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Strategic Reasoning and Perspective Taking

Last registered on January 22, 2023
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Strategic Reasoning and Perspective Taking
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0010717
Initial registration date
January 06, 2023

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
January 22, 2023, 11:03 AM EST

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

Locations

Country
Tanzania, United Republic of
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Paolo Falco
Affiliation
University of Copenhagen
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Marcel Fafchamps
PI Affiliation
Stanford University
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Martin Chegere
PI Affiliation
University of Dar es Salaam
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2023-01-09
End date
2023-03-09
Keywords
Behavior
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
We will conduct an experiment to investigate how strategic decisions are affected by information about the opponent’s characteristics. Subjects will play a series of 22 guessing tasks where they will have to guess a number as close as possible to an anonymous opponent’s guess times a multiplier. By means of randomized treatments, we will study how their decisions are affected by revealing specific information about the opponent. In doing so, we will leverage a growing literature on perspective-taking, which suggests that being able to take someone else’s perspective may guide decision-making in strategic settings.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Chegere, Martin, Marcel Fafchamps and Paolo Falco. 2023. "Strategic Reasoning and Perspective Taking." AEA RCT Registry. January 22. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.10717-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2023-01-09
Intervention End Date
2023-03-09

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Guesses; Degree of rationality implied by guesses; Beliefs about opponents' guesses; Degree of opponents' rationality implied by beliefs about opponents' guesses; Choices in a dictator game.

In parts of the analysis, we will focus on guesses that can be rationalized (i.e., we will drop guesses that appear to be random, confused, or cannot be rationalized).
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We will conduct an experiment with university students to investigate how strategic decisions are affected by information about the opponent. Subjects will play a series of 22 guessing tasks where they will have to guess a number as close as possible to an anonymous opponent’s guess times a multiplier. The parameters of the game and the opponent will change from task to task.

In 6 out of the 22 tasks (Control), we will reveal no information about the opponent.

In the remaining 16 tasks (Treated), we will reveal key characteristics of the opponent: gender (MALE/FEMALE), field of study (STEM/NON-STEM subject), and Grade Point Average (TOP GRADE/LOW GRADE). Combining these traits produces 8 opponent profiles. We will have two treatment arms and use each profile twice (once per treatment arm). In the first treatment arm, we will only reveal the traits listed above (subjects will read the information on their screens). In the second treatment arm, we will reveal the traits listed above and, in addition, we will show a video of the opponent sharing some "fun facts" about himself/herself (e.g., favorite food, favorite activity, etc.) The combination of 8 profiles and two treatment arms results in 16 treatments. Each treatment will be randomly assigned to one of the 16 treated tasks and the order of these tasks will differ between subjects. Conversely, the same four control tasks will be the first ones to be played by all subjects, and the remaining two control tasks will be the last ones to be played by all subjects (after all the treated tasks have been completed).

Subjects will also play a dictator game with two randomly chosen opponents over the course of the experiment.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization will be conducted by means of a computer program.
Randomization Unit
Guessing task. Each individual will play 22 guessing tasks. We will randomize the treatments across tasks. Each individual will receive all the treatments, but the order will differ between individuals.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
N/A
Sample size: planned number of observations
3,080 (22 guessing tasks x 140 individuals)
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Control: 840 (6 guessing tasks x 140 individuals);
Treatment 1 - 16: 140 (1 guessing task x 140 individuals) per treatment.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Research Ethics Committee of the Department of Economics at the University of Copenhagen
IRB Approval Date
2022-08-19
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