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Exchanging Private Information to Sustain Cooperation in Noisy, Indefinitely Repeated Interactions

Last registered on February 07, 2020
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Exchanging Private Information to Sustain Cooperation in Noisy, Indefinitely Repeated Interactions
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0005369
Initial registration date
January 31, 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
February 07, 2020, 3:57 PM EST

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

Locations

Country
Germany
Region
Konstanz

Primary Investigator

Name
Sebastian Fehrler
Affiliation
University of Bremen
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Yongping Bao
PI Affiliation
University of Konstanz
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Fabian Dvorak
PI Affiliation
University of Konstanz
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2020-02-03
End date
2020-07-31
Keywords
Other
Additional Keywords
Noisy Prisoner's Dilemma, Cooperation, Collusion, Correlated Signals
JEL code(s)
C72, C73, C92, D83
Secondary IDs
Abstract
We study the role of exchanging private information in a noisy indefinitely repeated Prisoner's Dilemma with imperfect monitoring for cooperation in a laboratory experiment. The laboratory environment allows us to tightly control opportunities to communicate, whether signals are private or public, and the correlation structure of the signals. Controlling these factors allows us to address the following research questions:

What is the causal effect of the opportunity to report private information on the cooperation between participants? What is the role of the correlation structure for this effect? To what extend does the opportunity to report private information mitigate the problems associated with private monitoring? To what extend do experimental participants exploit the information contained in the correlation of signals?
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Bao, Yongping, Fabian Dvorak and Sebastian Fehrler. 2020. "Exchanging Private Information to Sustain Cooperation in Noisy, Indefinitely Repeated Interactions." AEA RCT Registry. February 07. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.5369-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We vary the correlation and communication structure in a between-subject design.
Intervention (Hidden)
Two treatments with public monitoring: one with and one without correlation

Two treatments with private monitoring and correlated signals: one with and one without a reporting stage

One treatment with private monitoring with independent signals and a reporting stage
Intervention Start Date
2020-02-03
Intervention End Date
2020-07-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
The average cooperation rate in the last three supergames.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
The average of the mean cooperation rates of the matching groups of a treatment. The mean cooperation rate of a matching group is the relative frequency of cooperation in the first 5 periods of the last 3 supergames.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We implement up to five different treatments varying the correlation and communication structure in a between-subject design.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Subjects are randomly assigned to one of the treatments in the lab.
Randomization Unit
Experimental session
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
45 matching groups
Sample size: planned number of observations
360
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
120
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
We will be able to detect a difference in the cooperation rates of two treatments of 10 percentage points with 80% power.
Supporting Documents and Materials

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IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
German Association for Experimental Economic Research e.V.
IRB Approval Date
2020-01-30
IRB Approval Number
C6C1g6Kj
Analysis Plan

Analysis Plan Documents

Pre-Analysis Plan

MD5: 488df2eb023ea53fc14995a29cd42e58

SHA1: 24a40629f9891c1b3716d3587547901fa4c75b04

Uploaded At: January 30, 2020

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