Time as an Incentive in the Workplace

Last registered on July 11, 2016
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Time as an Incentive in the Workplace
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0001397
Initial registration date
July 11, 2016

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
July 11, 2016, 10:36 AM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country
Germany
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Timo Vogelsang
Affiliation
Frankfurt School of Finance and Management
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2016-07-11
End date
2016-12-12
Keywords
Labor
Additional Keywords
pay for performance, monetary incentive, time incentive, on-the-job leisure, gift exchange, experimental, paid time-off
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Abstract
This project introduces time as an incentive for performance. Depending on the treatment and the performance subjects can leave earlier. Treatments vary in the time and money domain. Importantly, the individual valuation of time (opportunity costs of time) is also elicited. Results can have important methodological implication for experimental economics and for settings outside the laboratory where it is possible to think about situations in which not only time incentives have advantages over monetary incentives, but also create different additional effects.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Vogelsang, Timo. 2016. "Time as an Incentive in the Workplace." AEA RCT Registry. July 11. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.1397-1.0
Former Citation
Vogelsang, Timo. 2016. "Time as an Incentive in the Workplace." AEA RCT Registry. July 11. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/1397/history/9350
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2016-07-11
Intervention End Date
2016-10-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Number of solved tasks, avg. duration per task, avg. needed clicks per task, timepoint of internet usage, avg. duration of internet usage, avg. amount of internet usage, willigness to accept (WTA) for staying longer in the lab
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The experiment consists of three main stages. In the first stage subjects have to state their willigness to accept (WTA) for staying 30 minutes in the lab. The second and third stages are working stages with the possibility to browse the internet as an outside option. Subjects receive a basic compensation for working. They further receive in the frist working phase an additional compensation which varies depending on the treatment (either in the monetary domain (more money) or the time domain (leaving earlier)).
Experimental Design Details
Treatments:

Monetary Pay-for-Performance (MoneyP): For each correctly solved real-effort task the subjects receive an additional amount of money.
Time Pay-for-Performance (TimeP): For each correctly solved real-effort task the subjects can leave the lab earlier during the second working phase.
Monetary Fix Wage (MoneyF): Subjects receive a fixed monetary amount.
Time Fix Wage (TimeF): Subjects receive a fixed time benefit (for leaving the lab earlier in the second working phase).


Parametrization:

Monetary Pay-for-Performance: €0.10 per solved task.
Time Pay-for-Performance: 25 seconds per solved task.
Time Fix Wage: 25 minutes.
Money Fix Wage: €6.
Parametrization is chosen in a way so that the avg. hourly wage is approx. the same.
Randomization Method
At first the random draw of the cabine number determines the room (two rooms are available) and with this also whether the compensation will be in monetary or time units. Then the computer randomly assign within each room the performance pay and the fix wage treatments.
Randomization Unit
Individual randomization into one of the four treatments. Randomization into treatments takes place within each session.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
approx. 200 subjects
Sample size: planned number of observations
approx. 200 subjects
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
approx. 50 subjects per treatment arm (MoneyP=50, TimeP=50, MoneyF=50, TimeF=50)
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials