Loss contracts and the effect of ex-ante cash payments on productivity

Last registered on January 21, 2020
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Loss contracts and the effect of ex-ante cash payments on productivity
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0005303
Initial registration date
January 21, 2020

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
January 21, 2020, 1:53 PM EST

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

Locations

Country
Switzerland
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Andrea Essl
Affiliation
University of Bern
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Kathrin Friedrich
PI Affiliation
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PI Name
Stefanie Jaussi
PI Affiliation
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Frauke von Bieberstein
PI Affiliation
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2020-01-01
End date
2021-12-31
Keywords
Labor
Additional Keywords
Lab experiment, Contract framing, Loss contracts, Loss aversion, Productivity
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Abstract
In a laboratory experiment, we examine whether ex-ante cash payments as compared to ex-post cash payments affect productivity under a loss contract. In particular, we aim at investigating whether loss contracts induce higher effort provision if participants receive their payment in cash before working on a real-effort task then if participants receive the cash payment after working on the real-effort task.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Essl, Andrea et al. 2020. "Loss contracts and the effect of ex-ante cash payments on productivity." AEA RCT Registry. January 21. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.5303-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Subjects work under a negatively framed loss contract. Two treatments: In the ex-ante cash treatment, participants receive 15 CHF in cash before working on a real-effort task. In the ex-post cash treatment subjects receive the cash after working on the real-effort task.
Intervention Start Date
2020-01-28
Intervention End Date
2020-11-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Productivity (i.e. number of solved tasks) in the real-effort task. We will control for individual differences as given by the questionnaire.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Lab experiment. Between-subject design. Participants are randomized at the session level to either the ex-ante cash treatment or the ex-post cash treatment. Participants work on a real-effort task under a negatively framed loss contract. In addition, we elicit individual loss aversion and baseline performance. Finally, participants fill out a non-incentivized questionnaire.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Computer (lab experiment)
Randomization Unit
individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
In total about 130 participants
Sample size: planned number of observations
In total about 130-140 participants
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
About 65-70 participants per treatment
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Ethikkommission der WISO Fakultät an der Universität Bern
IRB Approval Date
2020-01-20
IRB Approval Number
012020
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