Tournaments in Non-Routine Analytical Tasks

Last registered on June 25, 2018
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Tournaments in Non-Routine Analytical Tasks
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0002916
Initial registration date
April 22, 2018

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
April 23, 2018, 7:55 PM EDT

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

Last updated
June 25, 2018, 3:31 AM EDT

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Country
Germany
Region
Munich

Primary Investigator

Name
David Schindler
Affiliation
Tilburg University
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Florian Englmaier
PI Affiliation
LMU Munich
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PI Name
Stefan Grimm
PI Affiliation
LMU Munich
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PI Name
Dominik Grothe
PI Affiliation
LMU Munich
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PI Name
Simeon Schudy
PI Affiliation
LMU Munich
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2018-04-23
End date
2018-07-13
Keywords
Labor
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
C92, C93, J33, D03, M52
Secondary IDs
Abstract
I this study, we investigate the effect of rankings and tournament incentives on team performance in non-routine, analytical team tasks. We use a field setup in which groups of teams work on a non-routine analytical team under varying incentives. The task makes teams face complex and novel problems, it is analytical and cognitively demanding as teams need to collect and recombine information which requires to think outside the box to succeed, and it is interactive as team members have to collaborate, discuss possible actions, and develop ideas jointly with their team members.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Englmaier, Florian et al. 2018. "Tournaments in Non-Routine Analytical Tasks." AEA RCT Registry. June 25. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.2916-2.0
Former Citation
Englmaier, Florian et al. 2018. "Tournaments in Non-Routine Analytical Tasks." AEA RCT Registry. June 25. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/2916/history/31141
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We conduct four treatments: Treatment T1 serves as a control condition in which we do not intervene, but simply record data. T2 in which teams are asked to choose a name for their team only. T3 in which we post teams' relative performance within the week to Facebook. T4 in which the team with the highest relative performance within the week receives a monetary reward.
Intervention Start Date
2018-04-23
Intervention End Date
2018-07-13

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Time needed until completion of task
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Hints taken during the task
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We conduct the experiment with our partner in a setting that resembles non-routine and analytical team tasks. Subjects are not aware that they participate in an experiment. Treatments are randomized by week over the sampling period. We record completion time, several background characteristics and variables related to the task.
Experimental Design Details
We conduct our experiment with ExitTheRoom (ETR), a firm that offers room escape games to customers in several European countries. We implement the treatments at their Munich location with regular customers that book an escape room game on their website. Customers are not aware they are participating in an experiment, nor are they aware of the respective treatments. Treatments are randomized by week. Collecting the data will be non-invasive and likely not noticed by subjects. The treatment intervention text will be delivered by staff from our partner organization or by a trained experimenter.
Randomization Method
Block randomization (by week) using random number generator (computer)
Randomization Unit
Treatments will be randomized by week.
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
Approximately 8 weeks. See explanation wrt planned number of observations
Sample size: planned number of observations
360-400 teams of participants (approximately 1,200 participants, the number of participants is not controlled by us, as we record observations on the team level and teams form endogenously). We schedule data collection aiming at 360 observations (taking into account that some participants may not show up). We stop scheduling new data collection after reaching 360 observations and only collect the data for which we have already scheduled collection.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
90-100 teams in T1, 90-100 teams in T2, 90-100 teams in T3, 90-100 teams in T4
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
University of Munich, Department of Economics, Ethics Commission
IRB Approval Date
2016-02-03
IRB Approval Number
N/A
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