The value of friends: Experimental evidence on secondary schooling decisions

Last registered on March 21, 2023

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
The value of friends: Experimental evidence on secondary schooling decisions
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0011068
Initial registration date
March 20, 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
March 21, 2023, 4:58 PM EDT

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

Locations

Region

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
Nova School of Business and Economics

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
PI Affiliation
PI Affiliation
PI Affiliation

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2023-03-21
End date
2024-06-01
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
In many countries, students must decide at a young age on a course of study which will shape not only their experience in school, but in the labor market, and beyond. How much value do these students put on sharing a course of study with their friends? We conduct a randomized experiment among 9th grade students in Portugal, who will decide within a few months which course to pursue in secondary school. We ask students who their best friend in their class is, then elicit students' preferred (and second-preferred) course, as well as their beliefs about their best friend's course. We also elicit their beliefs over the returns to these courses. We then present a series of hypothetical scenarios, in which we vary the potential returns to different courses and elicit course preferences in each scenario. We randomly vary which students see these hypothetical scenarios framed as an opportunity to be in a course with their best friend. By measuring the differences in the point at which students switch courses, we can recover a monetary value students place on being in their friend's course in secondary school.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Balcão Reis, Ana et al. 2023. "The value of friends: Experimental evidence on secondary schooling decisions." AEA RCT Registry. March 21. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.11068-1.0
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention (Hidden)
We conduct a randomized experiment among 9th grade students in Portugal, who will decide within a few months which course to pursue in secondary school. In an experimental lab, students complete a survey on a computer. In the survey, we ask students who their best friend in their class is, then elicit students' preferred (and second-preferred) course, as well as their beliefs about their best friend's course. We also elicit their beliefs over the returns to these courses. We then present a series of five hypothetical choices over two possible courses, presented with information about hypothetical average salaries. For students whose first course choice is different from their best friend's (Case 2), we ask the student to choose between her own first choice and her friend's first choice, and we increase the hypothetical salary of the friend's choice in each successive scenario. If a student's first course choice is the same as that of her best friend (Case 2), we ask the student to choose between her own first choice and her own second choice, and we increase the hypothetical salary of the second choice in each successive scenario. In either case, the point at which the student chooses to switch (or whether she does at all) serves as a measure of how much she values being in her first choice course. Specifically, we define the student's own first choice valuation as the difference between the salary at which she switches away from her first choice, and her expected salary under her first choice.

The treatment, randomly assigned at the individual level, consists of adding a line to the hypothetical scenarios which highlights which of the two choices on the screen is the same as that of the best friend, and which is not.

The difference between treatment groups of students' valuation of their own first choice can be interpreted as a measure of students' valuation of being with their best friend in secondary school.

We randomize the framing of the hypothetical scenarios at the individual level, to include or not a mention of whether each course option would or would not be with the student's best friend.
Intervention Start Date
2023-03-21
Intervention End Date
2023-06-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Student valuation of their first course choice
Switching
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
- Student valuation of first course choice: see "intervention" section.
- Switching: binary. Does a student switch their course choice for any hypothetical value presented for the returns to the course?

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Closeness to friends
Course choice
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
Closeness to friends: we ask students how close they feel to their friends using a diagram, and ask how likely they think it is they will continue to be friends 10 and 20 years from now.
Course choice: student's eventual 10th-grade course choice (self report, and matched from admin data)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We randomize the framing of the hypothetical scenarios at the individual level, to include or not a mention of whether each course option would or would not be with the student's best friend.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Individual randomizaion performed by Qualtrics survey software
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
2000 individuals
Sample size: planned number of observations
2000 individuals
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
1000 individuals control, 1000 individuals friend framing
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Ethics Committee of Nova School of Business and Economics
IRB Approval Date
2023-02-06
IRB Approval Number
202249

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