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Fairness and Capacity: An Experimental Test of Relative Performance Judgments

Last registered on September 22, 2025
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Fairness and Capacity: An Experimental Test of Relative Performance Judgments
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0016652
Initial registration date
August 31, 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
September 03, 2025, 9:16 AM EDT

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

Last updated
September 22, 2025, 8:50 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country
United States of America
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Zilan Erol
Affiliation
University of Bonn
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2025-09-02
End date
2025-10-17
Keywords
Behavior
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
This study examines fairness views in situations where two individuals contribute effort and earn income. In an online experiment, some participants make decisions about how to allocate earnings between two workers under different conditions, while others complete real tasks for pay. The study aims to understand how fairness views depend on the observed effort levels and what factors influence redistribution choices.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Erol, Zilan. 2025. "Fairness and Capacity: An Experimental Test of Relative Performance Judgments." AEA RCT Registry. September 22. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.16652-3.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention (Hidden)
Intervention Start Date
2025-09-22
Intervention End Date
2025-09-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
1. Redistribution ratio
2. Average redistribution ratio
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
1. Redistribution ratio: The ratio of the earnings assigned by a spectator to Worker B (post-redistribution) to Worker B’s pre-redistribution earnings in each scenario, measured at the spectator-scenario level.

2. Average redistribution ratio: The average of the redistribution ratios across all scenarios faced by a given spectator within a treatment condition.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The experiment consists of two consecutive stages conducted online through Prolific.

In the first stage, a large group of participants (“spectators”) are randomly assigned to experimental conditions and asked to make allocation decisions about how to divide earnings between two workers under different scenarios. In the second stage, another group of participants (“workers”) complete simple tasks for pay. The final earnings of the workers are determined in part by the allocation decisions of a randomly chosen subset of spectators.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
The assignment of "spectators" to the treatment arms done by the survey platform’s computer algorithm
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
0
Sample size: planned number of observations
840 online survey participants
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Baseline: 120 spectators
NoPublicBenefit: 240 spectators
LowPublicBenefit: 240 spectators
HighPublicBenefit: 240 spectators
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Gesellschaft für experimentelle Wirtschaftsforschung e.V. (German Association for Experimental Economic Research e.V.)
IRB Approval Date
2025-08-31
IRB Approval Number
1JMRCtWe
Analysis Plan

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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