Tax system, Opt-in and Image concern in Philanthropic Behavior

Last registered on October 04, 2023

View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

Tax system, Opt-in and Image concern in Philanthropic Behavior

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0012183

Initial registration date

September 29, 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

October 04, 2023, 5:11 PM EDT

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

Locations

Country

Japan

Region

Primary Investigator

Name

YOUNGROK KIM

Affiliation

University of Hyogo

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Hiroki Kato

PI Affiliation

Hitotsubashi Institute for Advanced Study, Hitotsubashi University

Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status

In development

Start date

2023-09-25

End date

2024-03-31

Keywords

Behavior

Additional Keywords

Tax system, Opt-in, Image concern, Philanthropic Behavior

JEL code(s)

Secondary IDs

Prior work

This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.

Abstract

Tax incentives can encourage charitable giving, potentially benefiting both society and taxpayers. Some research has shown that image concerns affect donation decisions, so this paper introduces an experimental approach to directly test whether donation behavior can be influenced by image concern.
Specifically, we will test two hypotheses: 1) How the donation behavior changes when image concern is involved in an environment where the income and benefits of donating are unequal. 2) the interrelationship between unequal social position, image concern, and the impact of reporting costs on the use of rebates. To achieve this goal, we devised a total of 2x2 treatment groups based on whether image concern was considered and whether opt-in was introduced. We will be testing this in a laboratory setting at Kansai University in Japan with approximately 200 to 300 university students. In this experiment, we will examine how subjects respond to different refund rates for donations with different image concerns and opt-in.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Kato, Hiroki and YOUNGROK KIM. 2023. "Tax system, Opt-in and Image concern in Philanthropic Behavior ." AEA RCT Registry. October 04. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.12183-1.0

Sponsors & Partners

Interventions

Intervention(s)

There are a total of four treatment groups in our experiment. Each treatment group is divided by whether or not they opted-in and whether or not they disclosed information about the amount of their donation. Table 2 summarizes the characteristics of each treatment group. The first treatment group is blind to the amount of their contributions, i.e., their decision-making behavior is private. If a donation is made, the refund amount is automatically calculated and paid to the subject according to each pattern.
In the second treatment group, if they are selected as an actor, the other party will know about their donation amount. They also know that the other party will know the outcome of their donation behavior. If a player is selected as an observer, they know the amount of their opponent's contribution. In the case of a refund, the refund amount is automatically calculated and paid to the subject.
For treatment groups 3 and 4, the opt-in is set so that the refund amount is no longer automatically paid. If they want to receive the refund, they must enter it on the screen at the end of all rounds using the receipt number issued at the time of the donation.

Intervention Start Date

2023-10-10

Intervention End Date

2023-10-16

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

Amount of Giving

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Donation amount/ initial amount of coins

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

To know the exchange rate of high and low earners based on their initial coin ownership.

Experimental Design

At the beginning, before the round starts, participants will be given an exercise. The quiz repeats until all the answers are correct. If a subject gives an incorrect answer to an exercise, an on-screen explanation of the incorrect answer is provided. Next, they play a one-shot game repeatedly (11 rounds). After each round, we randomly reassemble the groups and fixed the roles. Finally, at the end of the experiment, a short survey related to the experiment is presented.

Experimental Design Details

See the Analysis plan for details.

Randomization Method

Within section: income, refund rate, Unit level
Between section: image concern, opt-in

Randomization Unit

Experimental session (opt-in and revealed information) and Individual (endowment and rebate rates)

Was the treatment clustered?

Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

11 Experimental session

Sample size: planned number of observations

About 200~300 students

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

We schedule 11 sessions lasting 70 minutes per session over four days in Kansai University in Japan. We recruit up to 30 people per session. We make at most 15 groups of two participants for each treatment group. Of the 11 sessions, 2 sessions will run Treatment 1, 3 sessions will run Treatment 2, 3 sessions will run Treatment 3, and 3 sessions will run Treatment 4. Each session will run the experiment on October 10 (2 sessions), 11 (3 sessions), 12 (3 sessions), and 16 (3 sessions), distributing the treatments according to the number of participants and the date.

Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB