Minority managers, information avoidance and statistical discrimination.

Last registered on April 02, 2024
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Minority managers, information avoidance and statistical discrimination.
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0013230
Initial registration date
March 21, 2024

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
April 02, 2024, 10:38 AM EDT

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

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Name
Magdalena Smyk
Affiliation
FAME | GRAPE
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2024-03-25
End date
2024-05-31
Keywords
Behavior, Gender
Additional Keywords
information avoidance, statistical discrimination, managers
JEL code(s)
J16
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
While psychological research demonstrated the prevalence of stereotypes and biases, no research so far has combined the context of information avoidance and inaccurate statistical discrimination into one framework to analyze these two phenomena one against another. Our objective is to fill this gap. We designed an experiment that tests whether providing information about previous performance (an indicator of an individual’s productivity), affects the split of resources between female and male managers. The experiment is set in the context of the NGO involved in providing humanitarian aid.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Smyk, Magdalena. 2024. "Minority managers, information avoidance and statistical discrimination.." AEA RCT Registry. April 02. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.13230-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We designed an experiment that tests whether providing information about previous per-formance (an indicator of an individual’s productivity), affects the split of resources between female and male managers. The experiment is set in the context of the NGO involved in providing humanitarian aid. The subjects are informed that the anonymous donor wants to donate money for reconnaissance missions. The task for the subject is to decide how to share these resources between two managers that differ by (a) gender and (b) effectiveness in the previous mission.
Intervention Start Date
2024-04-02
Intervention End Date
2024-04-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
the split of resources between managers, the fact of clicking on button to receive information about previous result
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The experimental treatment will be provided between subjects. In the first experimental question, subjects are asked to share resources between two new managers (so we cannot share any information about their previous performance with them) that differ by gender. In the second question, subjects share money between either men and women or two women, knowing or being able to acquire information about their previous performance. In this last treatment, participants can actively decide (by clicking on the button) whether they want to acquire information about the previous performance of the managers (information avoidance treatment).
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization will be done by the software.
Randomization Unit
individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
There are no clusters planned
Sample size: planned number of observations
We plan collect answers from 300 respondents.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
For each pair of managers and access to information (known or available after clicking on the button) we will receive 50 observations.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number
Analysis Plan