Work Meaning and Labor Supply

Last registered on June 30, 2019
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Work Meaning and Labor Supply
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0004124
Initial registration date
April 22, 2019

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 30, 2019, 12:22 PM EDT

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

Locations

Country
Germany
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Iris Kesternich
Affiliation
KU Leuven
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Bettina Siflinger
PI Affiliation
Tilburg University
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PI Name
Heiner Schumacher
PI Affiliation
KU Leuven
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Additional Trial Information

Status
Withdrawn
Start date
2019-04-23
End date
2019-06-01
Keywords
Labor
Additional Keywords
Work Meaning, Labor Markets, Reservation Wage, Labor Supply
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Abstract
We analyze to what extent work meaning - the significance of a job for others or for society - increases the willingness to accept a job and job performance of employed and unemployed individuals. To this end, we conduct an online experiment with student subjects. In the experiment, we offer a job that can be completed from home. We elicit subjects’ reservation wage for this job through the Becker-DeGroot-Marschak mechanism. The treatment variation is the description of the job as having either “high” or “low” meaning. If work meaning increases labor supply, the average reservation wage should be smaller in the treatment with “high” meaning.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Kesternich, Iris, Heiner Schumacher and Bettina Siflinger. 2019. "Work Meaning and Labor Supply." AEA RCT Registry. June 30. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.4124-1.0
Former Citation
Kesternich, Iris, Heiner Schumacher and Bettina Siflinger. 2019. "Work Meaning and Labor Supply." AEA RCT Registry. June 30. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/4124/history/48987
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2019-04-23
Intervention End Date
2019-06-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Experimental reservation wage
Job performance (as measured by the number of correctly typed characters in the job)
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We offer subjects a job that takes an hour to complete. Their task in the job is to digitalize scanned PDF documents. Subjects can work from home using their own computer. No particular skills or equipment are needed to perform the job. Subjects receive their salary after working on the job for one hour.

In the experiment, we elicit subjects’ reservation wages for the job through the Becker-DeGroot-Marschak mechanism. After describing the job, subjects are asked at which wage between 9 and 35 Euros they are willing to work for one hour. A random number x between 9 and 35 is then generated. If x is weakly above the participant's reservation wage, he or she is admitted to the job and is paid a wage of x. Otherwise, the experiment ends. We also include the option to state that a subject does not want to accept the job even if the wage is 35 Euros.

The treatment variation is the description of a job for which we elicit the reservation wage. There is a “high meaning” treatment and a “low meaning treatment” (so the low meaning treatment is the control group).

The experiment is conducted over the internet with student subjects from the University of Cologne. Upon clicking on the link to our experiment, subjects first participate in a short survey. If subjects are admitted to the job, they can complete it immediately or at a later stage.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
online experiment, randomization through random assignment to treatment
Randomization Unit
subject-level
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
planned number of observations is 300
Sample size: planned number of observations
planned number of observations is 300
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
planned number of observations is 300
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number
Analysis Plan

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