Wage Information, Bargaining, and Search

Last registered on March 10, 2026
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Wage Information, Bargaining, and Search
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0017771
Initial registration date
March 06, 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
March 10, 2026, 10:26 AM EDT

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

Locations

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

Request Information

Primary Investigator

Name
Eppie Van Egeraat
Affiliation
NHH Norwegian School of Economics
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Liaoliang Zhang
PI Affiliation
NUS National University of Singapore
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2025-11-07
End date
2027-07-01
Keywords
Labor
Additional Keywords
wage inequality, worker beliefs, job search, bargaining
JEL code(s)
J31, J33, J41, D83
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Combining experimental variation in hypothetical information about relative-pay with linked administrative data for a representative sample of ~17,000 Norwegian workers, we study workers' beliefs about the distribution of wages and the impact of hypothetical pay information on intended bargaining and search behavior.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Van Egeraat, Eppie and Liaoliang Zhang. 2026. "Wage Information, Bargaining, and Search." AEA RCT Registry. March 10. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.17771-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

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

Request Information
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2025-11-07
Intervention End Date
2027-07-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Ask, AskSize, Search, Premium
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Ask takes value equal to 1 if renegotiate likelihood is "likely" or "very likely".
AskSize takes the midpoint {5,15,25,35} of the indicated renegotiate amount.
Search takes value equal to 1 if search likelihood is "likely" or "very likely".
Premium takes the midpoint {-5,5,15,25,35} of the indicated search amount.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
All respondents receive the same survey. Each respondent is randomly assigned to one of six experimental arms, five providing hypothetical information (through vignettes) about relative pay and one control arm providing no additional information. Randomization is at the individual level.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomisation is done by a draw in the beginning of the experiment.
Randomization Unit
Randomization is done at the individual level.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
Does not apply.
Sample size: planned number of observations
We use Norstat to contact Norwegian employees. Respondents must be employed at a firm with at least 5 workers, over the age of 18, and cannot be employed via an employment agency. We expect to recruit around 17,000 respondents from the universe of employees signed up in the Norstat sample.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
The assignment of information is randomized to achieve an equal sample size in each treatment arm (approximately 2,800 respondents per arm).
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials

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

Request Information
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
NHH IRB Review
IRB Approval Date
2025-10-03
IRB Approval Number
NHH-IRB-2025-120
Analysis Plan