Valuing non-Wage Attributes of a Government Job in India

Last registered on April 06, 2026
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Valuing non-Wage Attributes of a Government Job in India
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0018281
Initial registration date
April 03, 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
April 06, 2026, 8:22 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
Saloni Vadeyar
Affiliation
Cornell University
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2026-04-04
End date
2026-09-30
Keywords
Labor
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
I study how young job seekers in India value non-wage attributes like job security/tenure, social status and power in a government job, in particular that of the IAS/IPS/IRS and State Service. I design a hypothetical job choice experiment/ conjoint experiment wherein the two jobs offered differ across a combination of four features- monthly wage, tenure, social status and power. I also design another conjoint wherein I again offer them two hypothetical jobs- one explicitly an government job (IAS/IPS/IFS/IRS/State Service) and an alternative private sector job. The second conjoint jobs vary on 3 attributes: waiting time, probability of getting the job and starting monthly wage. Using these two job choice experiments, I elicit my respondents' Willingness to Pay for job attributes like tenure, social status and power and their Willingness to wait and Willingness to bear risk for a government job relative to a private sector job.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Vadeyar, Saloni. 2026. "Valuing non-Wage Attributes of a Government Job in India." AEA RCT Registry. April 06. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.18281-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
See experimental design
Intervention Start Date
2026-04-04
Intervention End Date
2026-09-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Choice of jobs with non-wage attributes: Willingness to pay for tenure, social status and power and Willingness to wait for a government job
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The experiment is designed to elicit (i) the Willingness to pay (WTP) that government job aspirants in India have for non-wage job attributes like tenure, social status and power (ii) the Willingness to wait (WTW) and Willingness to bear risk that these aspirants have for a government job in relation to a private sector job. The sample comprises of UPSC aspirants in India. I elicit the WTP and WTW for the entire sample and by gender, caste and age.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization done on a computer using Qualtrics
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
N/A
Sample size: planned number of observations
9000
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
~150
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials

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IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Cornell University Institutional Review Board for Human Participants
IRB Approval Date
2026-03-27
IRB Approval Number
IRB0150062
Analysis Plan