AEA RCT Registry currently lists 12552 studies with locations in 171 countries.
Most of the debate about women’s labor market experience in low-income countries focuses on “jobs,” i.e., occupations characterized by short-term horizons often motivated by the need to alleviate temporary household budget constraints. Policy discussions and workforce programs have largely targeted women’s labor force participation and short-term employment outcomes. This project shifts the focus to “careers,” emphasizing women’s employment in occupations with a long-term perspective that include training, wage growth, and advancement opportunities. In partnership with the H&M Group’s Sustainability Unit, we study the career paths of women employed in export-oriented garment factories in Bangladesh and India, where they comprise the majority of frontline production workers but are sever...
When interacting with others, individuals are uncertain about whether they will encounter pro-social or anti-social behavior. In such interactions, even a single observation can trigger biased beliefs about entire groups. We conduct a laboratory experiment in which participants simultaneously receive statistically irrelevant information about their in-group and out-group, with treatments varying whether both signals are pro-social or anti-social. Since the informational structure is identical across groups by design, any subsequent difference in cooperative behavior toward in-group versus out-group members must reflect asymmetric biased beliefs. We hypothesize that individuals overweigh signals that confirm existing group stereotypes, generalizing negative information about out-group me...
This factorial survey experiment investigates hiring discrimination based on religious identity in Belgium. Recruiters evaluate fictitious job candidates whose profiles vary systematically across multiple characteristics, including religion (Islam or Christianity), visual signals or religion (hijab, beard, cross pendant), extracurricular activities (religious or general volunteering), ethnic background signalled through names (minority represented by Turkish and Polish names, majority by Belgian names), and gender (male or female). The study simulates the first stage of a recruitment process, using an HR software package to present the profiles to real recruiters. Outcomes such as the likelihood to invite the candidate to a job interview and perceived candidate skills are analysed.
This project will explore whether seasonal forecasts enable pastoralists to cope with long dry seasons in Turkana, Northern Kenya. This is a timely concern as the long dry season in East Africa is projected to become longer in a warming climate. (Wainwright et al., 2021) We will achieve this using an experimental evaluation of a feasibly scalable intervention co-created with local stakeholders and policymakers. Our project will test whether information reached households, whether it changed beliefs and desired actions, and finally whether it improved livelihoods and reduced losses and conflict.
The goal of this experiment is to validate a set of AI-generated profile photographs that will later be used in a factorial survey experiment involving recruiters and HR professionals. The photographs are designed to represent young job candidates whose ethnic background is visually ambiguous, while allowing the addition of specific religious cues (e.g., headscarf, cross necklace, beard). The pre-test serves two main objectives. First, it verifies that the baseline photographs do not strongly signal a specific ethnic background. Second, it evaluates whether the selected photographs are comparable in terms of perceived physical attractiveness.
Female Genital Cutting (FGC) remains widespread in Egypt despite legal prohibition, international condemnation, and repeated religious statements rejecting the practice. Its persistence suggests that external regulations are insufficient when internalized social norms continue to govern behavior. In particular, many parents believe that FGC is necessary to protect their daughters’ future marriage prospects, acting not out of personal support for the practice but out of concern for what future husbands and their families are perceived to demand. Economic insecurity and low female labor force participation may further entrench these beliefs by increasing the centrality of marriage as a source of women’s social and economic security. This study examines how different normative framings and...
This study asks whether taking part in resolving other people's disputes changes how individuals behave in their own economic dealings. A classic idea, dating to Tocqueville's account of the American jury, holds that serving as a lay adjudicator acts as a "school of citizenship" that builds trust and respect for shared rules, while a competing view holds that an inside look at how rules and evidence are weighed instead teaches people how to work the system to their own advantage. The question has been hard to answer because real-world participation in judicial decision-making is rare and seldom random. We study it on the community adjudication feature of a large online secondhand marketplace, where ordinary users are invited to help decide disputes. In a randomized controlled trial, we ...
Mobile phones can enable economic and social empowerment by lowering communication costs and reducing information frictions. Yet, gender gaps in smartphone ownership in sub-Saharan Africa are substantial. The high up-front cost of smartphone devices remains a primary barrier, especially for women. Credit is one way to overcome this barrier, but it is often difficult for lenders to extend credit to low-income borrowers, who lack collateral and therefore pose a risk to default on their loans. Recent research indicates that a “pay-as-you-go” (PAYG) structure -- which relies on technology that locks the asset being lent in the event of non-payment -- could be an effective means of lending to the large numbers in low- and middle-income countries with no credit history. However, the rigid nat...
Our experiment involves participants designing a product (a web game) with an AI coding agent to sell to other participants.
We study how identity salience affects preferences. In an online survey with approximately 2,000 respondents, we randomly assign participants to watch one of two short videos before completing incentivised economic tasks. After the video, respondents complete three tasks.