Ambiguity as a Determinant of Discounting

Last registered on September 28, 2019
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Ambiguity as a Determinant of Discounting
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0004513
Initial registration date
August 16, 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
August 20, 2019, 10:54 AM EDT

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

Last updated
September 28, 2019, 7:06 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country
Germany
Region
Bonn

Primary Investigator

Name
Luca Henkel
Affiliation
University of Bonn
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2019-08-19
End date
2020-06-20
Keywords
Other
Additional Keywords
Discounting, Ambiguity, Intertemporal Choice, Choice under Uncertainty
JEL code(s)
D81, C91
Secondary IDs
Abstract
Decisions with outcomes realizing in the future inherently contain ambiguity. This suggest a natural link between ambiguity and intertemporal behavior. Based on this, I investigate whether ambiguity attitudes shape intertemporal decision-making using a laboratory experiment. A key feature of my design is that I jointly elicit ambiguity attitudes as well as discounting behavior over a consumption good. Importantly, I exogenously vary the timing of receiving the good and, independently, the ambiguity over the utility of consuming the good. This allows me to quantify the change in ambiguity over time and causally measure its impact on discounting behavior.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Henkel, Luca. 2019. "Ambiguity as a Determinant of Discounting." AEA RCT Registry. September 28. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.4513-2.0
Sponsors & Partners

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Laboratory experiments to study the relationship of ambiguity attitudes and intertemporal behavior.
Intervention Start Date
2019-08-19
Intervention End Date
2020-05-20

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
The study contains three main outcome variables:

1) Index of discounting behavior, which measures subjects discount factor
2) Index of ambiguity aversion, which measures subjects preference over ambiguity
3) Index of the perceived level of ambiguity/ambiguity-generated insensitivity, which measures subjects perception of ambiguity
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Subjects make choices using choice lists. The use of choice lists allows the identification of the three main behavioral indices, which form the primary outcomes.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
The selection of the payoff-relevant subject will be done by drawing the corresponding cabin number from a deck consisting of the cabin numbers of all subjects participating.

The selection of the payoff-relevant choice of the selected subject will be done computerized.
Randomization Unit
Individual randomization
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
n/a
Sample size: planned number of observations
Invitations will be send in order to archive a sample size of 264 subjects,
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
264 (within-subject design)
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

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information

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