Communication and Negotiations

Last registered on September 07, 2025
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Communication and Negotiations
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0014165
Initial registration date
August 28, 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
September 12, 2024, 4:59 PM EDT

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

Last updated
September 07, 2025, 11:44 AM EDT

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

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Primary Investigator

Name
Junya Zhou
Affiliation
University of Texas at Dallas
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Gary Bolton
PI Affiliation
University of Texas at Dallas
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PI Name
Zhongheng Qiao
PI Affiliation
Purdue University
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2024-08-26
End date
2027-08-31
Keywords
Behavior, Lab
Additional Keywords
COMMUNICATION IN BARGAINING, ASYMMETRIC INFORMATION
JEL code(s)
D9
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
In a lot of real-life situations, negotiations are complex. When people negotiate, the value to be divided is usually uncertain, and people talk about many things other than just the price (i.e., a single number). This study will investigate the role of complex communication in negotiations.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Zhou, Junya, Gary Bolton and Zhongheng Qiao. 2025. "Communication and Negotiations." AEA RCT Registry. September 07. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.14165-1.2
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
This lab study will investigate how memory-based communication influences strategic bargaining.
Intervention Start Date
2024-08-26
Intervention End Date
2027-08-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Rejection rate and inequality share
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Inequality share is calculated as the difference between the seller's share minus the buyer's share over the total pie size.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Truth-telling rate about the value
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
This lab study will investigate how memory-based communication influences strategic bargaining.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Subjects will be randomly rematched by the computer in each round in each session.
Randomization Unit
Experimental sessions
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
As we adopt random rematching between sellers and buyers within each session, the cluster is at the session level. We plan to run 4 sessions for each treatment.
Sample size: planned number of observations
We plan to recruit approximately 200 subjects, with some variation across treatment arms depending on recruitment availability. The core hypotheses are well captured by the two main treatments described herein. We may explore additional treatment conditions in future extensions to investigate ancillary mechanisms or robustness, subject to feasibility constraints.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
We aim to run 4 sessions for each treatment. We aim to have around 16 subjects for each session. Depending on turnout, each session might have slightly more or slightly fewer subjects.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
The University of Texas at Dallas IRB
IRB Approval Date
2024-05-29
IRB Approval Number
IRB-24-676
Analysis Plan