Heterogeneity of Loss Aversion and Expectations-Based Reference Points: Replication

Last registered on July 05, 2018
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Heterogeneity of Loss Aversion and Expectations-Based Reference Points: Replication
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0003124
Initial registration date
July 03, 2018

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
July 05, 2018, 8:07 PM EDT

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

Locations

Country
Germany
Region
Bonn

Primary Investigator

Name
Alexandre Kellogg
Affiliation
UCSD
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Charles Sprenger
PI Affiliation
UCSD
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PI Name
Thomas Graeber
PI Affiliation
University of Bonn
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PI Name
Lorenz Goette
PI Affiliation
University of Bonn
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2018-07-11
End date
2018-07-18
Keywords
Other
Additional Keywords
Reference-Dependent Preferences, Rational Expectations, Personal Equilibria, Endowment Effect, Expectations-Based Reference Points
JEL code(s)
Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty, Expectations, Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis, Behavioral Microeconomics: Underlying Principles
Secondary IDs
Abstract
This project is a replication of our prior work examining the role of heterogeneity in loss aversion for identifying models of expectations-based reference dependence (Kőszegi and Rabin, 2006, 2007) (KR). In a previous study, we demonstrated that different levels of loss aversion lead to different signs for comparative statics previously used to test the KR model, and in an experiment with 607 subjects, we showed heterogeneous treatment effects over loss aversion types. Here, we describe our plan to replicate this experiment, providing power calculations for our desired sample size of 400 subjects and detailing the tables we will fill out once we run our experiments.
External Link(s)
Heterogeneity of Loss Aversion and Expectations-Based Reference Points

Registration Citation

Citation
Goette, Lorenz et al. 2018. "Heterogeneity of Loss Aversion and Expectations-Based Reference Points: Replication." AEA RCT Registry. July 05. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.3124-1.0
Former Citation
Goette, Lorenz et al. 2018. "Heterogeneity of Loss Aversion and Expectations-Based Reference Points: Replication." AEA RCT Registry. July 05. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/3124/history/31520
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2018-07-11
Intervention End Date
2018-07-18

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
We are interested in how the decision to exchange is affected by treatment status, and especially if this changes by category of loss aversion.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
The category of loss aversion will be measured in two ways: a structural and reduced method that takes advantage of the ratings data in Stage 1 of our experiment. Our regressions of interest will then be conducted on the sub-populations defined by this measure. More details of these measures can be found in Graeber et al (2018).

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
In a laboratory setting at the University of Bonn, we run a two stage experiment. In the first stage, we randomly endow subjects with one of two goods from a bundle, and elicit liking and wanting ratings over the two goods as well as mood ratings. Then, using a randomization device, half of the subjects are forced to relinquish their endowed good for the other good in the bundle. We again measure mood. For stage 2, subjects are randomly endowed with a new good from a different bundle of two goods. Half of our subjects then enter the baseline treatment, where they are asked to decide if they wish to exchange their good for the other good. The other half of subjects are in the forced exchange treatment, where they are informed that they will be forced to exchange their item for the other with probability 1/2, and are then asked if they want to keep their item or exchange it. After the experimenter randomizes and clears the market, subjects fill out questionnaires including demographic questions as well as measures of cognitive ability.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Lottery balls in a rotating drum are used for forced exchange in both stage 1 and 2.
Randomization Unit
We randomize at the individual level.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
About 400 subjects.
Sample size: planned number of observations
About 400.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
About 200 subjects in our baseline condition and 200 subjects in our forced exchange treatment.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
We have a MDE of about 34 percentage points, as described extensively in our pre analysis plan.
Supporting Documents and Materials

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IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number
Analysis Plan

Analysis Plan Documents

Heterogeneity of Loss Aversion and Expectations-Based Reference Points: Replication Pre-Analysis Plan

MD5: 6b1b716a1bd5878c55aa83d12b271fa8

SHA1: 9ba7e49ecb4536b3ad9be7dc9c7ba72a46daf48d

Uploaded At: July 03, 2018

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials