Mechanism Design for All

Last registered on September 28, 2026
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Mechanism Design for All
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0019782
Initial registration date
September 20, 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
September 28, 2026, 8:43 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
Shengwu Li
Affiliation
Harvard University
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Ori Heffetz
PI Affiliation
PI Name
Yannai Gonczarowski
PI Affiliation

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2026-09-21
End date
2026-10-11
Keywords
Behavior, Lab
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
D9
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
We study how to explain economic mechanisms to lay participants.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Gonczarowski, Yannai, Ori Heffetz and Shengwu Li. 2026. "Mechanism Design for All." AEA RCT Registry. September 28. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.19782-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We study how to explain economic mechanisms to lay participants.
Intervention Start Date
2026-09-21
Intervention End Date
2026-10-11

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
1. Bidding behavior. (a) Mean absolute deviation of each participant’s bid from the dominant-strategy bid, averaged across the four auctions, with per-auction deviations winsorized at 10; (b) share of dominant-strategy bids. We will appropriately rescale (a) in the double-stakes treatments when pooling across regular stakes and double stakes.
2. Comprehension. Total number of correct answers on the incentivized multiple-choice comprehension questions, both overall and broken down by prespecified topic / difficulty sub-group.
3. Attitudes. Responses to the exit-questionnaire attitude items, broken down by topic.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
· Subgroup analyses of all of the above by participant characteristics (major, gender, math proficiency, attention-check performance, socioeconomic status, and other demographics).
· Explanation-feature analyses: each explanation will be scored on a prespecified feature index (e.g., presence of menu description, worked examples, explicit bidding advice), and we will explore the relationship between feature scores and outcomes.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Subjects will read an explanation, participate in a mechanism, and answer comprehension questions.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
By computer.
Randomization Unit
Individual.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
We will assign treatments at the session level because instructions will be read aloud, but subjects do not interact with each other, so we will treat each subject as an independent observation.
Sample size: planned number of observations
660 subjects (with variation depending on attendance).
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
660.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Cornell University
IRB Approval Date
2025-12-24
IRB Approval Number
IRB0150472
Analysis Plan

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