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Field
Trial Start Date
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Before
July 10, 2019
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After
July 19, 2019
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Field
Trial End Date
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Before
July 10, 2020
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After
July 19, 2020
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Field
Last Published
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Before
July 08, 2019 10:24 AM
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After
July 15, 2019 10:54 AM
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Field
Intervention (Public)
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Before
Subjects are randomized into either the core "treatment" condition (where they face a real-effort task, make decisions about a lottery - earned through the real effort task - and respond to a number of scenarios designed to reveal susceptibility to the sunk cost effect) or one of two control conditions where there is no real-effort task (designed to control for the endowment effect and a general failure of individuals to maximize pecuniary outcomes, respectively).
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After
Subjects either complete the core "treatment" condition or one of two control conditions where there is no real-effort task (designed to control for the endowment effect and a general failure of individuals to maximize pecuniary outcomes, respectively).
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Field
Intervention Start Date
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Before
July 10, 2019
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After
July 19, 2019
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Field
Intervention End Date
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Before
July 10, 2020
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After
July 19, 2020
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Field
Primary Outcomes (End Points)
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Before
A binary variable equal to 1 if subjects stick with a lottery they earn via the real-effort task, or 0 if they switch to a (stochastically) dominant lottery.
In the main "sunk-cost" condition, we also collect information on different measures of intelligence (fluid and crystallised) and reflective thinking are checked for correlation with the sunk-cost effect. In addition, these decisions are used to validate a scale-based measure for the sunk-cost effect based on self-reported choices in hypothetical scenarios.
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After
A binary variable equal to 1 if subjects stick with a lottery they earn via the real-effort task, or 0 if they switch to a dominant lottery.
We also collect information on different measures of intelligence (fluid and crystallised), reflective thinking, and openness, to correlate with the sunk-cost effect.
In addition, we aim to validate a scale-based measure for the sunk-cost effect based on self-reported choices in hypothetical scenarios.
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Field
Experimental Design (Public)
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Before
US subjects will be recruited online through Amazon's Mechanical Turk. The primary part of the design requires subjects to carry out a real-effort task. If they perform well enough, they earn a lottery. They are then presented with the choice between the lottery they earned and a dominant lottery. They exhibit the sunk-cost effect if they choose to stick with the earned (but dominated) lottery. Subjects then complete fluid and crystallised intelligence tests, a reflective thinking test, an 18-item scale that measures the sunk-cost effect via stated choices in hypothetical scenarios, and some personality and demographic questions.
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After
US subjects will be recruited online through Amazon's Mechanical Turk. The primary part of the design requires subjects to carry out a real-effort task. If they perform well enough, they earn a lottery. They are then presented with the choice between the lottery they earned and a dominant lottery. They exhibit the sunk-cost effect if they choose to stick with the earned (but dominated) lottery. Subjects then complete fluid and crystallised intelligence tests, a reflective thinking test, an 18-item scale that measures the sunk-cost effect via stated choices in hypothetical scenarios, and some intelligence, personality and demographic questions.
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Field
Randomization Method
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Before
Subjects are automatically randomized into one of our three conditions via the experimental software Qualtrics.
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After
Randomization carried out by the software Qualtrics.
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Field
Randomization Unit
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Before
Randomization is at the level of the individual.
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After
Randomization is at the individual level
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Field
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
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Before
320: Main sunk-cost condition;
180: endowment effect control;
30: basic expected-pecuniary-payoff-maximizer check.
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After
numbers are approximate
320: Main sunk-cost condition;
180: endowment effect control;
30: basic expected-pecuniary-payoff-maximizer check.
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Field
Secondary Outcomes (End Points)
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Before
In the main sunk-cost condition the following demographic information is also measured: age, gender, race, income, education, and political affiliation.
Additionally, two separate conditions account for the endowment effect and concerns that individuals may not maximize expected pecuniary payoffs (in those conditions no further measures are recorded). This allows us to see how much of any sunk-cost effect is due to these factors.
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After
Age, gender, race, income, education, and political affiliation.
Additionally, two separate conditions account for the endowment effect and concerns that individuals may not maximize expected pecuniary payoffs. This allows us to see how much of any sunk-cost effect is due to these factors.
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