Health inequality preferences of decision makers and the general public

Last registered on March 24, 2026
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Health inequality preferences of decision makers and the general public
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0017982
Initial registration date
February 24, 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
February 24, 2026, 8:49 AM EST

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

Last updated
March 24, 2026, 10:00 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country
Sweden
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Gawain Heckley
Affiliation
Lund University
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Erik Wengström
PI Affiliation
Lund University
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Hugo Norinder
PI Affiliation
Lund University
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2026-02-27
End date
2026-06-25
Keywords
Health, Welfare
Additional Keywords
Income related health inequality, Inequality aversion, Information experiment
JEL code(s)
I14, D63
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
This project aims to investigate if there is agreement regarding inequality aversion among the Swedish public, political, and medical decision-makers, in a discrete choice experiment. Subjects choose between two outcome distributions, where one choice is higher in life expectancy but with a higher variance between groups in the distribution. Furthermore, we consider whether the results are affected by whether a choice is made behind a veil of ignorance or not, a relevant distinction for decision makers who in practice make their decisions without a veil of ignorance. An information experiment is then performed to assess whether decision-makers can be influenced to make choices more in line with the general public's preferences. Half of the decision-makers are provided with the most popular choice made by the public before they make their own choices. If the inequality choices of decision-makers are aligned with the general public or become more aligned after the information intervention, then the inclusion of inequality concerns in decision-making is more straightforward. This plan outlines the research questions, concepts, design, and estimation strategy of the study.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Heckley, Gawain, Hugo Norinder and Erik Wengström. 2026. "Health inequality preferences of decision makers and the general public." AEA RCT Registry. March 24. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.17982-2.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We introduce information regarding the general public's preferences for inequality aversion to decision makers in a survey based experiment. 50% of decision makers receive this information and 50% do not. The aim is to understand whether this brings decision makers more in line with the views of the general public.
Intervention (Hidden)
Intervention Start Date
2026-03-19
Intervention End Date
2026-05-14

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
When individual's switch from one income related distribution to another.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
When individuals switch distribution reveals their preference regarding inequality aversion, v, as defined by the extended concentration index. The primary outcome is the difference in Inequality aversion parameter, between the general public and relevant decision makers.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The survey has four parts:
• Part 0: Tutorial
• Part 1: Alfaland
• Part 2: Sweden
– 2A: without information intervention
– 2B: with information intervention
• Part 3: Background questions
The survey questionnaire has three alternative forms:
1. Main survey: Sent to the general population and 50% of the decision-making pop-
ulation. It consists of the parts in this order: 0, 1, 2A, and 3.
2. Information intervention: Sent to 50% of the decision-making population. It consists
of the parts in this order: 0, 1, 2B, and 3.
3. Order effects: Sent to 200 individuals to investigate if the order of the parts affects
the outcome. It consists of the parts in this order: 0, 2A, 1, and 3.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
The online survey system - Qualtrics - randomises respondents into information experiment
Randomization Unit
individuals
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
Survey will be sent to circa 7,800 decision makers in Sweden
Sample size: planned number of observations
Survey will be sent to circa 7,800 decision makers in Sweden
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
of those who respond, 50% will be offered the information treatment. We guess that about 1680 will respond, so circa 840 in each arm.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
A difference in inequality aversion parameter of 0.3 is detectible with the expected response rates to our survey.
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Ethical Review Board, Umeå
IRB Approval Date
2025-08-03
IRB Approval Number
2025-04117-01
Analysis Plan

Analysis Plan Documents

Do decision makers and the general public agree on Health inequality: PAP

MD5: 3baa5e8d5dfb8d69051a7c7974ec6057

SHA1: c9ac479068814ecb211ff1d23609a1c3c55814ef

Uploaded At: February 24, 2026

Do decision makers and the general public agree on Health inequality: PAP2

MD5:

SHA1:

Uploaded At: March 24, 2026

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