Waiting Instead of Working: Experimental Evidence on Willingness to Work after Delayed Task Access

Last registered on June 10, 2026

View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

Waiting Instead of Working: Experimental Evidence on Willingness to Work after Delayed Task Access

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0017424

Initial registration date

December 27, 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

January 06, 2026, 7:06 AM EST

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

Last updated

June 10, 2026, 4:06 PM EDT

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

Locations

Country

Zambia

Region

Primary Investigator

Name

Anna Veri

Affiliation

Kiel University

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status

In development

Start date

2026-01-04

End date

2026-12-31

Keywords

Behavior, Labor

Additional Keywords

JEL code(s)

Secondary IDs

Prior work

This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.

Abstract

Legal or administrative barriers—such as employment bans for asylum seekers—can prevent people from working even when they initially would like to. This study examines whether such temporary barriers reduce people’s willingness to work both during periods of restricted access and after the barriers are removed and explores possible mechanisms driving these effects.
In a multi-day online experiment, participants repeatedly choose between a well-paid work option and a lower-paid leisure option. In one treatment, participants are repeatedly prevented from carrying out the work option they choose and are instead assigned to leisure, creating a situation in which access to work is externally restricted. In a control group, participants always have full access to the work option.
The main goal of the study is to analyse whether participants who repeatedly experience restricted access to work choose the work option less often once full access is restored. In addition, the study examines work choices during the restriction period.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Veri, Anna. 2026. "Waiting Instead of Working: Experimental Evidence on Willingness to Work after Delayed Task Access ." AEA RCT Registry. June 10. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.17424-1.7

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

Intervention Start Date

2026-06-07

Intervention End Date

2026-06-24

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

Participants’ daily choices between the work option and the leisure option during the rejection phase (days 5–15) and during the post-restriction phase (days 16–18).

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

The primary outcome is a binary daily variable indicating whether a participant chose the work option or the leisure option. For some analyses, this measure is aggregated at the participant level as the total number of work choices within a specified study period.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Motivation scores, learned helplessness scores, habit formation scores, enjoyment during leisure and work, and attrition rates.

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Motivation is measured on days 4 and 15 using an adapted version of the Work Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation Scale (WEIMS), modified for the experimental work–leisure choice context. Responses to the 10 items are aggregated into an overall motivation score as well as intrinsic and extrinsic motivation sub-scores.
Learned helplessness is measured on day 16 using a six-item, context-specific questionnaire inspired by Quinless and Nelson (1988). Responses are combined into a single learned helplessness score.
Habit formation is measured on day 18 using the Self-Report Habit Index (SRHI; Verplanken & Orbell, 2003), with 12 items referring to the leisure option. Responses are summed to construct a habit strength score. Daily enjoyment is measured using single-item questions on a 7-point scale after each work or leisure period.

Experimental Design

This study uses a multi-day online experiment in which participants choose daily between a work option and a leisure option. Participants are recruited through the smartphone app Liseli Decision Lab in Zambia and are randomly assigned to one of two treatments.
During the initial part of the study, participants in both treatments can freely choose between the work and leisure options. The key treatment difference occurs after the first four days: in the Control treatment, choices are always implemented as selected, whereas in the Rejection treatment, choices of the work option are frequently not implemented, resulting in participants being assigned to the leisure option instead. Participants' choices during this phase can be analysed and compared between the treatments.
Toward the end of the study, choices are again fully implemented in both treatments, making it possible to analyse whether repeated restrictions on access to work have lasting effects on participants' willingness to choose the work option after the restriction falls. Additionally, participants complete questionnaires measuring motivation, learned helplessness, and habit formation to help identify mechanisms underlying these effects.

Experimental Design Details

Not available

Randomization Method

Randomization is stratified by employment status. Within each employment-status group, participants who completed the study on day 4 are assigned a random number between 1 and 100. Participants with a number of 50 or below are assigned to Control, and those with a number above 50 are assigned to Rejection.

Randomization Unit

Individual participants

Was the treatment clustered?

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

Sample size: planned number of observations

100 participants who complete the study are targeted. Data collection of the first wave indicates that not all participants who register one week before the start of the study actually begin participa-tion or remain until completion. Accordingly, approximately 440 participants are initially recruited to account for expected non-start and attrition. As a result, depending on realized participation and attrition the final analytic sample may be smaller or larger than 100.

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

Approximately 50 participants in Control and 50 participants in Rejection.

Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB