Experimental Design
Randomized conjoint experiment (RCE) is an approach for identifying the causal effects of various factors on individual choices. Unlike traditional approaches, RCE does not rely on functional form assumptions, enhancing its robustness. Its design closely mirrors real-world decision-making scenarios, which enhances external validity (Hainmueller et al., 2015). This method is useful for analyzing how individuals prioritize job attributes by presenting them with hypothetical scenarios.
In this study, participants are presented with a scenario where they must decide on a job offer. Each choice task includes three alternatives:
• Option A: A job with specific randomized attributes.
• Option B: Another job with randomized attributes.
• Option C: Opting not to choose any job.
Participants rank the three options based on preference, with “1” for the most preferred, “2” for the second, and “3” for the least preferred. Each participant completes five such tasks, with the levels of the six attributes in Options A and B fully randomized in each task. Additionally, the order of the attributes is randomized across participants to mitigate potential ordering effects. To enrich the analysis, demographic data—including gender, age, and family background—will be collected. This allows the study to explore how personal characteristics influence job preferences, adding a valuable dimension to the findings.