Charitable Giving and Excuse-Driven Risk Preferences: A Cross-Cultural Study

Last registered on September 12, 2024
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Charitable Giving and Excuse-Driven Risk Preferences: A Cross-Cultural Study
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0014337
Initial registration date
September 09, 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, 5:58 PM 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
Yushen Li
Affiliation
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2024-09-21
End date
2024-11-30
Keywords
Behavior, Lab
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
A well-established literature documents the general finding that people give less when there is a greater risk that their donation will have less impact. In this study, we will use a laboratory experiment to test an important relevant mechanism by which people use the risk that their donation will have less than the desired impact as an excuse not to give. We will test this selfishness excuse mechanism using a sample from Hong Kong and Macau. In the design of this laboratory experiment, subjects will make a series of binary choices between risky and riskless payoffs that can benefit themselves or a charity. A risky payoff is a lottery that yields a non-zero amount with probability P and 0CNY with probability 1-P. This study replicates the design of Exley (2016), and aims to test the robustness of this mechanism to excuse selfishness using a sample from Hong Kong and Macau.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Li, Yushen. 2024. "Charitable Giving and Excuse-Driven Risk Preferences: A Cross-Cultural Study." AEA RCT Registry. September 12. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.14337-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2024-09-21
Intervention End Date
2024-11-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
In this study, we will revisit a laboratory experiment by Exley (2016) that provides an additional important relevant mechanism by which people use the risk that their donation may have less than the desired impact as an excuse not to give. We will test the robustness of this mechanism for excusing selfishness using a sample from China and will compare the results to those obtained by Exley (2016) for the United States. This research will contribute to a deeper understanding of the factors that influence individual giving in Asian countries and the methods that can be used to encourage it.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
This study will replicate the design of Exley (2016) with a different sample, in which subjects make a series of binary decisions between risky and riskless payoffs that may benefit themselves or an anonymized charity. A risky payoff is a lottery that yields a non-zero amount with probability P and 0CNY with probability 1−P.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer. This study is a laboratory experiment, we only randomly recruit 300 undergraduate students to participate in the experiment.
Randomization Unit
individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
300 undergraduate students in a University.
Sample size: planned number of observations
300 undergraduate students in a University.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
300 undergraduate students in a University.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Institutional Review Board of Social Sciences and Humanities, Jinan University
IRB Approval Date
2024-09-10
IRB Approval Number
A2409001-039
Analysis Plan