Strategic Information Transmission in Networks: A Laboratory Experiment.

The experiment will consist of more than 10 in-person laboratory sessions conducted in the experimental economics laboratory of the University Jaume I. Each session will last approximately 90 minutes. Before the experimental task begins, participants will receive detailed instructions explaining the rules of the experiment.

Participants will then be presented with a sequence of networks. In each network, participants will observe the network structure, their assigned position, and the states of the other players. Assignment of positions will be assigned randomly and anonymously in every network. Players can have three states, red, green or green with token. Their state can change during a period. If they are green right after the decisions, they will receive a monetary compensation if that period gets selected for payment at the end.

In every period, each green with token player will pass the token to a connected player that is red, if possible. If there is several connected red players, she will choose which one to pass the token to. A red player turns green when passed a token. Afterwards, players’ states may also change with given probabilities: red players may turn green, green players may turn red, and green players may receive a token.

The experimental conditions will vary the structure of the network and the distribution of players' states, allowing us to study how the characteristics and network positions of potential recipients affect transmission decisions. Additional sessions will use an employment framing to examine whether transmission decisions depend on the framing of the experimental environment. Participants will receive monetary compensation for their participation by random selection of one or two periods for payment.

2026-09-15

2026-09-25

The primary outcome is participants' transmission decisions. Conditional on being in a position to decide, we observe which eligible neighbor each participant chooses to receive the token. These choices will be used to examine how characteristics of potential recipients and their positions in the network, including their degree, the state composition of their local neighborhood, and the extent of overlap in connections with the decision-maker, affect transmission behavior.

Secondary outcomes include the effect of the “employment” framing of the experimental environment on transmission decisions. We will compare transmission behavior under the neutral framing, in which participants are represented by colors and tokens, with behavior under an employment framing, in which the corresponding states are described in terms of employment and unemployment and job offers.

We will also obtain basic participants' demographic characteristics and information like gender and risk preferences.

Finally, participants will complete a post-experimental questionnaire about the considerations and strategies underlying their transmission decisions.

Participants take part in laboratory sessions consisting of a sequence of network games. The experimental design systematically varies network structure, participants' positions within the network, and the initial distribution of states across participants.

The design includes both short-run networks, in which participants interact for two periods, and longer-run networks, in which interaction extends over a larger number of periods. Different types of sessions combine different sets of networks and interaction horizons.

Not available

Computer-generated randomization.

The primary unit of randomization is the experimental session. Treatment conditions that differ across sessions are assigned at the session level. Within each session, participants are randomly and anonymously assigned to positions in each network.

Yes

We plan to conduct 19 experimental sessions, with approximately 30–40 participants per session. The experimental session is the cluster for between-session treatment assignment. Within each session, participants play multiple network games.

We plan to recruit between 600 and 700 participants.

The 19 experimental sessions are planned to be distributed as follows: 7 sessions will play the core networks together with the conflict networks; 6 sessions will play the core networks together with the persistence networks; 3 sessions will test additional long-run networks; 1 session will test a more real-world-like network; and 2 sessions will be used for the framing treatment. Each session is expected to include approximately 30–40 participants. Within each session, participants play multiple networks.