Company Happiness Ratings and Jobseeker Behavior

Last registered on December 19, 2022
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Company Happiness Ratings and Jobseeker Behavior
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0007170
Initial registration date
February 18, 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
February 19, 2021, 11:19 AM EST

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

Last updated
December 19, 2022, 8:31 AM EST

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

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Name
George Ward
Affiliation
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2019-11-01
End date
2025-01-01
Keywords
Behavior, Labor
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
In this paper we study the effect of showing jobseekers information about the subjective well-being of incumbent workers. We conduct a field experiment on a large jobs website. We collect information on the happiness of firms' current and former workers, as part of the website's ongoing collection of review and ratings data. We experimentally display aggregate company-level happiness levels to users on the site, and study the effects of showing this information on application decisions.


External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Ward, George. 2022. "Company Happiness Ratings and Jobseeker Behavior ." AEA RCT Registry. December 19. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.7170-2.1
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2021-02-22
Intervention End Date
2021-04-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Applications
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Clicks on "Apply Now" button.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Users are randomized into either control or treatment. Treated users will see aggregate-level subjective well-being information ("happiness scores") displayed on company profile pages.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization is based on user cookies, and is carried out using the company's in-house A/B testing platform.
Randomization Unit
Cookie
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
2 countries
Sample size: planned number of observations
50% of website traffic
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
25% of website traffic in control, 25% of website traffic in 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
MIT Committee on the Use of Humans as Experimental Subjects
IRB Approval Date
2020-11-01
IRB Approval Number
E-2700
Analysis Plan