Delegation of immoral decisions

Last registered on August 23, 2021
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Delegation of immoral decisions
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0008099
Initial registration date
August 19, 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
August 23, 2021, 10:25 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country
United States of America
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Frauke von Bieberstein
Affiliation
University of Bern
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Eberhard Feess
PI Affiliation
Victoria University of Wellington
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2020-10-11
End date
2022-12-31
Keywords
Behavior, Lab
Additional Keywords
delegation; Immoral decisions
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
The project investigates to what extent the delegation of decisions can lead to morally questionable decisions being made more frequently. We consider three-stage delegation decisions and examine whether immoral decisions are made more frequently compared to a situation with two-stage delegation or no delegation at all.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Feess, Eberhard and Frauke von Bieberstein. 2021. "Delegation of immoral decisions." AEA RCT Registry. August 23. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.8099-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2021-08-23
Intervention End Date
2021-10-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Share of unfair split decisions
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Three treatments are to be carried out: In treatment 1, person A must make the moral decision themself, in treatment 2, A can decide for themself or delegate the decision to a person B, who then has to decide for themself, and in treatment 3, person B can, if delegated to him/her, decide for themself or delegate it to person C, who then has to decide.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
The treatments will be randomly assigned to people accepting the HIT.
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
In total approximately 5’400 participants
Sample size: planned number of observations
In total approximately 5’400 participants
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
About 1’800 participants for each of the three treatments.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Ethics Committee University of Bern, Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences
IRB Approval Date
2021-07-14
IRB Approval Number
182021
Analysis Plan

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