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Intertemporal Universalism

Last registered on October 06, 2025
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Intertemporal Universalism
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0015556
Initial registration date
March 13, 2025

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
March 19, 2025, 11:59 AM EDT

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

Last updated
October 06, 2025, 5:06 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country
France
Region
Paris

Primary Investigator

Name
Jeanne Hagenbach
Affiliation
CNRS - Sciences Po
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Charlotte Saucet
PI Affiliation
University Paris 1 - Panthéon Sorbonne
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2025-03-13
End date
2025-12-31
Keywords
Behavior
Additional Keywords
Experimental economics, intertemporal decisions, altruism, fairness.
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Many economic and policy decisions involve trade-offs between the well-being of individuals present today and that of individuals living in the future. Enke et al. (2022) introduces the concept of moral universalism, defined as the extent to which individuals exhibit the same level of altruism and trust towards strangers as they do to in-group members. Building on this framework of altruism, our study aims to measure intertemporal universalism, which refers to the extent to which people exhibit similar levels of altruism towards strangers who live and enjoy material benefits at different moments of time. In this study, we focus on the present and the future (rather than the past). Our experiment is designed to rigorously vary the dates at which subjects participate in the study and receive payments. This work naturally raises new questions about what individuals perceive as a fair way to allocate resources between strangers who are present and paid at different points in time.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Hagenbach, Jeanne and Charlotte Saucet. 2025. "Intertemporal Universalism." AEA RCT Registry. October 06. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.15556-1.1
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention (Hidden)
Intervention Start Date
2025-03-23
Intervention End Date
2025-12-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Allocation decisions to strangers who vary in the date at which they participate in the study and in the date at which they receive payment.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The subjects' main task is to split a fixed amount of money between two strangers for which we exogenously vary the date of participation in the experiment and the date of payment. Precisely, each subject takes the four allocations decisions listed below. At the end of the experiment, we randomly select one of the four decisions and truly implement the allocation decided by the subject. In particular, when the allocation involves strangers who are paid and/or recruited in the future, we effectively recruit and/or pay the individuals as announced.

Between subjects, we will consider at least two future dates, namely in 6 months and in 12 months. If budget allows, we may also consider a 18-months horizon. We list below the allocation decisions for a 6-months time horizon, as an example.

Subjects must decide how to split a fixed amount of money between:
- An individual who participates in the experiment today and is paid today VS another individual who participates in the experiment today and is paid today.
- An individual who participates in the experiment today and is paid today VS another individual who participates in the experiment today and will be paid in 6 months.
- An individual who participates in the experiment today and is paid today VS another individual who will participate in the experiment in 6 months and will be paid in 6 months.
- An individual who participates in the experiment today and will be paid in 6 months VS another individual who will participate in the experiment in 6 months and will be paid in 6 months.

The first allocation decision listed above always comes first. Next, we randomize the order of the three following allocation decisions. As in Enke et al (2022), these decisions are all taken with a slider that subjects can move from the individual on the right of the screen to the individual on the left of the screen. Whether a given individual appears on the right or on the left is also randomized.

Additional remark (October 2025): We will also consider treatments in which all dates - payment and participation - are in the future.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization done by a computer.
Randomization Unit
Clustered at the individual level.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
400 subjects per time horizon.
Sample size: planned number of observations
800 subjects if we consider two time horizons, 1200 if we consider three time horizons.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
400 subjects per time horizon. Every subject takes the four allocation decisions listed above for the randomly-selected time horizon.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
See the PAP for details.
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Paris School of Economics - IRB Review Board
IRB Approval Date
2024-12-02
IRB Approval Number
2024-059
Analysis Plan

Analysis Plan Documents

Intertemporal Universalism - PAP 2025

MD5: e05d3b5612aa76371a5d08a8b29c3757

SHA1: 1929954ee5cc5a53e289e28f9db9c1c108cd9e84

Uploaded At: March 13, 2025

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials