Paying for good intentions? Effect of ex-ante bonuses

Last registered on October 30, 2020
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Paying for good intentions? Effect of ex-ante bonuses
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0006678
Initial registration date
October 26, 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
October 27, 2020, 7:21 AM EDT

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

Last updated
October 30, 2020, 9:02 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
Martin Abel
Affiliation
Middlebury College
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Rulof Burger
PI Affiliation

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2020-10-23
End date
2021-01-31
Keywords
Behavior, Electoral, Labor
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Abstract
We will conduct an experiment with people in the U.S., recruited via Amazon’s MTurk. Participants are informed that the study investigates ways to motivate people to follow through on their intention, in this case writing a get-out-the-vote messages. We then ask them if they are interested in volunteering to write a short message to potential voters encouraging them to vote in the upcoming election. We then randomize those who are interested into one of four groups and learn about details of the task:
• Control: participants receive no payment
• T1 – Post Payment: receive $1.50 bonus after completing the message
• T2 – Pre Payment: receive $1.50 bonus today
• T3 – Choice: choose between receiving the $1.50 bonus today or after completing the task
We then compare the completion rates and the quality of the letter, as specified in more detail in the pre-analysis plan.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Abel, Martin and Rulof Burger. 2020. "Paying for good intentions? Effect of ex-ante bonuses." AEA RCT Registry. October 30. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.6678-1.1
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2020-10-23
Intervention End Date
2020-11-03

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
1) Submitting the letter
2) Effort / Quality of the letter: Number of words, time spent, how convincing / motivating
See PAP for more details
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
see PAP for more details

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We randomize people interested in the task into one of four groups.
• Control: participants receive no payment
• T1 – Post Payment: receive $1.50 bonus after completing the message
• T2 – Pre Payment: receive $1.50 bonus today
• T3 – Choice: choose between receiving the $1.50 bonus today or after completing the task
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
STATA
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
800 individuals.
Sample size: planned number of observations
800 individuals.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
200 per treatment arm.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Middlebury College IRB
IRB Approval Date
2020-10-21
IRB Approval Number
20-057
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