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Scarcity and Cheating

Last registered on July 16, 2019
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Scarcity and Cheating
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0004248
Initial registration date
June 10, 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 10, 2019, 9:50 PM EDT

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

Last updated
July 16, 2019, 9:09 AM EDT

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Country
United States of America
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Dietmar Fehr
Affiliation
University of Heidelberg
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Yannick Reichlin
PI Affiliation
University of Heidelberg
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2019-06-11
End date
2022-05-31
Keywords
Crime, Violence, & Conflict, Other
Additional Keywords
Scarcity, cheating, experiment
JEL code(s)
C90
Secondary IDs
Abstract
An emerging literature suggests that feelings of poverty might impose cognitive load and therefore lead to less deliberate decision-making (Mani et al 2013). To date there is little evidence on the consequences for economic decisions. We investigate here the possibility that scarcity influences unethical behavior.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Fehr, Dietmar and Yannick Reichlin. 2019. "Scarcity and Cheating." AEA RCT Registry. July 16. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.4248-2.0
Former Citation
Fehr, Dietmar and Yannick Reichlin. 2019. "Scarcity and Cheating." AEA RCT Registry. July 16. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/4248/history/50112
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We will prime participants with financial worries and explore how feelings of poverty affect unethical behavior
Intervention Start Date
2019-06-11
Intervention End Date
2021-06-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Cheating, measured through die-under-the cup paradigme (Fischbacher & Föllmi, 2013)
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Cognitive Ability
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We will ask participants to reflect about their financial situation. We will vary the intensity of the financial situation, ie whether the financial problems are severe or easy. Subsequently, we elicit participants' cheating behavior through a die roll and cognitive ability through a version of the CRT.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization into treatment and randomization of the order of questions is done by the survey software.
Randomization Unit
Randomization at the individual level.
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
N=600 participants
Sample size: planned number of observations
N=600 participants
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Hard financial prime: N=300
Easy financial prime: N=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

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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