AEA RCT Registry currently lists 9258 studies with locations in 169 countries.
We fielded an RCT as part of the Deutsche Bundesbank Household Survey on Consumer Expectations, a large representative survey of German households. In the November 2021 wave of the survey, we provide information treatments to random subgroups of the survey. We split the sample randomly into a control group with approximately 2,000 (untreated) respondents and multiple treatment groups with approximately 1,000 respondents each. Respondents in each treatment group were shown a brief information statement before answering our questions. The treatments provided information on risk-return trade-offs in risky investments, and the potential for green investment funds to contribute to climate change mitigation.
While laboratory evidence has documented that men and women differentially perceive their abilities with respect to gender-conforming tasks, there is scant evidence about how behavior in these controlled environments maps to the real world and if targeted interventions can mold these gender differences. We make progress along both fronts by studying the effects of a gender stereotype training program on job preferences among high school seniors that choose between internships that are analytically-oriented versus service-oriented. The intervention, which will be implemented in 250 Peruvian high schools, will provide students with cognitive-emotional content and actionable strategies to counteract gender stereotypes that distort their perception of their own abilities as gender-specific ...
In collaboration with MTN Ghana, we are conducting a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) in Eastern Ghana to evaluate the effectiveness of different subsidy allocations on digital payment usage among small retailers. We will divide 120 communities into one control and three treatment groups, each receiving a budget-neutral subsidy: to merchants, to consumers, or evenly split between the two. Participants earn digital lottery tickets with each digital payment transaction, and a single winner receives a reward of 400 Ghana Cedis each month for three months. This study aims to determine how different subsidy allocations to either side of the market can most effectively enhance digital payment adoption and usage within a fixed budget.
Existing literature suggests that taxation is necessary for robust democratic representation. The argument is centered around the idea that money is not fungible. Rather, how money is spent depends on how money is obtained. In the context of public finance, this implies that people's preferences over government expenditures depend on how the public revenue was collected. Revenue generated from a broad-based tax is potentially viewed differently than revenue generated from, say, an intergovernmental grant or resource windfall. We explore this idea using an experiment in which people are assigned the role of either "Governor" or "Citizen". Depending on the treatment, Citizens receive either i) earned income or ii) a windfall. An exogenously determined tax is implemented and the resulting ...
A well-established literature documents the general finding that people give less when there is a greater risk that their donation will have less impact. In this study, we will use a laboratory experiment to test an important relevant mechanism by which people use the risk that their donation will have less than the desired impact as an excuse not to give. We will test this selfishness excuse mechanism using a sample from Hong Kong and Macau. In the design of this laboratory experiment, subjects will make a series of binary choices between risky and riskless payoffs that can benefit themselves or a charity. A risky payoff is a lottery that yields a non-zero amount with probability P and 0CNY with probability 1-P. This study replicates the design of Exley (2016), and aims to test the ro...
This study investigates the role of incentives on reported macroeconomic beliefs.
Fatherhood TIES is testing several interventions within federally funded fatherhood programs with the goal of improving fathers’ economic stability, parenting, co-parenting, and relationship quality. The interventions include: (1) one-on-one coaching focused on improving parenting, (2) individualized, concierge-level supports for navigating various systems that affect fathers’ ability to spend time with their children, such as family court, child welfare, and child support; and (3) financial supports and financial coaching. In general, the interventions are intended to affect parenting behavior, father-child relationships, co-parenting relationships, economic stability, and father well-being. For the first two interventions, fathers are being randomly assigned to the intervention or bu...
This project studies the gender gap in apologies and its consequences in the labor market. We hypothesize that women are more likely to apologize relative to men with similar performances. Apologies could be seen as a signal of incompetence which might hold women back in the labor market. We first document whether women apologize more frequently in a controlled setting and explore the reasons behind the gender apology gap. Second, we study whether employers infer lower ability from apologies and therefore promote women less. This project proposes a novel explanation of the gender promotion gap and suggests potential interventions to address this problem.
This project investigates the role of gendered stereotypes about STEM in perpetuating gender gaps in college major choice. We will study a population of undergraduate students at a large research university. To measure implicit gender stereotypes, we will administer a gender-science Implicit Association Test (IAT). We will combine IAT results with administrative transcript data and with original survey data to measure outcomes such as STEM course-taking, intended and declared major, and academic performance. To obtain causal evidence, we will administer an experimental treatment to assess how much college students’ gender stereotypes can be altered and how their observed, real-world academic choices (e.g., major selection) are affected as a result. Specifically, we will show a random su...
This project will study the impact of regular psychological support on students' outcomes in Peru. The government implemented a program that randomly provided 500 out of 1,000 large schools with high reports of school violence the resources to hire a full-time psychologist to improve school climate and reduce school violence. The government equips the psychologist with specific guidelines to design strategies to reduce and prevent school violence while providing socio-emotional support to all community members, including students, teachers, and staff. We will use administrative and survey data to estimate the effects of access to a full-time psychologist on school climate, violence reports, students' social networks, learning, and non-cognitive skills. Other outcomes include teachers' p...