Testing Strategic Complementarity in the Field: Evidence from LGBTQ+ Creative Production and Labor Supply Decisions

Last registered on April 17, 2025
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Testing Strategic Complementarity in the Field: Evidence from LGBTQ+ Creative Production and Labor Supply Decisions
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0015802
Initial registration date
April 14, 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
April 17, 2025, 7:16 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country
United States of America
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Hieu Nguyen
Affiliation
Southwestern University
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2025-04-20
End date
2025-12-31
Keywords
Firms & Productivity, Gender, Other
Additional Keywords
LGBTQ+, labor supply, strategic complementarity, externality, Nash equilibrium
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
This paper studies strategic interactions, economic preferences, and subjective well-being among a targeted sample of LGBTQ+ and LGBTQ+-friendly performing artists. Partnering with several semi-professional metropolitan choruses, I conduct an artefactual field experiment featuring random pairing of subjects to test a simultaneous game with positive externalities.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Nguyen, Hieu. 2025. "Testing Strategic Complementarity in the Field: Evidence from LGBTQ+ Creative Production and Labor Supply Decisions." AEA RCT Registry. April 17. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.15802-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention (Hidden)
Intervention Start Date
2025-04-20
Intervention End Date
2025-11-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
desired time investment; proportion of participants opting to donate a positive amount to the designated organization; total amount donated; ex-ante and ex-post subjective well-being; (ex-post) art-related policy preferences
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The experiment features an A/B design. Within a session, each subject is randomly assigned to two experimental conditions: WITH SUBSIDY and WITHOUT SUBSIDY. Within each session, there are four identical blocks: (a) demographic questionnaire, (b) incentivized time-investment game, (c) post-experiment questionnaire, and (d) incentivized dictator game.

Subsequent to answering the demographic questionnaire, each subject is randomly matched with another participant to take part in the simultaneous time-investment game. The rules of the game are explained in detail to the participants. The participants are also provided with a table delineating their and the matched artist’s payoffs corresponding to each possible strategy profile. Each participant will then choose an integer between 1 and 10 to indicate their desired time investment. Subject well-being is measured with simple emojis at various stages during the experiment. Earnings information is provided right upon completion of the survey experiment.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization is implemented by Smartriqs, an interaction-friendly alternative extension of Qualtrics.
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
About 200 individuals
Sample size: planned number of observations
About 200 individuals
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
100 in WITHOUT SUBSIDY group and 100 in WITH SUBSIDY group
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Southwestern University's Institutional Review Board
IRB Approval Date
2025-03-27
IRB Approval Number
FA25_07 (Nguyen)
Analysis Plan

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