Choice-set effects in fairness decisions

Last registered on January 19, 2021

View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

Choice-set effects in fairness decisions

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0007057

Initial registration date

January 16, 2021

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 19, 2021, 6:19 AM EST

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

Last updated

January 19, 2021, 6:48 AM EST

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

Locations

Country

Norway

Region

Primary Investigator

Name

Kjetil Madland

Affiliation

NHH

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status

In development

Start date

2021-01-18

End date

2021-01-22

Keywords

Behavior

Additional Keywords

Context effects, fairness, social preferences, inequality, salience, focusing, spectator, experiment

JEL code(s)

D90 - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics: General

Secondary IDs

Abstract

In the present study I conduct a controlled online experiment investigating choice-set effects in fairness decisions. Specifically, I look at range based choice-set effects. That is, the effects of expanding the range of one choice dimension. I use a spectator design with between-subject treatment to expand the range in one dimension of a fairness decision by adding a decoy alternative. Thus, I am able to causally infer how expanding the range of a choice dimension in a fairness decision affects the preference relation between the original alternatives in a choice set.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Madland, Kjetil. 2021. "Choice-set effects in fairness decisions." AEA RCT Registry. January 19. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.7057-1.1

Sponsors & Partners

Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

Intervention Start Date

2021-01-18

Intervention End Date

2021-01-22

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

The primary outcome is the share of spectators in each group who rank alternative 1 as more preferred than alternative 2.

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

I study spectator decisions. This way, I can control the effect of choice-set structure on distributive preferences without having to factor in self interest.

Experimental Design Details

Randomization Method

Randomization is done in the Qualtrics experiment

Randomization Unit

Individual

Was the treatment clustered?

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

1400 individual spectators

Sample size: planned number of observations

1400 individual spectators

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

200 individual spectators in each treatment arm of the four choice scenarios.

Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)

With N=200 in each treatment cell, alpha=0.05 and 90 percent statistical power, the smallest detectable effect size is 16 percent. This is about in line with the effect size from the pilot study.

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB