer exhibiting strictly egalitarian or libertarian preferences. In sum, these findings suggest that high-stake incentives do not significantly impact the measurement of fairness preferences and that non-incentivized survey questions covering realistic scenarios offer valuable insights into the nature of these preferences. |
| Date: | 2025–04–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bri:uobdis:25/810 |
| By: | Prochazka, Jakub; Zhou, Jing; Coita, Ioana-Florina; Akhtar, Shumi |
| Abstract: | This report describes a computational reproduction of Lee and Chung's (2024) paper, which examined whether using ChatGPT (GPT‑3.5) enhances creativity in adults compared to web-search assistance or no assistance. The authors presented six randomized controlled experiments showing that ChatGPT-assisted responses were assessed as significantly more creative (effect sizes ranging from Cohen's d = 0.32 to 1.88). These effects were robust across diverse tasks and contexts. We first computationally reproduced all the main results using the original dataset and code, obtaining the same results as those presented by the authors in their paper. During the reproduction process, we identified two minor coding errors and one typographical error in the original table, none of which affected the substantive conclusions. Second, we performed a recreate reproduction for the main analysis in Experiments 1 and 3 by writing new R code. Our results again matched the results presented in the original paper. Overall, based on our analyses, the study is fully computationally reproducible from raw data, although only with access to the original code, due to undocumented cleaning steps, some non-described exclusion criteria, and missing codebooks. Several analyses in the original paper showed that ideas generated by ChatGPT are rated as similarly creative regardless of whether people modify them or not. We contributed to this conclusion by introducing a new robustness check using response time as a proxy for human effort in modifying ChatGPT outputs. Using data from Experiment 3, we found no significant correlation between response time and creativity in the ChatGPT condition (r = −.079, p = .449) and no moderating effect of response time on the influence of using ChatGPT on creativity. This suggests that human effort does not incrementally improve creativity beyond ChatGPT's contribution. Taken together, our findings support the original claim that using ChatGPT increases creativity regardless of the human input. |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:i4rdps:274 |
| By: | David Doherty (Department of Political Science, Loyola University Chicago); Conor M. Dowling (Department of Political Science, University at Buffalo, SUNY); Michael G. Miller (Department of Political Science, Barnard College, Columbia University); Jeffrey Milyo (Department of Economics, University of Missouri) |
| Abstract: | To what extent are partisan differences about voting rules rooted in sincere disagreements about the relative importance of maximizing turnout versus preventing ineligible voters from casting ballots? We document partisan differences in preferences regarding this trade-off over time, demonstrating that these differences are particularly pronounced among the most politically interested respondents. We then report findings from two pre-registered survey experiments that shed light on whether these gaps are a product of partisan sorting or responses to elite cues. The experiments asked participants to make trade-offs between a pair of voting systems: one that would entirely prevent ineligible votes, randomly varying turnout rates among eligible voters, and one that would have 100 percent turnout among eligible voters, but result in some randomly varied number of ineligible voters casting ballots. Some participants were also provided with cues signaling which party endorsed which system. Our results suggest that the effects of divergent partisan cues, rather than differing priorities regarding maximizing eligible turnout and minimizing ineligible turnout explain the partisan gaps we find in our observational data. Taken together, the findings suggest that strategic elites can stoke partisan disagreements about how the democratic process should work. |
| Keywords: | Voting rules, partisanship, survey, experiment |
| JEL: | D72 H79 |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:umc:wpaper:2517 |
| By: | Kirill Chmel; Eunji Kim; John Marshall; Tiffany Fisher-Love; Nathaniel Lubin |
| Abstract: | Political apathy and skepticism of traditional authorities are increasingly common, but social media creators (SMCs) capture the public's attention. Yet whether these seemingly-frivolous actors shape political attitudes and behaviors remains largely unknown. Our pre-registered field experiment encouraged Americans aged 18-45 to start following five progressive-minded SMCs on Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube between August and December 2024. We varied recommendations to follow SMCs producing predominantly-political (PP), predominantly-apolitical (PA), or entirely non-political (NP) content, and cross-randomized financial incentives to follow assigned SMCs. Beyond markedly increasing consumption of assigned SMCs' content, biweekly quiz-based incentives increased overall social media use by 10% and made participants more politically knowledgeable. These incentives to follow PP or PA SMCs led participants to adopt more liberal policy positions and grand narratives around election time, while PP SMCs more strongly shaped partisan evaluations and vote choice. PA SMCs were seen as more informative and trustworthy, generating larger effects per video concerning politics. Participants assigned to follow NP SMCs instead became more conservative, consistent with left-leaning participants using social media more when right-leaning content was ascendant. These effects exceed the impacts of traditional campaign outreach and partisan media, demonstrating the importance of SMCs as opinion leaders in the attention economy as well as trust- and volume-based mechanisms of political persuasion. |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2512.15401 |
| By: | Brown, Caitlin (Georgetown University); Tommasi, Denni (University of Bologna) |
| Abstract: | We study quality upgrading in informal markets through two experiments with street-food vendors and consumers in India. First, we define quality in terms of food safety and develop a context-specific measurement framework. Second, we show that consumers are willing to pay substantial premiums for cleanliness. Third, we implement a vendor-level intervention that lowers upgrading costs and enhances the ability to signal quality through sanitation-related equipment. The intervention improves food-safety practices and profits, but effects are modest and fade over time. Fixed pricing norms and local environmental constraints appear central, consistent with a moral hazard model where cleanliness is not profitable. |
| Keywords: | hygiene practices, consumer preferences, randomized experiment, food safety, informal markets, street food, quality upgrading, moral hazard, subsidy effectiveness, signaling, developing countries |
| JEL: | D82 I18 L15 L31 O12 O33 |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18328 |
| By: | Xiaoyu Zhou (University of Nottingham); Lawrence Choo (University of Macau); Todd R. Kaplan (University of Haifa) |
| Abstract: | Markets have the ability to aggregate information even under difficult conditions. What is not known is whether fragmented markets can also achieve information aggregation when differently-informed traders do not participate in the same market. We experimentally test this by extending the Arrow-Debreu version of the Plott and Sunder (1988) framework to two separate markets, adding uninformed market intermediaries who can trade in both markets. We find that indeed markets are able to aggregate information, but more experience is necessary when there is less competition among the intermediaries. The rate of convergence does not differ systematically across treatments once traders gain sufficient experience. Convergence arises through intermediaries’ cross-market trading in competitive settings, whereas in less competitive settings it relies more on non-price signals. However, despite price convergence, intermediaries earn profits similar to those of informed traders in competitive markets and higher profits than informed traders in less competitive markets. |
| Keywords: | fragmented markets;cross-market trading |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:not:notcdx:2025-03 |
| By: | Yongjoon Kim (University of Alabama); Afia Promi (University of Alabama); Jiatong Xue (University of Alabama); Cary Deck (University of Alabama and Economic Science Institute, Chapman University) |
| Abstract: | As disputants increasingly rely upon arbitration it is critical to understand outcomes that are likely to arise from mechanisms like final offer arbitration. While a sizable experimental literature investigating strategic behavior in final offer arbitration exists, that work has overwhelmingly focused on situations where the arbitrator’s beliefs about the appropriate resolution are symmetric and uninfluenced by the disputants’ cases. This paper considers a setting where the arbitrator’s beliefs depend on the strength of each disputant’s case. We find disputant responses to changes in the relative strength of their case generally follow comparative statics predictions. Further, we find that final offers are closer to theoretical predictions when the mean of the arbitrator’s preferences favors the disputant and the variance of those preferences is lower. However, we also observe that disputants become more aggressive the more the arbitrator’s preferences are skewed in the disputant’s favor. |
| Keywords: | Final Offer Arbitration; Laboratory Experiments |
| JEL: | C7 C9 J5 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:chu:wpaper:25-15 |
| By: | Ala Avoyan; Mauricio Ribeiro; Andrew Schotter |
| Abstract: | There are two ways in which people usually engage with contracts—compensation schemes to execute tasks. They can choose between them (contract choice), or allocate time across them (contract time allocation). In this paper, we study how people behave in each of these problems. A standard model suggests that drafting a cost-effective contract that both induces an agent to choose it and allocate time to it presents a significant challenge. However, our experimental results indicate that this tradeoff might be less pronounced than the model predicts due to what we call the attractiveness bias–a tendency for subjects to allocate more time to contracts they find appealing, even when the model suggests they should get relatively little time. |
| Date: | 2025–04–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bri:uobdis:25/808 |
| By: | Duk Gyoo Kim (Yonsei University); Ohik Kwon (Korea University); Seungduck Lee (Sungkyunkwan University) |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the public demand for retail Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) and its implications for financial intermediation by focusing on its potential substitution effects on existing digital payment methods and viability as a store of value. Using an information-provision survey experiment, we analyze public responses to technically various CBDC issuance types, including online and offline applications and a physical card type, with and without interest payments. The survey experiment finds that, while CBDC design features do not significantly influence its demand as a payment method, offering positive interest payments can enhance its appeal as a store of value. Moreover, it indicates that payment practices and trust in central banks would have a greater impact on demand for CBDC than its technical design features. |
| Keywords: | CBDC, Privacy, Demand for CBDC, Issuance Type, Survey Experiment |
| JEL: | E41 E58 G11 |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:yon:wpaper:2025rwp-274 |
| By: | Cary Deck (University of Alabama and Economic Science Institute, Chapman University); Paul Pecorino (University of Alabama); Brian R. Powers (University of Wisconsin) |
| Abstract: | Most analyses of arbitration consider disputes over a single dimensional issue; however, in many situations more than one issue can be in dispute. In a labor context, the parties may disagree on the hourly wage, number of paid holidays, and fringe benefits as well as other conditions of employment. In addition to conventional arbitration (CA), two variants of multidimensional final-offer arbitration (FOA) are employed in practice. Under one version of FOA, the arbitrator must pick the entire package submitted by one of the disputants. Under the other version of FOA, the arbitrator can select elements from each disputant’s final offer on an issue-by-issue basis. Theoretically, we show that when disputants have different relative values between dimensions, package FOA leads to expected welfare improvements for both parties as compared to CA and issue by issue FOA. In a controlled laboratory experiment, we examine how asymmetry in relative values between issues impacts proposals and welfare under both package FOA and issue-by-issue FOA. For package FOA, we observe that asymmetry leads to proposals that are more aggressive in the more valuable dimension and more generous in the less valuable dimension, as predicted by theory. As a result, payoffs are higher under package FOA than issue-by-issue FOA or CA, even though observed treatment effects are not as large as predicted. |
| Keywords: | Arbitration; Dispute Resolution; Multi-Dimensional Bargaining; Laboratory Experiments |
| JEL: | C7 C9 J5 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:chu:wpaper:25-14 |
| By: | Biroli, Pietro (University of Bologna); Di Girolamo, Amalia (University of Birmingham); Sorrenti, Giuseppe (University of Lausanne); Totarelli, Maddalena (Ifo Institute for Economic Research) |
| Abstract: | Educational disparities often limit students' access to relatable role models, constraining their aspirations and educational outcomes. We design and implement the Online Role Model Mentoring Program (ORME), a scalable, low-cost intervention connecting middle school students with successful role models from similar backgrounds. Using a randomized controlled trial with over 450 students in Campania, Italy, we find that ORME improves students' beliefs about the returns to effort, increases alignment between aspirations and expectations, and boosts school effort. Treated students also become more academically ambitious: they are more likely to enroll in academically oriented tracks and perform better on standardized language tests. These findings show that brief online mentoring sessions can have a meaningful impact on students’ attitudes and choices at a critical stage of schooling, highlighting a promising tool to support students in low-opportunity contexts. |
| Keywords: | mentoring, aspirations, role models, school interventions |
| JEL: | I21 I24 J24 D91 |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18325 |
| By: | Peterson-Wilhelm, Bailey; Schwab, Benjamin |
| Keywords: | International Development, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Institutional and Behavioral Economics |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea24:343782 |
| By: | Massfeller, Anna (University of Bonn); Hermann, Daniel; Leyens, Alexa; Storm, Hugo |
| Abstract: | The advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies has the potential to improve farming efficiency globally, with decision support tools (DSTs) representing a particularly promising application. However, evidence from medical and financial domains reveals a user reluctance to accept AI-based recommendations, even when they outperform human alternatives. This is a phenomenon known as “algorithm aversion” (AA). This study is the first to examine this phenomenon in an agricultural setting. Drawing on survey data from a representative sample of 250 German farmers, we assessed farmers’ intention to use and their willingness-to-pay for DSTs for wheat fungicide application either based on AI or a human advisor. We implemented a novel Bayesian probabilistic programming workflow tailored to experimental studies, enabling a joint analysis that integrates an extended version of the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology with an economic experiment. Our results indicate that AA plays an important role in farmers’ decision-making. For most farmers, an AI-based DST must outperform a human advisor by 11–30% to be considered equally valuable. Similarly, an AI-based DST with equivalent performance must be 21–56% less expensive than the human advisor to be preferred. These findings signify the importance of examining AA as a cognitive bias that may hinder the adoption of promising AI technologies in agriculture. |
| Date: | 2025–12–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:54khv_v1 |
| By: | Benston John (St. Stephen’s College, Delhi & Doctoral Candidate, Delhi School of Economics); E. Somanathan (Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi, India); Rohini Somanathan (Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi) |
| Abstract: | Cool roof technologies, especially cool roof paint, offer a low-cost, easily scalable, and low-emission alternative to energy-intensive air-conditioning for reducing heat exposure in buildings - an increasingly urgent need in developing countries facing rising temperatures due to climate change. We evaluate the effectiveness of a cool roof intervention - white reflective paint applied to the roofs of government pre-schools (anganwadis) in Thiruvananthapuram district of the Indian state of Kerala—using a randomized controlled trial. The cool roof paint reduces indoor temperatures in treated pre-schools by approximately 1.3?C. Staff in treatment pre-schools report significantly lower thermal discomfort. We also find meaningful improvements in children’s cognitive performance, amounting to roughly 6.4% of the baseline mean. The intervention has no detectable effect on children’s attendance. Overall, our findings demonstrate that cool roofs can serve as a practical and scalable adaptation strategy to mitigate heat stress in low-resource educational settings. |
| Keywords: | Adaptation to Heat, RCT, Pre-schools, Temperature, Thermal comfort, Cognitive performance, Learning outcome, India JEL codes: I21, I25, Q54, Q56 |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cde:cdewps:358 |
| By: | Simon Disque; Björn Bos; Moritz A. Drupp |
| Abstract: | Sustainability indices are essential to track development progress and guide policy. They often aggregate diverse dimensions into a composite index, requiring value-based choices about the importance of each dimension (weighting) and the extent to which weaknesses in some area can be offset by strengths in others (substitutability). Such choices strongly shape indices but lack empirical support. We introduce a preference-elicitation experiment to align aggregation choices with stakeholder views and apply it to the Ocean Health Index (OHI). Respondents from twelve coastal countries predominantly view OHI goals as complementary, challenging current assumptions of perfect substitutability. Incorporating these public preferences yields substantially lower OHI scores, suggesting that ocean sustainability may be overstated and that policy should focus more on improving the weakest-performing dimensions. |
| Keywords: | sustainability, indices, substitutability, oceans, experimental economics |
| JEL: | H41 O13 Q01 Q25 C99 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12318 |
| By: | Frantisek Bartos (Department of Psychological Methods, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands); Martina Luskova (Institute of Economic Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic); Ksenyia Bortnikova (Institute of Economic Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic); Karolina Hozova (Institute of Economic Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic); Klara Kantova (Institute of Economic Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic); Zuzana Irsova (Institute of Economic Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic); Tomas Havranek (Institute of Economic Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic) |
| Abstract: | Physical exercise is widely believed to enhance cognition, yet evidence from meta-analyses remains mixed. Here we compile a study-level dataset of 2, 239 effect-size estimates from 215 meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials examining the effect of exercise on general cognition, memory, and executive functions. We find strong evidence of selective reporting and large between-study heterogeneity. Analyses adjusted for publication bias reveal average effects much smaller than commonly reported (general cognition: standardized mean difference, SMD, = 0.227, 95% credible interval 0.116 to 0.330; memory: SMD = 0.027, 95% credible interval 0.000 to 0.227; executive functions: SMD = 0.012, 95% credible interval 0.000 to 0.147), along with wide prediction intervals spanning both negative and positive effects. Subgroup analyses identify specific population-intervention combinations with more consistent benefits. Overall, broad claims of generalized cognitive enhancement resulting from physical exercise appear premature; the evidence supports targeted, population- and intervention-specific recommendations. |
| Keywords: | Publication bias, Bayesian, Brain health, Evidence, Policy |
| JEL: | I12 I10 J24 |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fau:wpaper:wp2025_31 |
| By: | Mathilde Maurel (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne, CNRS, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne); Lili Onillon (Laboratoire d'Excellence "Dynamiques Territoriales et Spatiales" - LabEx DynamiTe); Thomas Vendryes (ENS Paris-Saclay) |
| Abstract: | This paper preliminary results from the MIACE project, based on a survey of 62 individuals around an environmental art exhibition held in June 2025 in Excideuil, France. Comparing visitors and non-visitors, we explore whether artistic exposure can influence environmental consciousness and contribute to understanding how art may shape perceptions and attitudes |
| Keywords: | Environmental consciousness; Environmental art; Impact evaluation; Behavioral change; A esthetic experience |
| JEL: | Q59 Q51 D91 Z11 C93 |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mse:cesdoc:25024 |
| By: | Duk Gyoo Kim (Yonsei University); In Do Hwang (Bank of Korea) |
| Abstract: | Elderly poverty remains a critical issue in South Korea, despite widespread homeownership among older adults. Although the home pension program allows retirees to unlock housing wealth, uptake remains below 2% as of 2024. Using a large-scale survey of adults aged 55-79, we conduct an information provision experiment to assess how policy reforms and belief corrections affect demand. We find that enrollment intention rises by 6 percentage points when monthly pension payments are adjusted with house price changes, and by 5 percentage points when bequest conditions are made more flexible. Notably, merely informing that the fixed monthly payments-often perceived as disadvantageous during housing price increases-do not result in a loss when house prices rise because the amount bequeathed to their children increases accordingly, led to a 7%p increase in enrollment intention. Our results suggest that addressing informational barriers may be as effective as structural reforms in increasing program uptake. |
| Keywords: | Home Pension, Reverse Mortgage, Survey Experiment |
| JEL: | D14 C93 H55 |
| Date: | 2025–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:yon:wpaper:2025rwp-273 |
| By: | Hankinson, Michael (George Washington University) |
| Abstract: | Research on energy siting conflict argues that high levels of local control and public input increase the perceived fairness of the permitting process. However, these studies largely rely on retrospective evaluations, meaning respondents may form their attitudes about procedural fairness and legitimacy based on whether they secure their preferred policy outcome. In contrast, I use experimental designs to randomly vary whether respondents learn the policy outcome prior to judging the permitting process. Across two pre-registered survey experiments, state control and limited public input decrease the perceived fairness and legitimacy of wind turbine siting. This relationship is unaltered by knowing the policy outcome. However, the resilient effect of these specific process on legitimacy is only around half the size as the effect of getting one's preferred policy outcome. Consequently, studies which measure public perceptions after siting may largely capture the effect of the outcome, rather than that of process alone. |
| Date: | 2025–12–24 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:8xf3m_v1 |
| By: | Bone, John (Department of Economics, University of York); Drouvelis, Michalis (Department of Economics, University of Birmingham; CESifo, Munich); Georgalos, Konstantinos (Department of Economics, Lancaster University Management School); Ray, Indrajit (Economics Section, Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University) |
| Abstract: | We set up an experiment to test whether players use a payoff-irrelevant public message (BLUE or RED) as a possible sunspot to coordinate in a Battle of the Sexes game. We find that players do not play a sunspot equilibrium; instead, they learn to coordinate on a focal point and stick to this focal point even after the public signal is withdrawn. |
| Keywords: | Battle of the Sexes; Coordination; Sunspots; Focal Point |
| JEL: | C72 C73 D83 |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdf:wpaper:2025/26 |
| By: | Rikio Inouye (Princeton University); Yusaku Horiuchi (Florida State University); Eun A Jo (William and Mary); Kelly Matush (Florida State University) |
| Abstract: | Does democratic backsliding shape foreign public preferences for security cooperation with the backsliding state? Existing studies suggest that US backsliding reduces favorability abroad but leaves support for other foreign policy initiatives largely unchanged. In this note, we argue that this evidence comes from “least likely†domains: the risks citizens face on these issues are relatively independent of a partner country’s backsliding. We instead study intelligence sharing, a form of security cooperation that is directly vulnerable to erosion of trust, procedures, and shared values. A preregistered survey experiment with nearly 6, 000 respondents across the United States’ Five Eyes partners shows that information about democratic backsliding in a partner country consistently reduces public support for intelligence sharing. Domestic political deterioration can weaken the public foundations of international collaboration, with far-reaching implications for security cooperation and alliance cohesion. |
| Keywords: | democratic backsliding; intelligence sharing; security cooperation; the United States; Five Eyes |
| JEL: | H56 |
| Date: | 2025–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pri:esocpu:40 |
| By: | Mathilde Maurel (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, FERDI - Fondation pour les Etudes et Recherches sur le Développement International); Lili Onillon (LabEx DynamiTe - Laboratoire d'Excellence "Dynamiques Territoriales et Spatiales" - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - UP8 - Université Paris 8 - IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - EPHE - École Pratique des Hautes Études - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - UPN - Université Paris Nanterre - Inalco - Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales - Cnam - Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers [Cnam] - UPEC UP12 - Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12 - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - MC - Ministère de la Culture - UPCité - Université Paris Cité - Université Sorbonne Paris Nord); Thomas Vendryes (Université Paris-Saclay, ENS Paris Saclay - Ecole Normale Supérieure Paris-Saclay, CEPS - Centre d'Economie de l'ENS Paris-Saclay - Université Paris-Saclay - ENS Paris Saclay - Ecole Normale Supérieure Paris-Saclay) |
| Abstract: | This paper presents preliminary results from the MIACE project, based on a survey of 62 individuals around an environmental art exhibition held in June 2025 in Excideuil, France. Comparing visitors and non-visitors, we explore whether artistic exposure can influence environmental consciousness and contribute to understanding how art may shape perceptions and attitudes. |
| Keywords: | Aesthetic experience, Behavioral change, Impact evaluation, Environmental art, Environmental consciousness |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:cesptp:halshs-05426706 |
| By: | Jing Cynthia Wu; Shihan Xie; Yinxi Xie; Ji Zhang |
| Abstract: | We conduct a large-scale information randomized controlled trial to study fiscal policy impacts. Surveying approximately 9, 000 households across five eurozone countries with varying debt-to-GDP ratios enables a clean cross-country comparison. The key finding is that the fiscal multiplier depends jointly on the financing method and the country’s debt burden: multipliers are smaller in high-debt countries when debt-financed but remain similar across countries when tax-financed. Finally, we develop a New Keynesian model featuring fiscal discipline, which reproduces the empirical patterns observed in the survey and highlights their underlying economic mechanisms. |
| Keywords: | survey RCT, fiscal multiplier, financing method, debt-to-GDP ratio |
| JEL: | C83 D84 E62 H60 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12321 |
| By: | Wang, Yue; Ma, Yue |
| Keywords: | Health Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea24:343823 |
| By: | Baguley, Thom; Cahoon, Abbie; Lazareanu, Daniela; Thives Mello, Arthur; Zaneva, Mirela |
| Abstract: | An early emerging understanding of information structure in spoken language is demonstrated in Brody et al.'s (2024) study, contrary to the general assumption that young children innately assume new and familiar words to be mutually exclusive. Across 3 experiments, learners up to 2 years of age (N = 106) showed mutual exclusivity if the novel words were spoken with focus, an information-structural marker of contrast. We successfully computationally reproduced the reported results, ran additional robustness tests, and considered potential covariates that were recorded but not used in the original paper (i.e. age and gender). We also assess potentially disproportionate effects of influential participants via Cook's distance, and refit a model where their data are removed. Further, we consider alternative specifications of random effects (e.g., maximal models) to address convergence issues and obtain interval estimates of experimental conditions' means that account for random effects. Finally, we examine whether different optimizers address model convergence issues. Across our replication tests, we find that the original results are robust and key estimates remain significant. Of note, our influence analysis and Bayesian analysis showed stronger effects than those originally reported, likely attributable to inattentive/noisy responding to some trials. Overall, our replication efforts should provide increased confidence in the original effects. |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:i4rdps:273 |
| By: | Dongkyu Chang (City University of Hong Kong); Duk Gyoo Kim (Yonsei University); Wooyoung Lim (The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology) |
| Abstract: | In the standard dynamic screening problem between an uninformed seller and a privately informed buyer, theory suggests that the presence (absence) of the buyer's outside option leads to a substantial surplus for the seller (buyer). This outcome arises from contrasting unraveling processes that theory predicts: negative selection occurs in the absence of an outside option, while positive selection occurs in the presence of it. We examine the validity of these contrasting unraveling processes and report laboratory data that qualitatively deviate from theoretical predictions. We found that the seller's profit ranking was reversed between the two environments. In particular, in the presence of an outside option, the buyer frequently rejected current-round offers, leading to pervasive delays; and the seller's reported beliefs about the buyer's type were qualitatively more consistent with the negative selection than with the theoretically predicted positive selection. |
| Keywords: | Positive Selection, Outside Options, Laboratory Experiments |
| JEL: | C78 C91 D03 |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:yon:wpaper:2025rwp-272 |
| By: | Ferraz, Vinícius; Olah, Tamas; Sazedul, Ratin; Schmidt, Robert; Schwieren, Christiane |
| Abstract: | We investigate if Large Language Models (LLMs) exhibit personality-driven strategic behavior in the Ultimatum Game by manipulating Dark Factor of Personality (D-Factor) profiles via standardized prompts. Across 400k decisions from 17 open-source models and 4, 166 human benchmarks, we test whether LLMs playing the proposer and responder roles exhibit systematic behavioral shifts across five D-Factor levels (from least to most selfish). The proposer role exhibited strong monotonic declines in fair offers from 91% (D1) to 17% (D5), mirroring human patterns but with 34% steeper gradients, indicating hypersensitivity to personality prompts. Responders diverged sharply: where humans became more punitive at higher D-levels, LLMs maintained high acceptance rates (75-92%) with weak or reversed D-Factor sensitivity, failing to reproduce reciprocity-punishment dynamics. These role-specific patterns align with strong-weak situation accounts—personality matters when incentives are ambiguous (proposers) but is muted when contingent (responders). Cross-model heterogeneity was substantial: Models exhibiting the closest alignment with human behavior, according to composite similarity scores (integrating prosocial rates, D-Factor correlations, and odds ratios), were dolphin3, deepseek_1.5b, and llama3.2 (0.74-0.85), while others exhibited extreme or non-variable behavior. Temperature settings (0.2 vs. 0.8) exerted minimal influence. We interpret these patterns as prompt-driven regularities rather than genuine motivational processes, suggesting LLMs can approximate but not fully replicate human strategic behavior in social dilemmas. |
| Date: | 2025–12–16 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:awi:wpaper:0768 |
| By: | Baptiste Rigaux; Sam Hamels; Marten Ovaere (-) |
| Abstract: | We study household acceptance of flexibility contracts for electric vehicles (EVs) and heat pumps (HPs), two key technologies for the energy transition. Using a survey and choice experiment with around 3, 000 households, we analyze how contract design—particularly comfort limits such as indoor temperature or driving range— affects both the decision to participate and the flexibility households are willing to supply at different levels of remuneration. Around 70% of households in our sample are willing to participate. Discomfort affects utility nonlinearly for EVs: remaining range is valued at close to €0/km above 100 km but rises to €0.40/km below, while HP flexibility is valued at about €2 per degree of indoor temperature reduction. We derive conditions under which flexibility contracts can achieve cost-effectiveness while remaining acceptable to households. Back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest potential load reductions of up to 300 MW/event from HPs and 800 MW/event from EVs per million units. |
| Keywords: | Electricity Demand; Choice Experiment; Preferences; Thermal comfort; Range anxiety; Heat pump; Electric vehicle |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rug:rugwps:25/1130 |
| By: | Thomas Demuynck; Clément Staner |
| Abstract: | We develop a revealed preference test for the Choquet expected utility model with ambiguity aversion, which does not rely on specific functional form assumptions on the utility index. It is computationally efficient if the number of states is not too large, even for a large number of observations. This is a nice feature compared to other existing revealed preference tests for decision models with ambiguity. We illustrate the usefulness of our results by implementing our test on two experimental datasets from the literature, and we compare the empirical fit of this model to the subjective expected utility model. (JEL C91, D81, D91, G41) |
| Date: | 2024–12–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulb:ulbeco:2013/390822 |
| By: | Gauthier Nendumba; Sydney Blackman; Nathan De Lissnyder; Marine Cillis; Patrick P.M. Honore |
| Abstract: | Intravenous lipid emulsions (ILE) were first proposed in 1998 as a treatment for bupivacaine-induced cardiac arrest. Since then, their use has expanded to include poisonings by various lipophilic drugs such as tricyclic antidepressants, calcium channel blockers, and antipsychotics. This 2025 narrative review explores the evolving pathophysiological mechanisms of ILE therapy, including the lipid sink and lipid shuttle theories, as well as non-scavenging cardiotonic effects such as membrane stabilization, mitochondrial support, and modulation of vascular tone. It summarizes recent findings from randomized controlled trials, cohort studies, animal models, and case registries. While clinical trials demonstrate potential benefits—particularly in tramadol, clozapine, and organophosphate poisonings—mortality reduction remains unproven, and evidence is limited by study heterogeneity and low methodological quality. Adverse effects, although rare, include acute pancreatitis, interference with laboratory testing, and fat overload syndrome, especially at high infusion volumes. Current guidelines recommend ILEs as a first-line treatment for local anesthetic systemic toxicity and as a second-line option in life-threatening poisonings involving other lipophilic agents. However, significant uncertainty remains regarding optimal indications, dosing strategies, and long-term safety. High-quality, multicenter studies and updated registries are needed to refine these recommendations and clarify the role of ILEs in clinical toxicology. |
| Keywords: | Antidote; Bupivacaine; Intravenous lipid emulsions; Lipid sink; Lipophilic poisoning; Toxicity management |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulb:ulbeco:2013/399597 |
| By: | Daniel O. Cajueiro; Mauricio Ribeiro |
| Abstract: | We study how to test whether choices are compatible with maximizing an incomplete preference when we cannot choose the menus from which to observe choices, both theoretically and empirically. Theoretically, we contrast the testable restrictions of the complete and incomplete preference maximization models, showing that once we drop completeness, testing for compatibility becomes computationally hard and may even require an infinite dataset. Empirically, we propose a toolkit to test for compatibility with maximizing an incomplete preference, addressing cases where the analyst might only observe some of the choices a person would make from a menu. We apply this toolkit to compare the performance of the complete and incomplete preference maximization models in three existing choice experiments. |
| Date: | 2025–04–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bri:uobdis:25/806 |
| By: | Phoebe Koundouri; Nikitas Pittis (University of Piraeus, Greece); Panagiotis Samartzis; Konstantinos Georgalos |
| Abstract: | Ellsberg-type choices challenge the Bayesian theory of Subjective Expected Utility Maximization (SEUM) and reveal a key behavioural trait: Ambiguity Aversion (AA). Two main interpretations of AA exist. One treats AA as rational; the other sees it as a psychological bias. This paper adopts the latter view and focuses on the leading psychological account of AA, Fox and Tversky's (1995) Comparative Ignorance Hypothesis (CIH). CIH argues that AA arises as a "comparative effect" when a decision maker (DM) feels epistemically inferior for some events relative to others. In such cases, the DM becomes averse to betting on the epistemically weaker events. The paper has three goals. First, it surveys the literature on CIH. Second, it introduces a new "Bayesian Training" (BT) procedure grounded in counter factual thinking. A DM who engages in BT may escape comparative ignorance, reduce AA, and align more closely with Bayesian behaviour. Finally, we present the results of an economic experiment where we aim to test the impact of Bayesian training on behaviour. |
| Keywords: | counterfactual priors, ambiguity, Ellsberg paradox |
| JEL: | C44 D81 D83 D89 |
| Date: | 2025–12–14 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aue:wpaper:2572 |
| By: | Seema Jayachandran; Alessandra Voena |
| Abstract: | We examine women's household power in low- and middle-income countries, synthesizing theoretical frameworks and empirical evidence on its measurement, determinants, and consequences. We define women's household power as their influence over household choices, distinguishing it from broader empowerment concepts. We review economic models, including unitary, collective, and bargaining frameworks, and map these to empirical approaches. We then discuss measurement methods such as structural estimation of consumption allocation, survey measures, and laboratory experiments. On the determinants of women's power, we find that some approaches, such as transfers targeted to women, show mixed results, while others, such as increasing women's control over their earnings, show clearer positive impacts. On the effects of women's power, we pay special attention to children's human capital. Few studies provide strong evidence that mothers invest more in children than fathers do, but collectively the evidence suggests such an effect. We conclude by highlighting research and methodological gaps. |
| JEL: | D13 O12 |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34605 |
| By: | Bytyqi, Afrim |
| Abstract: | - Abstract While guilt is traditionally characterized as a moral emotion that motivates individuals to repair damaged social bonds, this paper investigates conditions under which this reparative impulse comes into tension with the ethical demand for honesty. We conceptualize Short-Term Relational Focus (STRF) as a multi-level phenomenon encompassing evolutionary pressures for social cohesion, psychological mechanisms of ego-protection, and ethical tensions between immediate harmony and long-term integrity and epistemic clarity. Drawing on experimental evidence (Li & Jain, 2021), organizational observations, and philosophical perspectives from Kant, Nietzsche, and Aristotle, the paper develops a bidirectional framework for understanding social repair. This framework examines the Guilt–Honesty Paradox from both the sender’s and the receiver’s perspective, highlighting how attempts at relational repair may unintentionally undermine trust, learning, and accountability. The paper further outlines practical strategies—supported by case illustrations, tables, and applied examples across organizational, educational, healthcare, and digital contexts—for reconciling concern for relationships with commitments to truthfulness. Keywords: Guilt; Honesty; Social Repair; Moral Emotions; Temporal Narrowing; Trust; Ethical Decision-Making |
| Date: | 2025–12–28 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:rjwsc_v1 |
| By: | Taisuke Imai; Salvatore Nunnari; Jilong Wu; Ferdinand M. Vieider |
| Abstract: | We present a meta-analysis of prospect theory (PT ) parameters, summarizing data from 166 papers reporting 812 estimates. These parameters capture risk-taking propensities, thus holding interest beyond PT. We develop an inverse-variance weighted method that accounts for correlations in PT parameters and imputes missing information on standard errors. The mean patterns align with the stylized facts of diminishing sensitivity towards outcomes and probabilities discussed in PT. Beyond this, the analysis yields several new insights: 1) between-study variation in parameters is vast; 2) heterogeneity is difficult to explain with observable study characteristics; and 3) the strongest predictors are experimental and measurement indicators, revealing systematic violations of procedure invariance. These findings highlight the promise of cognitive accounts of behavior in organizing unexplained variation in risk-taking, which we discuss. |
| Keywords: | prospect theory, probability weighting function, meta-analysis |
| JEL: | C11 D81 D91 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12334 |
| By: | Evan Friedman; Jeremy Ward |
| Abstract: | We elicit subjects’ beliefs over opponents’ behavior multiple times for a given game without feedback. A large majority of subjects have stochasticity in their belief reports, which we argue cannot be explained by learning or measurement error, suggesting significant noise in subjects’ unobserved “true” beliefs. Using a structural model applied to actions and beliefs data jointly, we find that such “noisy beliefs” are equally important for explaining our data as “noisy actions”—the sort of stochastic choice given fixed beliefs that is commonly assumed in empirical research. We argue that beliefs and belief-noise are driven by the payoff-salience of actions. |
| Keywords: | stochastic choice, noisy beliefs, belief elicitation |
| JEL: | C72 C92 D84 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12338 |