Reference-Dependent Effort Provision under Heterogeneous Loss Aversion: Pre-Analysis Plan

Last registered on March 02, 2021
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Reference-Dependent Effort Provision under Heterogeneous Loss Aversion: Pre-Analysis Plan
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0007277
Initial registration date
March 01, 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
March 02, 2021, 6:40 AM EST

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

Locations

Country
United States of America
Region
UCSD Econ Lab

Primary Investigator

Name
Alexandre Kellogg
Affiliation
UCSD
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Pol Campos-Mercade
PI Affiliation
University of Copenhagen
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Lorenz Goette
PI Affiliation
National University of Singapore
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PI Name
Charles Sprenger
PI Affiliation
Caltech
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2021-03-04
End date
2021-03-26
Keywords
Behavior, Lab
Additional Keywords
Reference Dependence, Effort Provision
JEL code(s)
D81, D84, D12, D03
Secondary IDs
NSF Award 1949517
Abstract
In this study, we design a two-stage experiment to test the comparative static predictions of a leading model of reference-dependent preferences. In particular, we derive predictions from Koszegi and Rabin (2006, 2007) (henceforth KR) for both loss averse and gain loving individuals, and demonstrate how inconclusive average treatment effects from prior studies could be confounded by heterogeneity in gain-loss preferences. We then prepend a first stage to the classic experimental tests of KR in the real effort domain (Abeler et al, 2011; Gneezy et al, 2017) intended to measure individual gain-loss preferences, and examine the difference in treatment effects by type in our second stage.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Campos-Mercade, Pol et al. 2021. "Reference-Dependent Effort Provision under Heterogeneous Loss Aversion: Pre-Analysis Plan." AEA RCT Registry. March 02. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.7277-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Our intervention shifts the expectations of lab participants regarding their earnings. In particular, they will be presented compensation schemes (in random order) such that they earn 20 cents per task with probability 0.5, $0 with probability p, $10 with probability q. Our intervention is shifting q from 0.05 to 0.45, which should effect the effort participants are willing to put forth as predicted by KR.
Intervention Start Date
2021-03-05
Intervention End Date
2021-03-19

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Effort provision, as indicated by participants in a slider task.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Gain-loss distribution, correlation of gain-loss preferences over context.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Our experiment asks participants how much they are willing to work at various wages. To measure preferences, we first offer a menu of deterministic wages (eg 10 cents per task) as well as stochastic (eg 0.5 chance of 0 cents per task, 0.5 chance of 20 cents per task). Then, we present our intervention described above. In particular, they will be presented compensation schemes (in random order) such that they earn 20 cents per task with probability 0.5, $0 with probability p, $10 with probability q. Our intervention is shifting q from 0.05 to 0.45, which should effect the effort participants are willing to put forth as predicted by KR. Finally, we elicit preferences using standard monetary Multiple Price Lists, and pick a decision that counts at random.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Computer randomized.
Randomization Unit
Individual.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
500-800 participants
Sample size: planned number of observations
500 - 800
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
250-400 each
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
TE of between 12 and 30 tasks should be identifiable.
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
UCSD Human Research Protections Program (HRPP)
IRB Approval Date
2021-02-08
IRB Approval Number
200175
Analysis Plan

Analysis Plan Documents

Reference-Dependent Effort Provision under Heterogeneous Loss Aversion: Pre-Analysis Plan

MD5: daa006d77636085545fe93e48dcb41f5

SHA1: 8fba26e17abdb533dce931226ca1d3e637dccf7d

Uploaded At: March 01, 2021

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