Monetary Harm, Study 1

Last registered on February 25, 2022

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Monetary Harm, Study 1
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0009030
Initial registration date
February 25, 2022

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 25, 2022, 12:50 PM EST

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

Locations

Region

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
University of Melbourne

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
University of Zurich

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2022-03-03
End date
2022-03-04
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
We study under which conditions people are willing to take more money from one individual compared to a group of people.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Alós-Ferrer, Carlos and Michele Garagnani. 2022. "Monetary Harm, Study 1." AEA RCT Registry. February 25. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.9030-1.0
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Participants are invited to a behavioral laboratory in multiples of 6 and are truthfully informed of the design of the study. During the experiment, participants face three interaction situations, which involve other participants. Moreover, in each situation participants are randomly assigned to one of two roles, Active or Passive.
Intervention (Hidden)
In situation 1, each participant in the Active role (1-B) is paired with one participant in the Passive role (2-B). Participants in the Passive role receive a monetary endowment E = 10 CHF. Participants in the Active role receive no endowment, but they can take
money (xB) from the Passive participant they are paired with (only from him/her), 0 ≤ xB ≤ 10.
In situation 2, participants in the Active role (1-G) are matched with five participants in the Passive role (2-G). Participants in the Passive role receive a monetary endowment of E = 10 CHF each. Participants in the Active role receive no endowment, but can take money (xG) from each of the five Passive participants (the same amount from each of them). That is, 1G receives 5xG and xG is taken from each 1-B, with 0 ≤ xG ≤ 10.

In situation 3 each participant in the Active role is paired with one participant in the Passive role and she is asked multiple questions about how to distribute money between herself and this other participant. If this situation is payoff-relevant (see below), at
the end of the experiment, one of the questions is selected at random and the Active participant’s answer is implemented.
Intervention Start Date
2022-03-03
Intervention End Date
2022-03-04

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Amount of money taken from the bilateral interaction and from the group interaction.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Behavior in a modified dictator game
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Participants are invited to a behavioral laboratory in multiples of 6 and are truthfully informed of the design of the study. During the experiment, participants face three interaction situations, which involve other participants. Moreover, in each situation participants are randomly assigned to one of two roles, Active or Passive.
Experimental Design Details
In situation 1, each participant in the Active role (1-B) is paired with one participant in the Passive role (2-B). Participants in the Passive role receive a monetary endowment E = 10 CHF. Participants in the Active role receive no endowment, but they can take
money (xB) from the Passive participant they are paired with (only from him/her), 0 ≤ xB ≤ 10.
In situation 2, participants in the Active role (1-G) are matched with five participants in the Passive role (2-G). Participants in the Passive role receive a monetary endowment of E = 10 CHF each. Participants in the Active role receive no endowment, but can take money (xG) from each of the five Passive participants (the same amount from each of them). That is, 1G receives 5xG and xG is taken from each 1-B, with 0 ≤ xG ≤ 10.

In situation 3 each participant in the Active role is paired with one participant in the Passive role and she is asked multiple questions about how to distribute money between herself and this other participant. If this situation is payoff-relevant (see below), at
the end of the experiment, one of the questions is selected at random and the Active participant’s answer is implemented.
Randomization Method
The order in which situation 1 and situation 2 are presented is randomized between
participants, and their labels are adjusted accordingly.
Participants are assigned to groups and roles in a random way.
Randomization Unit
Individuals
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
1
Sample size: planned number of observations
N=60
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
N=60
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Our hypotheses concern the within-person comparison of the amount taken from a single individual and from each of the individuals in the group, that is, xB and xG. A power analysis was conducted to determine the required sample size. The main test is a within-subject Wilcoxon signed-rank test to investigate statistical differences in the amounts xB and xG. The sample size to have enough power (0.8) to detect a medium effect (d = 0.33) is N = 60. Additional regression analyses controlling for other factors (demographics) have more power than the non-parametric test. We will collect data session-by-session until we reach or exceed N = 60 (each session needs to have a multiple of 6 number of participants, and there might be no-shows). We will exclude participants with economics or psychology field of studies from recruitment. No participant who completes the experiment will be excluded from the analysis.
Supporting Documents and Materials

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IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Human Subjects Committee of the Faculty of Economics, Business Administration, and Information Technology, University of Zurich
IRB Approval Date
2022-02-02
IRB Approval Number
OEC IRB # 2022-011
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