Within firm specialization - workers

Last registered on June 29, 2026
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Within firm specialization - workers
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0019015
Initial registration date
June 25, 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
June 29, 2026, 9:24 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
Mikko Silliman
Affiliation
Aalto University
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Alexander Willen
PI Affiliation
Norwegian School of Economics
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PI Name
Katrine Loken
PI Affiliation
Norwegian School of Economics
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2026-07-06
End date
2026-08-28
Keywords
Firms & Productivity, Labor
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
We use vignette experiments to understand how workers perceive specialized roles within the firm to shape task content, productivity, social connectedness, coordination costs, and learning. Workers are randomly exposed to vignettes that either state that there is considerable overlap between worker tasks or that there is less overlap between worker tasks.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Loken, Katrine, Mikko Silliman and Alexander Willen. 2026. "Within firm specialization - workers." AEA RCT Registry. June 29. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.19015-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We use vignette experiments to understand how workers perceive specialized roles within the firm to shape task content, productivity, social connectedness, coordination costs, and learning. Workers are randomly exposed to vignettes that either state that there is considerable overlap between worker tasks or that there is less overlap between worker tasks.
Intervention Start Date
2026-07-06
Intervention End Date
2026-08-28

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Our main outcomes regard perceptions of worker learning -- i.e. does task overlap between workers facilitate learning? Extent of learning, mode of learning, and learning domain.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Task content, social connectedness, ease of communication, collaboration, enjoyability, motivation, reasons for learning.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Half the workers in the experiment will be exposed first to vignettes indicating considerable task overlap. The other half will be exposed to vignettes indicating less task overlap with other workers. We also include within worker variation, as workers are shown the other vignette option and asked to re-answer the same questions. This design allows for both between and within worker comparisons.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
By a computer.
Randomization Unit
Workers, and order within workers.
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
1000 workers.
Sample size: planned number of observations
1000 workers. With within worker comparisons, this results in 2000 observations.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
500 in both overlap and less overlap vignettes. This doubles if we include the within worker exposure.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Norwegian School of Economics
IRB Approval Date
2026-06-18
IRB Approval Number
N/A
Analysis Plan