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on Experimental Economics |
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Issue of 2022‒02‒28
35 papers chosen by |
| By: | Nguyen, Cuong Viet; Vu, Linh Hoang |
| Abstract: | In this study, we tested the effect of time delays on sharing behavior. We conducted a dictator game to examine whether dictators change their sharing behaviors if they have more time between receiving and sharing money. When the response time was 2 hours, the sharing behavior of dictators was similar to sharing behavior in a standard game without time delay. However, if the dictators kept their received money for a week, they were remarkably less likely to share the money. This finding provides suggestive evidence of the ownership effect in sharing behavior. |
| Keywords: | Dictator games,endowment,experiment,time delay |
| JEL: | C70 D63 D64 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1032&r= |
| By: | Antonia Grohmann; Melanie Koch |
| Abstract: | A number of studies show that there is a link between social comparison and high levels of household debt. However, the exact mechanisms behind this link are not yet well understood. In this paper, we disentangle two mechanisms by performing a lab experiment designed to study the effects of social image concerns and peer information on consumption choices financed through debt taking. We find that having to announce one’s consumption decision publicly makes participants less likely to take debt and more likely to leave money on the table. The more information participants receive about other participants’ choices, the more they seem to conform to these choices, leading to slightly increased debt taking and leaving money on the table. |
| Keywords: | Household finance, lab experiment, social comparison, peer effects |
| JEL: | D14 G51 D91 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1996&r= |
| By: | Konstantinos Ioannidis (University of Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | Many everyday activities are habitual. Among the most common human activities is communication. If people primarily communicate in a common-interests environment, they may form habits of truth-telling and believing messages. If they primarily communicate in a conflicting-interests environment, they may form habits of lying and mistrusting mes- sages. We provide experimental evidence that habits affect strategic communication in an unfamiliar environment. Additionally, we contrast two mechanisms through which habits operate, preference formation and inattention. By varying the frequency of communicating in the unfamiliar environment, we find an effect only when the unfamiliar environment oc- curs rarely. Our results favor inattention as preference formation would predict an effect irrespective of the frequency of the new environment. Analysis of individual decisions sheds further light on the mechanisms. Our findings highlight the importance of accounting for habits, especially when studying human behavior in infrequent situations. |
| Keywords: | Habits, Strategic information transmission, Communication, Experiment |
| JEL: | D91 C92 D01 D83 |
| Date: | 2022–02–23 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20220016&r= |
| By: | Choe, Chung (Konkuk University); Jungy, SeEun (Inha University); Oaxaca, Ronald L. (University of Arizona) |
| Abstract: | Laboratory experiments involving a real effort task are conducted to examine the importance of gender differences in competition aversion for generating gender wage gaps. Cross-subject design treatment and control experiments suggest that gender differences in risk aversion play no significant role in competitive (tournament) vs. piece-rate job choices and consequent gender wage gaps. Subjects in the treatment experiments are sorted into relatively more and relatively less risk averse groupings. Relatively less risk averse subjects are assigned to a risky job track involving a known constant probability of unemployment in each period. The gender wage gap contribution of gender differences in competition aversion compared with the contribution of gender differences in performance is especially large for relatively less risk averse subjects. |
| Keywords: | gender wage gaps, wage decompositions, competition preferences, risk aversion, lab experiments |
| JEL: | J16 J31 C91 D91 |
| Date: | 2022–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15048&r= |
| By: | Choi, Jung Ho (Stanford Graduate School of Business); Pacelli, Joseph (Harvard Business School); Rennekamp, Kristina M. (Cornell University); Tomar, Sorabh (Southern Methodist University) |
| Abstract: | We examine how information about the diversity of a potential employe r’s workforce affects individuals’ job-seeking behavior, and whether workers’ preferences explain corporate disclosure decisions. We embed a field experiment in job recommendation emails sent from a leading career advice agency in the US. The experimental treatment involves highlighting a diversity metric to jobseekers. Studying 267,494 unique jobseekers, we find that disclosing diversity scores in job postings increases the click-through rate of jobseekers for firms with higher diversity scores. These effects are more pronounced for fe male and entry-level jobseekers. We estimate that jobseekers update their willingness to pay (WTP) for a fi rm’s diversity by $1,463 when faced with a 10% increase in diversity scores relative to the interquartile range. We conduct a follow-up survey with jobseekers to better understand why diversity information was useful to them. Finally, we document that firms in industries characterized by higher jobseeker responsiveness to diversity information tend to voluntarily disclosure diversity metrics in their 10-Ks under new SEC disclosure requirements. That is , disclosure choices partially reflect ‘jobseeker materiality.’ Overall, our findings generate important insights regarding jobseekers’ demand for diversity information. |
| JEL: | C93 D40 D83 J64 M14 M41 |
| Date: | 2022–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:stabus:4010&r= |
| By: | Aksoy, Cevat Giray (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development); Carpenter, Christopher S. (Vanderbilt University); De Haas, Ralph (EBRD, London); Dolls, Mathias (Ifo Institute for Economic Research); Windsteiger, Lisa (Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance) |
| Abstract: | We study basic information treatments regarding sexual orientation using randomized experiments in three countries with strong and widespread anti-gay attitudes: Serbia, Turkey, and Ukraine. Participants who received information about the economic costs to society of sexual-orientation discrimination were significantly more likely than those in a control group to support equal employment opportunities based on sexual orientation. Information that the World Health Organization (WHO) does not regard homosexuality as a mental illness increased social acceptance of sexual minorities, but only for those who reported trust in the WHO. Our results have important implications for policy makers aiming to expand the rights of lesbian, gay, and bisexual people worldwide. |
| Keywords: | sexual minorities, information treatments, discrimination, attitudes |
| JEL: | D91 J16 J71 O15 |
| Date: | 2022–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14998&r= |
| By: | Etienne Le Rossignol; Sara Lowes; Nathan Nunn |
| Abstract: | In sub-Saharan Africa, traditional supernatural beliefs, including belief in witchcraft, black magic, or fetishism, are widespread. Some have hypothesized that these beliefs help to sustain cooperative behavior in a setting where the state is often absent. Others have documented that, at least at a macro-level, such beliefs are negatively associated with prosocial behavior. We contribute to a better understanding of the causal effects of these traditional supernatural beliefs by using lab-in-the-field experiments in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Participants complete a range of experimental tasks where one player chooses whether to act in a prosocial manner towards another player. Participants are randomly assigned to another player that has either a strong or weak belief in witchcraft, and this information is known by the players. We find that participants act less prosocially towards randomly-assigned partners who believe more strongly in witchcraft. We also find that antisocial behavior is more socially acceptable and prosocial behavior less socially acceptable when playing with a partner who believes more strongly in witchcraft. Our findings suggest that the negative relationship between witchcraft and prosocial outcomes observed in the data may, in fact, be due to the causal effect of the presence of traditional supernatural beliefs on people’s behavior. |
| JEL: | O12 Z1 Z12 Z13 |
| Date: | 2022–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:29695&r= |
| By: | Antonio Acconcia (University of Naples 'Federico II' and CSEF); Sergio Beraldo (University of Napoli 'Federico II' & CSEF); Carlo Capuano (University of Napoli 'Federico II' & CSEF Marco); Marco Stimolo (University of Campania 'Luigi Vanvitelli') |
| Abstract: | We implement an experimental design based on a duopoly game in which subjects choose whether to cooperate in Research and Development (R&D) activities. We first conduct six experimental markets that differ in both the levels of knowledge spillovers and the intensity of competition. Consistently with the theory, we find that the probability of cooperation increases in the level of spillovers and decreases in that of market competition. We then replicate the experimental markets by providing subsidies to subjects who cooperate. Subsidies relevantly increase the probability of cooperation in focus markets, causing, however, a sensible reduction of R&D investments. Overall, our evidence suggests that, depending on the characteristics of the market, the use of public subsidies might be redundant, for firms would anyway joined their R&D efforts; or counterproductive, inducing firms to significantly reduce R&D investments compared to the non-cooperative scenario. |
| Keywords: | Cooperation in R&D, Public Subsidies, Knowledge Spillovers, Market Competition |
| JEL: | L24 O3 |
| Date: | 2022–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2022.02&r= |
| By: | Isler, Ozan (Queensland University of Technology); Gächter, Simon (University of Nottingham) |
| Abstract: | Peer observation can influence social norm perceptions as well as behavior in various moral domains, but is the tendency to be influenced by and conform with peers domain-general? In an online experiment (N = 815), we studied peer effects in honesty and cooperation and tested the individual-level links between these two moral domains. Participants completed both honesty and cooperation tasks after observing their peers. Consistent with the literature, separate analysis of the two domains indicated both negative and positive peer influences in honesty and in cooperation, with negative influences tending to be stronger. Behavioral tests linking the two domains at the individual-level revealed that cooperative participants were also more honest—a link that was associated with low Machiavellianism scores. While standard personality trait measures showed no links between the two domains in the tendency to conform, individual-level tests suggested that conformism is a domain-general behavioral trait observed across honesty and cooperation. Based on these findings, we discuss the potential of and difficulties in using peer observation to influence social norm compliance as an avenue for further research and as a tool to promote social welfare. |
| Keywords: | conformism, peer influence, cooperation, honesty, social norms |
| JEL: | C91 J16 |
| Date: | 2021–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14961&r= |
| By: | Klockmann, Victor; von Schenk, Alicia; Villeval, Marie-Claire |
| Abstract: | In more and more situations, artificially intelligent algorithms have to model humans' (social) preferences on whose behalf they increasingly make decisions. They can learn these preferences through the repeated observation of human behavior in social encounters. In such a context, do individuals adjust the selfishness or prosociality of their behavior when it is common knowledge that their actions produce various externalities through the training of an algorithm? In an online experiment, we let participants' choices in dictator games train an algorithm. Thereby, they create an externality on future decision making of an intelligent system that affects future participants. We show that individuals who are aware of the consequences of their training on the payoffs of a future generation behave more prosocially, but only when they bear the risk of being harmed themselves by future algorithmic choices. In that case, the externality of artificially intelligence training induces a significantly higher share of egalitarian decisions in the present. |
| Keywords: | Artificial Intelligence,Morality,Prosociality,Generations,Externalities |
| JEL: | C49 C91 D10 D62 D63 O33 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:safewp:335&r= |
| By: | Sarah Cohodes; Sean Corcoran; Jennifer Jennings; Carolyn Sattin-Bajaj |
| Abstract: | This paper reports the results of a large, school-level randomized controlled trial evaluating a set of three informational interventions for young people choosing high schools in 473 middle schools, serving over 115,000 8th graders. The interventions differed in their level of customization to the student and their mode of delivery (paper or online); all treated schools received identical materials to scaffold the decision-making process. Every intervention reduced likelihood of application to and enrollment in schools with graduation rates below the city median (75 percent). An important channel is their effect on reducing nonoptimal first choice application strategies. Providing a simplified, middle-school specific list of relatively high graduation rate schools had the largest impacts, causing students to enroll in high schools with 1.5-percentage point higher graduation rates. Providing the same information online, however, did not alter students’ choices or enrollment. This appears to be due to low utilization. Online interventions with individual customization, including a recommendation tool and search engine, induced students to enroll in high schools with 1-percentage point higher graduation rates, but with more variance in impact. Together, these results show that successful informational interventions must generate engagement with the material, and this is possible through multiple channels. |
| JEL: | D83 H75 I21 I24 |
| Date: | 2022–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:29690&r= |
| By: | Prithvijit Mukherjee (Mount Holyoke College); J. Dustin Tracy (Economic Science Institute, Chapman University) |
| Abstract: | We test for social norms regarding how agents should select between risky prospects for principals, including norms consistent with beneficence and justice propositions from Adam Smith. We elicit norms from subjects serving as “impartial spectator[s]†about choice of risky prospect selected by the agents. We find strong evidence for the existence of norms, consistent with the Smith propositions. Furthermore we find that agents are more likely to select more normative options. In contrast, we find that principals’ allocation for bonuses depends on the realization of the risky prospect rather than whether the agents choice was consistent with the norm. |
| Keywords: | Social norms, Decisions-making for others, Laboratory experiments, Principal-Agent, Decisionmaking under risk |
| JEL: | C9 D63 D81 D90 G41 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:chu:wpaper:22-03&r= |
| By: | Klockmann, Victor; von Schenk, Alicia; Villeval, Marie-Claire |
| Abstract: | With Big Data, decisions made by machine learning algorithms depend on training data generated by many individuals. In an experiment, we identify the effect of varying individual responsibility for the moral choices of an artificially intelligent algorithm. Across treatments, we manipulated the sources of training data and thus the impact of each individual's decisions on the algorithm. Diffusing such individual pivotality for algorithmic choices increased the share of selfish decisions and weakened revealed prosocial preferences. This does not result from a change in the structure of incentives. Rather, our results show that Big Data offers an excuse for selfish behavior through lower responsibility for one's and others' fate. |
| Keywords: | Artificial Intelligence,Big Data,Pivotality,Ethics,Experiment |
| JEL: | C49 C91 D10 D63 D64 O33 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:safewp:336&r= |
| By: | Sterkens, Philippe; Baert, Stijn; Moens, Eline; Derous, Eva; Wuyts, Joey |
| Abstract: | The existing burnout literature has predominantly focussed on the determinants of burnout, whereas its consequences for individual careers have received little attention. In this study, we investigate whether recently burned-out individuals and persons with a very high risk of clinical burnout differ in job preferences from non-burned-out workers. Moreover, we link these differences in preferences with (1) diverging perceptions of job demands and resources in a job, as well as (2) distinct weighting of such perceptions. To this end, a highquality sample of 582 employees varying in their history and current risk of burnout judged fictitious job offers with experimentally manipulated characteristics in terms of their willingness to apply as well as perceived job demands and resources. We find that recently burned-out employees appreciate possibilities to telework and fixed feedback relatively more, while being relatively less attracted to opportunities for learning on the job. Moreover, employees with a very high risk of burnout are more attracted to part-time jobs. These findings can be partially explained by differences in the perceived resources offered by jobs. |
| Keywords: | burnout,labour market,job search,job preference,factorial survey experiment |
| JEL: | J62 I12 C91 C83 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1036&r= |
| By: | Grimalda, Gianluca (Kiel Institute for the World Economy); Murtin, Fabrice (OECD); Pipke, David (Kiel Institute for the World Economy); Putterman, Louis (Brown University); Sutter, Matthias (Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods) |
| Abstract: | We investigate the relationship between political attitudes and prosociality in a survey of a representative sample of the U.S. population during the first summer of the COVID-19 pandemic. We find that an experimental measure of prosociality correlates positively with adherence to protective behaviors. Liberal political ideology predicts higher levels of protective behavior than conservative ideology, independently of the differences in prosociality across the two groups. Differences between liberals and conservatives are up to 4.4 times smaller in their behavior than in judging the government's crisis management. This result suggests that U.S. Americans are more polarized on ideological than behavioral grounds. |
| Keywords: | health behavior, worries, polarization, ideology, trust in politicians, COVID-19, prosociality |
| JEL: | D01 D72 D91 I12 I18 H11 H12 |
| Date: | 2022–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15032&r= |
| By: | Galizzi, Matteo M.; W. Lau, Krystal; Miraldo, Marisa; Hauck, Katharina |
| Abstract: | ‘Nudge’-based social norms messages conveying high population influenza vaccination coverage levels can encourage vaccination due to bandwagoning effects but also discourage vaccination due to free-riding effects on low risk of infection, making their impact on vaccination uptake ambiguous. We develop a theoretical framework to capture heterogeneity around vaccination behaviors, and empirically measure the causal effects of different messages about vaccination coverage rates on four self-reported and behavioral vaccination intention measures. In an online experiment, N = 1365 UK adults are randomly assigned to one of seven treatment groups with different messages about their social environment's coverage rate (varied between 10% and 95%), or a control group with no message. We find that treated groups have significantly greater vaccination intention than the control. Treatment effects increase with the coverage rate up to a 75% level, consistent with a bandwagoning effect. For coverage rates above 75%, the treatment effects, albeit still positive, stop increasing and remain flat (or even decline). Our results suggest that, at higher coverage rates, free-riding behavior may partially crowd out bandwagoning effects of coverage rate messages. We also find significant heterogeneity of these effects depending on the individual perceptions of risks of infection and of the coverage rates. |
| Keywords: | behavioral economics; free-riding; influenza; online experiments; social norms; vaccines; Global Infectious Disease Analysis (reference MR/R015600/1); jointly funded by the UK Medical Research Council (MRC) and the UK Foreign; Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO); under the MRC/FCDO Concordat agreement and is also part of the EDCTP2 programme supported by the European Union; and acknowledges funding by Community Jameel; NIHR200908 |
| JEL: | I12 D91 Z13 |
| Date: | 2022–01–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:113487&r= |
| By: | Menkveld, A.; Dreber, A.; Holzmeister, F.; Huber, J.; Johannesson, M.; Kirchler, M.; Neusüss, S.; Razen, M.; Neusüss, S.; Neusüss, S. |
| Abstract: | In statistics, samples are drawn from a population in a data generating process (DGP). Standard errors measure the uncertainty in sample estimates of population parameters. In science, evidence is generated to test hypotheses in an evidence generating process (EGP). We claim that EGP variation across researchers adds uncertainty: non-standard errors. To study them, we let 164 teams test six hypotheses on the same sample. We find that non-standard errors are sizeable, on par with standard errors. Their size (i) co-varies only weakly with team merits, reproducibility, or peer rating, (ii) declines significantly after peer-feedback, and (iii) is underestimated by participants. Online appendix available at https://bit.ly/3DIQKrB . Please note a full list of authors is available in the working paper. |
| Keywords: | Market Efficiency, P-hacking, Publication bias |
| JEL: | A14 C10 C12 C59 C90 G14 G40 |
| Date: | 2021–11–25 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cam:camjip:2112&r= |
| By: | Jules Gazeaud (NOVA - Universidade Nova de Lisboa = NOVA University Lisbon); Eric Mvukiyehe; Olivier Sterck |
| Abstract: | Will the fast expansion of cash-based programming in poor countries increase international migration? Theoretically, cash transfers may deter migration by increasing its opportunity cost, or favor migration by relaxing liquidity, credit, and risk constraints. This paper evaluates the impact of a cash-for-work program on migration. Randomly selected households in Comoros were offered up to US$320 in cash in exchange for their participation in public works projects. We find that the program increased international migration by 38 percent, from 7.8% to 10.8%. |
| Keywords: | Migration,Cash Transfers,Financial Constraints,Risk-aversion,Comoros,Mayotte,Anjouan |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03512282&r= |
| By: | Jose Luis Ferreira (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid); Praveen Kujal (Department of Economics, Middlesex University); Stephen Rassenti (Economic Science Institute, Chapman University) |
| Abstract: | We test the no-arbitrage condition and an inertia hypothesis for fixed exogenous and an indefinite endogenous (intended to mimic infinitely repeated forward trading) close forward market. The no-arbitrage condition in forward markets, an important prediction in Allaz and Vila (1993), only holds when both buyers and sellers behave as the theory predicts. Introducing active buyers enables us to test this prediction. We further test the inertia hypothesis by providing sellers with prior spot market experience, a condition that occurs in real-world markets. We find that the no-arbitrage hypothesis does not hold with prices in the forward market being higher than in the spot. Importantly, even though near competitive levels of output are observed, sellers obtain a third of the total surplus. We find no evidence of the inertia hypothesis, that would enable sellers to limit quantities to Cournot output levels, either. Finally, we confirm earlier experimental results on competition enhancing effects of forward markets. |
| Keywords: | Oligopoly, forward markets, no-arbitrage hypothesis, futures pricing |
| JEL: | L13 C92 G13 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:chu:wpaper:22:02&r= |
| By: | Gagnon, Nickolas; Saulle, Riccardo D.; Zaunbrecher, Henrik W. |
| Abstract: | We use a controlled laboratory experiment to study the causal impact of income de-creases within a time period on redistribution decisions at the end of that period, in an environment where we keep fixed the sum of incomes over the period. First, we inves-tigate the effect of a negative income trend (intra-personal decrease), which means a decreasing income compared to one’s recent past. Second, we investigate the effect of a negative income trend relative to the income trend of another person (inter-personal decrease). If intra-personal or inter-personal decreases create dissatisfaction for an individual, that person may become more selfish to obtain compensation. We formal-ize both effects in a multi-period model augmenting a standard model of inequality aversion. Overall, conditional on exhibiting sufficiently-strong social preferences, we find that individuals indeed behave more selfishly when they experience decreasing in-comes. While many studies examine the effect of income inequality on redistribution decisions, we delve into the history behind one’s income to isolate the effect of income changes. |
| Keywords: | Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Labor and Human Capital |
| Date: | 2021–12–22 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:feemwp:317127&r= |
| By: | Chloe Tergiman; Marie Villeval (GATE - Groupe d'analyse et de théorie économique - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - ENS LSH - Ecole Normale Supérieure Lettres et Sciences Humaines - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | In a finitely repeated game with asymmetric information, we experimentally study how individuals adapt the nature of their lies when settings allow for reputation-building. While some lies can be detected ex post by the uninformed party, others remain deniable. We find that traditional market mechanisms such as reputation generate strong changes in the way people lie and lead to strategies in which individuals can maintain plausible deniability: people simply hide their lies better by substituting deniable lies for detectable lies. Our results highlight the limitations of reputation to root out fraud when a Deniable Lie strategy is available. |
| Keywords: | Lying,Deniability,Reputation,Financial Markets,Experiment |
| Date: | 2022–01–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-03512300&r= |
| By: | Leonardo Bursztyn; Georgy Egorov; Ingar K. Haaland; Aakaash Rao; Christopher Roth |
| Abstract: | Dissent plays an important role in any society, but dissenters are often silenced through social sanctions. Beyond their persuasive effects, rationales providing arguments supporting dissenters' causes can increase the public expression of dissent by providing a “social cover” for voicing otherwise-stigmatized positions. Motivated by a simple theoretical framework, we experimentally show that liberals are more willing to post a Tweet opposing the movement to defund the police, are seen as less prejudiced, and face lower social sanctions when their Tweet implies they had first read scientific evidence supporting their position. Analogous experiments with conservatives demonstrate that the same mechanisms facilitate anti-immigrant expression. Our findings highlight both the power of rationales and their limitations in enabling dissent and shed light on phenomena such as social movements, political correctness, propaganda, and anti-minority behavior. |
| JEL: | D83 D91 J15 P16 |
| Date: | 2022–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:29730&r= |
| By: | Sophie Clot (UOR - University of Reading); Gilles Grolleau (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - UMR 5211 - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Lisette Ibanez (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - UMR 5211 - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement) |
| Abstract: | Do observers judge differently a wrongdoer when s/he does not exploit a situation to its maximum extent? Using a social intuitionist perspective and taking into account the reference point bias, we hypothesize that people will judge a wrongdoing less severely when the situation is not exploited to its fullest extent. We run two experimental surveys in France and examine whether various wrongdoings performed in the business realm (overcharging travel expenses, overstating work hours, pollution) are judged less severely when different reference points are suggested: (i) no explicit reference point is mentioned, (ii) a reference point is mentioned and the maximum extent is reached, (iii) a reference point is mentioned but the maximum extent is not reached and (iv) the participant is invited to elicit a reference point corresponding to what s/he considers as the maximum extent. Our findings support that participants judge a wrongdoer less severely, when a reference point mentioning that s/he has not exploited the situation to its fullest extent is indicated or elicited. Our findings suggest that partial cheaters could emphasize their self-restraint to mitigate judgment and punishment if they get caught. We draw some managerial and policy implications. |
| Keywords: | Ethics,experimental survey,moral judgment,reference points |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03528307&r= |
| By: | Argenton, Cedric (Tilburg University, Center For Economic Research); Ivanova-Stenzel, Radosveta; Müller, Wieland (Tilburg University, Center For Economic Research) |
| Keywords: | cournot; Bayesian game; Bayes-Nash equilibrium; repeated games; collusion; cooperation; experimental economics |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tiu:tiucen:bec182fc-5222-4ec2-9632-3369a281269f&r= |
| By: | Leah Shiferaw; Diana McCallum; Dana Rotz |
| Abstract: | Researchers and research funders can use this high-level overview to better understand the Pathways Clearinghouse and its processes for selecting studies for review, assigning study quality ratings, and assessing the evidence of effectiveness for an intervention. |
| Keywords: | guide, researchers, methods, standards, employment and training, employment, training, low-income, employment strategies, Pathways Clearinghouse, randomized controlled trials, quasi-experimental design, systematic review, evidence-based, research |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:db2ce22f39d54a63b1ef50220d74979c&r= |
| By: | Lergetporer, Philipp (Ifo Institute for Economic Research); Woessmann, Ludger (University of Munich) |
| Abstract: | We show that the electorate's preferences for using tuition to finance higher education strongly depend on the design of the payment scheme. In representative surveys of the German electorate (N>18,000), experimentally replacing regular upfront by deferred income-contingent payments increases public support for tuition by 18 percentage points. The treatment turns a plurality opposed to tuition into a strong majority of 62 percent in favor. Additional experiments reveal that the treatment effect similarly shows when framed as loan repayments, when answers carry political consequences, and in a survey of adolescents. Reduced fairness concerns and improved student situations act as strong mediators. |
| Keywords: | tuition, higher education finance, income-contingent loans, voting |
| JEL: | H52 I22 D72 |
| Date: | 2022–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14991&r= |
| By: | Kei Kajisa; Trang Thu Vu |
| Abstract: | There remains an unsettled question regarding the achievement of the African rice Green Revolution (GR): Must a region start from the adoption of basic farm management practices (e.g., seed selection, nursery bed set-up, field leveling, bund construction, and transplanting), many of which were already common in Asia at the time of its GR? This study evaluated a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of training in such basic practices in remote rainfed lowland areas of Mozambique. The training employed two approaches: implementing farmer field schools in demonstration plots and promoting farmer-to-farmer social learning. The intention-to-treat (ITT) effect on the yield was 447?546 kg/ha (29%?36% of the control group average yield), with statistical significance at 7%?8%, regardless of the irregular rainfall conditions. The results indicate that the adoption of basic practices alone can improve rice yield even without modern inputs such as modern varieties and inorganic fertilizer, which are not easily available in local markets in remote areas or accessible to cash-constrained farmers. We also found complementarity among the basic practices, indicating that they must be adopted as a package for effective yield improvement. |
| Keywords: | Management training, extension systems, technology adoption, rice, Green Revolution |
| Date: | 2022–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jic:wpaper:226&r= |
| By: | Lippens, Louis (Ghent University); Vermeiren, Siel (Ghent University); Baert, Stijn (Ghent University) |
| Abstract: | Notwithstanding the improved integration of various minority groups in the workforce, unequal treatment in hiring still hinders many individuals' access to the labour market. To tackle this inaccessibility, it is essential to know which and to what extent minority groups face hiring discrimination. This meta-analysis synthesises a quasi-exhaustive register of correspondence experiments on hiring discrimination published between 2005 and 2020. Using a random-effects model, we computed pooled discrimination ratios concerning ten discrimination grounds upon which unequal treatment in hiring is forbidden under United States federal or state law. Our meta-analysis shows that hiring discrimination against candidates with disabilities, older candidates, and less physically attractive candidates is at least equally severe as the unequal treatment of candidates with salient ethnic characteristics. Remarkably, hiring discrimination against older applicants is even more outspoken in Europe than in the United States. Furthermore, unequal treatment in hiring based on sexual orientation seems to be prompted mainly by signalling activism rather than same-sex orientation in itself. Last, aside from a significant decrease in ethnic hiring discrimination in Europe, we find no structural evidence of recent temporal changes in hiring discrimination based on the various other grounds within the scope of this review. |
| Keywords: | hiring discrimination, unequal treatment, meta-analysis, correspondence experiment, audit study |
| JEL: | J71 J23 J14 J15 J16 |
| Date: | 2021–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14966&r= |
| By: | Eduard Alonso-Pauli (Universitat de les Illes Balears); Pau Balart (Universitat de les Illes Balears); Lara Ezquerra (Universitat de les Illes Balears); Iñigo Hernandez-Arenaz (Universidad Publica de Navarra) |
| Abstract: | aking advantage of a card-scanning system that records individual, real-time data on the use of bio-waste sorting bins, we run a randomized field experiment to analyze the effectiveness of soft commitments in promoting participation in waste sorting. Being given the offer to sign a soft commitment increased participation in waste sorting by 7-8 percentage points (0.22 s.d.). This represents a 23-28% increase relative to the control group of households that participated in the study but were not given the opportunity to sign a soft commitment. This positive effect of the soft commitment operates exclusively through the extensive margin (households start to sort their waste); it does not affect the intensive margin (household adherence to waste sorting). This implies that soft commitments can improve the effectiveness of environmental campaigns in cities or areas where a large part of the population has never participated in waste sorting, while they would have little impact in places where a majority of households have already participated in recycling. We also show that the positive effect of the soft commitment remains constant 35 weeks after being offered. The effect also persists after 36-47 weeks, although its size is reduced by one half. |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nav:ecupna:2201&r= |
| By: | Marie Claire Villeval (GATE - Groupe d'analyse et de théorie économique - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - ENS LSH - Ecole Normale Supérieure Lettres et Sciences Humaines - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | Beyond a summary of the paper, this review of "Group Identity and Social Preferences" by Yan Chen and Sherry X. Li highlights its exceptional impact on our understanding of group-contingent social preferences. This paper has made an important theoretical contribution by introducing group identity in the Charness and Rabin (2002)'s model of social preferences. The core of the contribution is to show experimentally that social identity influences distributional preferences, reciprocity and welfare-maximizing behavior. In particular, charity increases and envy decreases when people are matched with an in-group compared to an out-group, and people are more likely to reward and less likely to punish an ingroup than an out-group match. This paper has also contributed to the methodological debates about the use of minimal group identity in laboratory experiments. It has inspired many research programs on the role of group-contingent preferences in various dimensions of decision-making in society. It is also important to emphasize its policy implications regarding how groupcontingent social preferences could be activated to improve efficiency and the quality of social interactions in our segmented societies. This research agenda is more relevant than ever. |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-03504258&r= |
| By: | Bigoni, Maria (University of Bologna); Casari, Marco (University of Bologna); Salvanti, Andrea (Universitat Pompeu Fabra); Skrzypacz, Andrzej (Stanford GSB); Spagnolo, Giancarlo (Stockholm University) |
| Abstract: | In an experiment on the repeated prisoner’s dilemma where intended actions are implemented with noise, Fudenberg et al. (2012) observe that non-equilibrium strategies of the "tit-for-tat" family are largely adopted. Furthermore, they do not find support for risk dominance of TFT as a determinant of cooperation. This comment introduces the "Payback" strategy, which is similar to TFT but is sustainable in equilibrium. Using the data from the original article, we show that Payback captures most of the empirical support previously attributed to TFT, and that the risk dominance criterion based on Payback can explain the observed cooperation patterns. |
| Keywords: | asymmetric strategies, imperfect monitoring, indefinitely repeated games, risk dominance, strategic risk |
| JEL: | C72 C73 C91 D82 |
| Date: | 2022–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15023&r= |
| By: | Jordi Brandts (Instituto de Análisis Económico and Barcelona School of Economics.); Isabel Busom (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.); Cristina Lopez-Mayan (Serra Húnter Fellow and AQR-IREA, Universitat de Barcelona.); Judith Panadés (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and Barcelona School of Economics.) |
| Abstract: | The popular belief that rent–control leads to an increase in the amount of affordable housing is in contradiction with ample empirical evidence and congruent theoretical explanations. It can therefore be qualiï¬ ed as a misconception. We present the results of a preregistered on–line experiment in which we study how to dispel this misconception using a refutational approach both in a video and in a text format. Communication in a video format comes closer to how citizens are typically exposed to information. We ï¬ nd that the refutational video has a signiï¬ cantly higher positive impact on revising the misconception than a refutational text, an effect that is driven by the departure from the misconception by individuals who initially agreed with it. The refutational text, in turn, does not have a signiï¬ cant impact relative to a non–refutational baseline text. Higher cognitive reflective ability positively affects the impact on beliefs of all interventions. Our research shows that visual communication effectively reduces the gap between scientiï¬ c economic knowledge and the views of citizens. |
| Keywords: | Misconceptions, Written and visual communication, Refutation, Persuasion, Online experiment. JEL classification: A12, A2, D9, I2. |
| Date: | 2022–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ira:wpaper:202203&r= |
| By: | Gupta, Pallavi; Datta, Ambarish; Kothe, Satyanarayan |
| Abstract: | Objective and Purpose: The main objective of this paper is to introduce a simple logic model framework for providing role-based vocational training and sustainable placement of vulnerable and disadvantaged students. The purpose is to ascertain that sustainable skills development in vulnerable youth requires a demand driven framework that is tailored to their needs. Methodology: Framework is outlined as a ‘logic model’ illustrating relationships between activities and outcomes with emphasis on outcome evaluation. Data is collected in three phases using qualitative and quantitative methods. Quasi-experimental research is designed to assess the differences in outcomes for experiment and comparison groups and establish effectiveness of the intervention. t-tests are performed to evaluate statistical differences between groups. Skewness-Kurtosis test for Normality is conducted to strengthen the validity of the t-test showing non-significant results of p > 0.05 for all samples. Results: Significant difference was found between experiment group before intervention and after intervention. Wilcoxon Signed-rank Test showed significant difference in pre- and post-intervention for the experiment group, z (65) = -7.026, p |
| Keywords: | vocational education and training, skills development, logic model framework, vulnerable youth, quasi-experimental research, t-test, Wilcoxon signed-rank test. |
| JEL: | A1 C83 C93 |
| Date: | 2021–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:110953&r= |
| By: | Ceballos, Francisco; Kramer, Berber |
| Abstract: | Smallholder farmers in developing countries generally lack access to affordable agricultural insurance, in part because of high loss verification costs and asymmetric information in indemnity insurance and basis risk in index-based insurance. Advances in remote sensing and other digital technologies can help overcome these challenges by allowing for low-cost, remote loss verification, and settling claims based on observed visible damage in a farmer’s fields. By effectively proxying for indemnity insurance, however, such a product may be subject to moral hazard and adverse selection. We test these hypotheses leveraging the rollout of picture-based crop insurance among smallholder farmers in northwestern India. We find no evidence of moral hazard or adverse selection, and that the use of technologies increases willingness to pay. We conclude that digital technologies are a valuable tool to provide low cost, sustainable crop insurance remotely, at lower levels of basis risk than index products. |
| Keywords: | INDIA; SOUTH ASIA; ASIA; risk; insurance; crop insurance; mobile equipment; technology; crops; farmers; smallholders; agricultural insurance; field experimentation; moral hazard; adverse selection; asymmetric information; Picture-Based Crop Insurance |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:2088&r= |
| By: | Aassve,Arnstein; Capezzone,Tommaso; Cavalli,Nicolo’; Conzo,Pierluigi; Peng,Chen (University of Turin) |
| Abstract: | The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed most countries to an unexpected crisis, with unclear consequences for citizens’ trust in others and in public authorities. This study shed lights on how social and political trust changed during the pandemic. We conducted a longitudinal survey in the US of about 1000 respondents at three points in time during the pandemic. We elicited respondents’ trust towards other people and towards different institutional authorities, along with attribution of responsibility for the current situation. Results show that institutional trust fell, while interpersonal trust slightly increased, especially during the peak of the first pandemic wave. This dynamic was mainly driven by Republicans, whose institutional trust decreased, especially when exposed to COVID-19, along with growth in social trust. Considering that Republicans attributed, at the time, more responsibilities to their political leader, we argue that institutional trust was crowded out by social trust. Disappointed voters felt unprotected by institutions and looked for support elsewhere in society. Consistent with this, though, in the reverse direction, experimental results from the third wave show that Republicans increased institutional trust. However, social trust fell when primed with positive information about the pandemic. Overall, these findings suggest that societal shocks may induce people to exchange formal with informal institutions as a coping strategy, with social and political trust moving in opposite directions. |
| Date: | 2022–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uto:dipeco:202203&r= |