Moral Relevance of Nominal Choices: An Experiment

Last registered on October 17, 2023

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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

Moral Relevance of Nominal Choices: An Experiment

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0012247

Initial registration date

October 13, 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 17, 2023, 1:43 PM EDT

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

Locations

Country

United States of America

Region

Primary Investigator

Name

Birendra Rai

Affiliation

Monash University

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Aaron Nicholas

PI Affiliation

Deakin University

Contact Investigator

PI Name

Ratul Das Chaudhury

PI Affiliation

Monash University

Contact Investigator

PI Name

Vansh Nagaich

PI Affiliation

Heritage International Xperiential School, Gurugram, Haryana, India

Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status

In development

Start date

2023-10-07

End date

2023-11-30

Keywords

Behavior, Other

Additional Keywords

nominal choices, control, responsibility, inequality

JEL code(s)

Secondary IDs

Prior work

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

Abstract

Prior studies suggest that when acting as spectators people attach normative significance to a decision-maker making a choice, even when every choice in the set of alternatives available to the decision-maker generates identical probabilistic outcomes. Our study is designed to understand the potential factors that drive this finding and examine its robustness.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Das Chaudhury, Ratul et al. 2023. "Moral Relevance of Nominal Choices: An Experiment." AEA RCT Registry. October 17. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.12247-1.0

Sponsors & Partners

Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

We investigate whether spectators attach moral significance to stakeholders having the opportunity to make a choice even when every alternative in the choice set generates identical probabilistic outcomes. We will conduct an online experiment via a Qualtrics survey distributed through Prolific. Our design draws upon Cappelen et al. (2022) and contains a total of six treatment arms. Further details are provided in the pre analysis plan.

Intervention Start Date

2023-10-07

Intervention End Date

2023-11-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

The primary outcome variable of interest is the transfer decision made by spectators across the six treatment arms. Please see the pre-analysis plan for details.

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

The secondary outcome variables of interest are views of spectators and stakeholders about
(a) whether stakeholders have a meaningful choice;
(b) whether stakeholders have meaningful control over their earnings;
(c) whether the inequality in realized earnings across stakeholders is entirely due to luck; and,
(d) modal transfer decision by spectators.

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Please see the pre-analysis plan for details.

Experimental Design Details

Randomization Method

Randomization features in Qualtrics and Prolific

Randomization Unit

Prolific’s demographic balancing feature will be used to achieve a 50/50 split between male and female participants aged 18-65.

Was the treatment clustered?

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

1,440 subjects (6 treatment arms X 240 subjects per treatment arm).

Sample size: planned number of observations

1,440 subjects (6 treatment arms X 240 subjects per treatment arm).

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

The planned sample size is 1,440 (6 treatment arms X 240 subjects per treatment arm). In each treatment arm, 40 subjects will be in the role of stakeholders. This will result in 20 pairs of stakeholders in each treatment arm. The remaining 200 subjects in a treatment arm will be in the role of spectators. Ten distinct spectators will be matched with one pair of stakeholders.

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

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB