The Economics of Rage

Last registered on June 16, 2025
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
The Economics of Rage
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0016199
Initial registration date
June 15, 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
June 16, 2025, 7:42 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country
France
Region
Paris

Primary Investigator

Name
Yann Algan
Affiliation
HEC Paris
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Stefanie Stantcheva
PI Affiliation
Harvard
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PI Name
Antonin Bergeaud
PI Affiliation
HEC Paris
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PI Name
Philippe Aghion
PI Affiliation
College de France
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2025-06-11
End date
2025-07-30
Keywords
Labor
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Our study investigates the relationship between perceived social downgrading, job dissatisfaction, and political attitudes. We implement an experimental survey among a large sample of private-sector employees in France to explore these dynamics. The survey includes several treatments: providing respondents with information about their position on the income distribution, insights into their expected salary trajectory, and a comparison with their parents’ earnings progression. We then assess the effects of these treatments on employees’ job satisfaction and emotions, workplace trust, policy preferences, and political alignment.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Aghion, Philippe et al. 2025. "The Economics of Rage ." AEA RCT Registry. June 16. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.16199-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We conduct a survey structured around five experimental branches.

In Branch 1, respondents are asked to position themselves on a 0-to-100 income scale relative to other workers in the same occupation (manual workers, clerical staff, intermediate professions, managers).

In Branch 2, respondents position themselves on a 0-to-100 income scale relative to the overall workforce in the economy, regardless of occupation.

In Branch 3, respondents are asked to estimate the number of years it would take to double their starting salary, as well as how many years they believe it took the previous generation (i.e., their parents) to do the same.

In Branch 4, respondents are asked to estimate how long it would take to increase their monthly salary by €500.

In Branch 5, they are asked about their own expectations of a €500 salary increase in the coming years, and are also asked to estimate such prospects for workers in both higher and lower occupational categories.

All respondents answer the same set of perception questions. However, only those assigned to one of the five treatment branches receive statistical information afterward, specific to their branch. We also include a control group, in which respondents answer the same salary perception questions but are not exposed to any informational treatment.

Intervention (Hidden)
Intervention Start Date
2025-06-15
Intervention End Date
2025-06-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
The key outcome variables of these experiments are the level of satisfaction/emotions and trust in the workplace, policy views on five topics: (trade, immigration, taxes and redistribution, trust in government) and political positioning

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
We are also interested in the heterogeneity of treatment effects by initial political affiliation and attitudes towards democracy. Moreover, we will investigate whether background characteristics of respondents play a role in the misperceptions of salaries. We will thus look at misperceptions and outcomes by income, age, gender, and education levels
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We randomize respondents into one of the treatment groups or control group. We then
compare the job satisfaction and policy views of the respondents of the treatment groups to the policy views of the respondents of the control group.

Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
The randomization is done by the survey software (Qualtrics).

Randomization Unit
The unit of randomization is the individual respondent
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
Occupations/Individuals
Sample size: planned number of observations
Approximately 12,000 individuals, with 2000 in each treated branch (5) and 2000 in the control group
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
10 individual controls
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Paris School of Economics
IRB Approval Date
2025-01-15
IRB Approval Number
2025-002
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