An Experimental Test of Indecisiveness in Choice

Last registered on October 03, 2022
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
An Experimental Test of Indecisiveness in Choice
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0010152
Initial registration date
September 29, 2022

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
October 03, 2022, 5:39 PM EDT

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

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Name
Paul Feldman
Affiliation
Texas A&M University
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Nan Zhou
PI Affiliation
Johns Hopkins University
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Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2022-09-26
End date
2024-09-30
Keywords
Behavior, Lab
Additional Keywords
Expected utility, risk preferences, incompleteness, uncertainty, experiment
JEL code(s)
C91, D81, D9
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Many reasons for ”inconsistent” preferences for risks have been proposed. A leading explanation,
incompleteness, is notoriously elusive to measure using choice data. Therefore, we devise an experiment to
test the degree of indecisiveness in individuals’ choices over lotteries. To elicit the degree of indecisiveness,
we present subjects with a series of choice lists and allow them to defer some of their choices. With this
procedure, we elicit the range of choices for which they are unsure. Eliciting these ranges allows us to
elicit utility as a range rather than a single value. Hence, subjects’ preferences may be represented by a
multi-utility representation and exhibit indecisiveness. Further, we can test how well a multi-weighted
utility representation can summarize their observed choices. We also explore whether framing choices as
losses or gains affects the ranges of indecision. The data collected will test the incompleteness hypothesis.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Feldman, Paul and Nan Zhou. 2022. "An Experimental Test of Indecisiveness in Choice." AEA RCT Registry. October 03. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.10152-1.0
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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Lab experiment and frame used for outcomes.
Intervention Start Date
2022-09-27
Intervention End Date
2022-09-29

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Ranges of indecisiveness/Preferences
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Choice lists are used to elicit preferences over lotteries.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
The computer randomizes the frame order, the decision that counts, and resolves uncertainty over payoffs.
Randomization Unit
Individuals
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
2, losses first and gains first.
Sample size: planned number of observations
117
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
55
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
117
Supporting Documents and Materials

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IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Human Research Protection Program
IRB Approval Date
2022-09-16
IRB Approval Number
IRB2022-0799M
Analysis Plan