Risk-taking Strategies and Dynamic Consistency: Experimental Evidence

Last registered on May 21, 2024
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Risk-taking Strategies and Dynamic Consistency: Experimental Evidence
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0013653
Initial registration date
May 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
May 21, 2024, 11:38 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
Maximilian Voigt
Affiliation
Frankfurt School
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Sebastian Ebert
PI Affiliation
University of Heidelberg
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2024-05-21
End date
2024-12-31
Keywords
Behavior
Additional Keywords
Risk-taking; Behavioral stopping; Dynamic consistency
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial is based on or builds upon one or more prior RCTs.
Abstract
We conduct an experiment to study individual repeated risk-taking behavior, both under pre-commitment and sequentially. In particular, we elicit each subject’s unconstrained risk-taking strategy, that is, the completely contingent plan of taking a risk several times. In five between-subject treatments, we vary the existence of defaults and the availability of a reminder. Another treatment allows only for specific (rather than completely contingent) risk-taking plans, and one treatment is without plan elicitation (focusing on sequential risk-taking)
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Ebert, Sebastian and Maximilian Voigt. 2024. "Risk-taking Strategies and Dynamic Consistency: Experimental Evidence." AEA RCT Registry. May 21. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.13653-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2024-05-21
Intervention End Date
2024-12-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Individuals’ risk-taking strategies and sequential risk-taking behavior.
Details are given in the Pre-Analysis Plan.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The individual risk-taking experiment is conducted online. In four out of five treatments, each subject completes eleven tasks. In the first task, using an interactive tool, each subject submits her risk-taking strategy (i.e., the completely contingent plan for taking a risk for up to five times). The second part of the experiment consists of ten tasks. In each of these tasks, subjects sequentially decide whether to take (another) risk depending on how the previous risks turned out. In one of the five treatments, subjects only complete the second part, that is, they complete ten tasks in which they sequentially decide whether to take (another) risk.

We simultaneously implement five between-subject treatments, in which we vary the existence of defaults and the availability of a reminder. Another treatment allows only for specific (rather than completely contingent) risk-taking plans, and one treatment is without plan elicitation (focusing on sequential risk-taking). Section 3 of the Pre-Analysis Plan gives a comprehensive description of the experimental design and of the treatments.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization using a computer.
Randomization Unit
Individual.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
480 subjects.
Sample size: planned number of observations
480 subjects.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
80 subjects for four treatments, 160 subjects for the No Plan 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
German Association for Experimental Economics Research e.V. (GfeW)
IRB Approval Date
2024-05-21
IRB Approval Number
ahyNfCcK
Analysis Plan

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