Perceived Productivity and the Choice of Flexible Work Arrangements: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment in China

Last registered on January 22, 2026
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Perceived Productivity and the Choice of Flexible Work Arrangements: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment in China
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0017718
Initial registration date
January 18, 2026

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 22, 2026, 1:40 PM EST

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

Locations

Country
China
Region
Beijing

Primary Investigator

Name
Xinzheng Shi
Affiliation
Peking University
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Chunru Liu
PI Affiliation
PI Name
Yao Lu
PI Affiliation
PI Name
Yujun Zhou
PI Affiliation

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2024-11-20
End date
2024-12-24
Keywords
Labor
Additional Keywords
flexible work arrangements, compensation package, information provision experiment
JEL code(s)
J24, J33, D83
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
We conduct a randomized experiment to investigate whether job seekers have a perception of their work performance in flexible work arrangements and whether providing information on the scientific findings regarding work performance can improve their preference for flexible work arrangements. We find that job seekers have a clear perception of their work performance in flexible schedule work arrangements but not in flexible workplaces or a combination of both. We further find that providing information on scientific findings concerning work performance in flexible work arrangements can increase job seekers’ probability of choosing such arrangements. The impact is stronger among less experienced job seekers and applicants to positions requiring less face-to-face communication. Finally, structural estimates show that information interventions shape preferences by significantly updating beliefs about productivity under flexible work arrangements.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Liu, Chunru et al. 2026. "Perceived Productivity and the Choice of Flexible Work Arrangements: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment in China." AEA RCT Registry. January 22. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.17718-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention (Hidden)
Intervention Start Date
2024-12-02
Intervention End Date
2024-12-24

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Job seekers' choice of flexible work arrangements
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We collaborate with a financial consulting company and a job-posting platform to conduct a randomized experiment in China. The company provides eight positions for recruitment. We combine an information intervention experiment and a discrete choice experiment. Specifically, the company provides three flexible work arrangements, including a flexible workplace (i.e., workers can choose any place to work from 9 AM to 5 PM), a flexible schedule (i.e., workers need to work in the company but can choose a work schedule for eight hours between 7–10 AM and 3–6 PM), and a flexible workplace and schedule (i.e., workers can choose any place to work for eight hours between 7–10 AM and 3–6 PM). In addition, the company provides the traditional fixed work arrangement (i.e., workers need to work in the company for eight hours from 9 AM to 5 PM).
For each position, we divide eligible job seekers into three random groups, corresponding to the three flexible work arrangements. Each job seeker in these three groups is sent a job advertisement with two options (i.e., a fixed work arrangement and one of the three flexible work arrangements). The fixed work arrangement is accompanied by a market wage, but the wage for the flexible work arrangement is randomly drawn from a set of wages ranging from 80% to 120% of the fixed work arrangement wage. This is a typical setting of a discrete choice experiment.
In addition, we provide three interventions. One intervention involves adding a performance–pay compensation package to the job advertisement (the performance–pay treatment). This intervention is used to test whether job seekers perceive flexible work arrangements as a way to improve work performance. If job seekers believe that flexible work arrangements can improve their performance, those receiving an advertisement with a performance–pay compensation package would be more likely to choose flexible work arrangements. Another intervention is to add to the job advertisement a statement that scientific research finds that flexible work arrangements can improve workers’ performance (work productivity treatment). The last intervention is a combination of the above two interventions (combined treatment). To conduct the intervention experiment, we randomly divided each of the three groups (corresponding to the three flexible work arrangements) into four subgroups. The above three interventions are assigned to three groups, and we have a group without any intervention as the control group.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
The randomization was done in office by a computer.
Randomization Unit
In each job position, we firstly divide job seekers randomly into three groups. Then, in each group, we randomly divided the job seekers into four groups.
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
Eight positions.
Sample size: planned number of observations
5,538 job seekers
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Roughly one quarter of the total observations control, and the three fourth as treatment.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information

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