An Experimental Study of Dynamic Disclosure Games

Last registered on March 23, 2026
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
An Experimental Study of Dynamic Disclosure Games
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0018182
Initial registration date
March 22, 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 23, 2026, 8:04 AM EDT

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

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Name
Lingbo Huang
Affiliation
Shandong University
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Lu Dong
PI Affiliation
SUSTech
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2026-03-30
End date
2026-04-30
Keywords
Behavior, Lab
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
This experiment investigates how the \emph{structure} of evidence accumulation affects disclosure strategies in dynamic voluntary disclosure games. We study both static and dynamic settings in which an informed sender seeks to influence the actions of an uninformed receiver by disclosing verifiable evidence that arrives over time. Theory predicts that early disclosure is strategically harmful for the sender. We test these predictions experimentally and examine whether the mere presence of an intermediate disclosure opportunity affects behavior even when theory predicts it should not.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Dong, Lu and Lingbo Huang. 2026. "An Experimental Study of Dynamic Disclosure Games." AEA RCT Registry. March 23. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.18182-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The experiment employs a between-subjects design with six treatments. In each treatment, a sender observes private evidence about an uncertain state and chooses what to disclose to a receiver, who then reports a guess about the state value.

Each session runs a single treatment. Subjects are randomly assigned to fixed roles (Sender or Receiver) and re-matched with a new partner each round (strangers protocol). Subjects complete 30 paid rounds preceded by practice rounds.
Intervention Start Date
2026-03-30
Intervention End Date
2026-04-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Early disclosure rate, Receiver guess, Disclosure rate by type
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Timing effect, Overall informativeness, Sender’s informativeness
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The six treatments are:

Static Treatments (Baseline). Two single-stage Dye-type disclosure games varying the probability of evidence:
• Static-Low: Urn contains 15 Green, 15 Red, and 70 White balls.
• Static-High: Urn contains 35 Green, 35 Red, and 30 White balls.

Dynamic Treatments (Main). Two two-stage games varying the evidence structure:
• Sequential: Evidence follows a unique path. Urn 1 contains 70 Green and 30 White balls; Urn 2 (drawn only if Urn 1 is Green) contains 50 Green and 50 Red balls.
The sender makes disclosure decisions in two steps.
• Independent: Two independent sources. Urn 1 contains 70 Green and 30 White balls; Urn 2 contains 50 Green and 50 Red balls. Both are drawn independently. The sender makes disclosure decisions in two steps.

Timing Controls (Robustness). Two single-stage games using the same two-urn structure as the dynamic treatments but collapsing the two periods into a single disclosure decision:
• Static-Sequential: Same urn structure as Sequential, single disclosure period.
• Static-Independent: Same urn structure as Independent, single disclosure period.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization done by the software
Randomization Unit
Treatment randomization is employed at session level. Pairing is randomized in each round with roles fixed throughout the session.
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
Each treatment has 6 sessions of 10 subjects each. 36 sessions in total
Sample size: planned number of observations
36 sessionsm, 360 participants in total.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
60 participants per treatment.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Our primary tests concern (i) whether the early disclosure rate D1 exceeds 0, and (ii) whether receiver guesses after “No report” differ across treatments. Because the disclosure rate is bounded above 0, any observed early disclosure will be significant. For cross-treatment comparisons of receiver guesses, with 30 receivers per treatment, we have approximately 80% power to detect a 12-point difference on the 0–100 scale (two-sided test, α = 0.05, assuming within-subject standard deviation of ≈ 15).
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
CER Lab of SDU
IRB Approval Date
2026-03-22
IRB Approval Number
N/A
Analysis Plan

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