Short-term discounting in real-effort task

Last registered on July 04, 2017
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Short-term discounting in real-effort task
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0001061
Initial registration date
February 16, 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
February 16, 2016, 10:34 PM EST

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

Last updated
July 04, 2017, 2:35 PM EDT

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

Locations

Country
United States of America
Region
California

Primary Investigator

Name
Ned Augenblick
Affiliation
UC Berkeley, Haas School of Business
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2016-02-20
End date
2016-03-17
Keywords
Labor
Additional Keywords
Time Discounting
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Abstract
The goal of this study is to estimate the shape of short-term time preferences using incentive-compatible decisions over a real-effort task.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Augenblick, Ned. 2017. "Short-term discounting in real-effort task." AEA RCT Registry. July 04. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.1061-5.0
Former Citation
Augenblick, Ned. 2017. "Short-term discounting in real-effort task." AEA RCT Registry. July 04. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/1061/history/19162
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The goal of this study is to estimate the shape of short-term time preferences using incentive-compatible decisions over a real-effort task. The study is better defined as an experiment rather than a intervention as all experimental participants face (broadly) the same environment and make (broadly) the same decisions.
Intervention Start Date
2016-02-20
Intervention End Date
2016-03-17

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
The main data of the study is fairly simple - each decision represents the number of tasks chosen by a specific participant at a given time for a given wage for work that occurs for a given time window.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The goal of this study is to estimate the shape of short-term time preferences using incentive-compatible decisions over a real-effort task.
Experimental Design Details
The goal of this study is to estimate the shape of short-term time preferences using incentive-compatible decisions over a real-effort task. The basic idea of the study is fairly simple: after practicing the task in the first week, study participants are asked the number of tasks they wish to complete for different wages on a given date as that date approaches over the next three weeks. For example, a participant might be asked questions (via text message) on Monday morning, Wednesday afternoon, and Thursday afternoon about work preferences for that Friday afternoon. Broadly, the study design and analysis plan largely follows that of Augenblick and Rabin (2016), using the same task and potential wages. The main differences are that there is that the choices are all within one week in order to determine a more precise shape for short-term time preferences and there is no focus on sophistication or projection bias.

The main data of the study is fairly simple - each decision represents the number of tasks chosen by a specific participant at a given time for a given wage for work that occurs for a given time window.
Randomization Method
Computer
Randomization Unit
As discussed above, the study is better defined as an experiment in which all participants face (broadly) the same environment. The results will be clustered at the participant-level.
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
~100 participants
Sample size: planned number of observations
~20-25 observations of 5 wage decisions for each participant
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Each participant faces (broadly) the same environment
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
UC Berkeley Committee for Protection of Human Subjects (CPHS)
IRB Approval Date
2014-04-02
IRB Approval Number
2011-07-3452
Analysis Plan

Analysis Plan Documents

PreregistrationAnalysisPlan2_oneAddedNote.pdf

MD5: fbf3ab53920909ed938e4d02188ed87d

SHA1: 288764d8a173ec783ca148b0cc7b142d9fd01e9c

Uploaded At: February 19, 2016

PreregistrationAnalysisPlan.pdf

MD5: bc97879463ded239173528b2cd45db17

SHA1: cb87382763eb25459c72f1a8c33b295a9d0307c6

Uploaded At: February 16, 2016

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information

Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
Yes
Intervention Completion Date
March 01, 2016, 12:00 +00:00
Data Collection Complete
Yes
Data Collection Completion Date
March 01, 2016, 12:00 +00:00
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)
99
Was attrition correlated with treatment status?
No
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations
99
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms
99
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials