Papers - All

Donald P Green

Cited by*: 0 Downloads*: 1

This essay summarizes the results of a large-scale randomized experiment conducted during the 2000 election campaign by the NAACP National Voter Fund, which sought to mobilize African-American voters. Focusing solely on the direct mail and phone banking components of the NAACP-NVF campaign, this study examines the voting behavior of 980,208 participants residing in single-voter households, 1.7 percent of whom were randomly assigned to a control group. The experiment permits us to estimate (1) the extent to which the National Voter Fund's phone calls and direct mail increased voter turnout and (2) the approximate cost per vote. Within this sample, the NVF's two pieces of GOTV mail, three live phone calls, and two recorded phone calls had modest effects, generating approximately 7,100 additional votes at $158 per vote. The upper bound of a 90 percent confidence interval puts these figures at 16,214 additional votes at $69 per vote.

Bruno S Frey, Stephan Meier

Cited by*: 0 Downloads*: 29

People behave pro-socially in a wide variety of situations that standard economic theory is unable to explain. Social comparison is one explanation for such pro-social behavior: people contribute if others contribute or cooperate as well. This paper tests social comparison in a field experiment at the University of Zurich. Each semester every single student has to decide whether he or she wants to contribute to two Social Funds. We provided 2500 randomly selected students with information about the average behavior of the student population. Some received the information that a high percentage of the student population contributed, while others received the information that a relatively low percentage contributed. The results show that people behave pro-socially, conditional on others. The more others cooperate, the more one is inclined to do so as well. The type of person is important. We are able to fix the "types" by looking at revealed past behavior. Some persons seem to care more about the pro-social behavior of others, while other "types" are not affected by the average behavior of the reference group.

Alpert Bernard

Cited by*: 0 Downloads*: 4

The article analyzes the validity and reliability of using the results of behavioral experiments in stimulating businessmen in real life situation. 301 samples of various fields namely business and non-business managers, students and military personnels were taken for the experiment. The businesss situation taken was that a manager had abruptly discharged his subordinate on the context of performance. The subjects were required to make a letter of advocacy and also were asked to write their opinion on the firing done by the manager. The letter of advocacy was the subject's effort, in writing, to support the point of view assigned to him. One point of view had the subject approving the manager's method of firing the subordinate and the other point of view had him disapproving. If change in opinion for both groups of advocates had occurred toward one point of view and not toward the other, then the change could have been reasonably attributed to bias in the topic. Military personnel showed the least significant opinion changes in advocating either of the two points of view. On the other extreme, business managers showed rather highly significant changes irrespective of point of view advocated.

Craig Gallet, John A List, Peter Orazem

Cited by*: 0 Downloads*: 0

The 1987 academic market was strong, whereas the 1997 market was weak. A multimarket theory of optimal search suggests that job seekers will respond to a weakening market by changing their search strategies at the extensive margin (which markets to enter) and the intensive margin (how many applications to submit per market). Employers respond to the weakening market by raising their hiring standards. High-quality applicants will obtain an increased share of academic interviews in weak markets while applicants from weaker schools will increasingly secure interviews outside of the academic market. Empirical results show that in the bust market, graduates of elite schools shifted their search strategies to include weaker academic institutions, while graduates of lower-ranked schools shifted their applications away from academia and toward the business sector. In bust conditions, academic institutions increasingly concentrate their interviews on elite school graduates, women, and U.S. residents

Juan-Camilo Cardenas

Cited by*: 0 Downloads*: 50

En esta ponencia queremos explorar, a partir de nuestros resultados de investigacion, posibles puentes de complementariedad y sinergia entre la economia experimental y los m_todos participativos de investigacion, para poder estudiar problemas rurales, en particular aquellos asociados al uso de recursos naturales por parte de las comunidades. Desde el 1er semestre del 2001 hasta la fecha hemos realizado una serie de talleres y experimentos economicos en varias comunidades del pas. En esta ponencia vamos a hacer referencia a los tres estudios de caso que se realizaron en el proyecto "Regulacion de Recursos Comunitarios: Ejercicios economicos en el campo" que se llevaron a cabo en el Neusa y la Vega en Cundinamarca, y el Parque Sanquianga en Nario. El proposito de estos estudios de caso era estudiar los problemas del uso comunitario de recursos como la pesca, la piangua y o el agua en una microcuenca. En cada comunidad se realizaron 26 sesiones de experimentos economicos con participacion de 130 campesinos en cada comunidad; igualmente se llevaron a cabo talleres y ejercicios desde el Diagnostico Rural Participativo (DRP) para discutir con los mismos participantes tanto los resultados de los experimentos como la problem_tica asociada al uso de estos recursos naturales. Dicha informacion fue sistematizada con el fin de contrastar los tres casos, y las posibles consistencias entre dos aproximaciones (economia experimental y herramientas participativas) que hasta el momento no han sido utilizadas de manera conjunta ni para las mismas situaciones. Como se presentar_, la economia experimental ofrece potencialidades interesantes para estudiar la validez de los modelos economicos de comportamiento de las personas frente a, por ejemplo, los dilemas del uso de recursos colectivos; igualmente puede ofrecer informacion muy detallada y verificable acerca de las decisiones micro de las personas; por su parte las metodolog?as participativas permiten explicar procesos y situaciones que un agente externo dif?cilmente puede comprender acerca de las causalidades e interacciones de factores que afectan la problem_tica de una comunidad. A traves de estos instrumentos podemos mostrar como estas dos metodologias pueden de una manera eficaz responder a preguntas centrales acerca del uso comunitario de recursos.

Vic Adamowicz, Jonathan E Alevy, John A List

Cited by*: 0 Downloads*: 10

Psychological insights have made inroads within most major areas of study in economics. One area where less advance has been made is environmental and resource economics. In this study, we examine the implications of preference reversals over evaluation modes, in which stated economic values critically depend on whether the good is valued jointly with others or in isolation. The question arises because two commonly used methods for eliciting stated preferences differ in that one presents objects together and another presents objects to be evaluated in isolation. Beyond showing an example of the import of behavioral economics, our empirical evidence sheds new light on the factors associated with insensitivity of valuations to the scope of the good

Anya Samek, Roman Sheremeta

Cited by*: 0 Downloads*: 18

Recognizing donors by revealing their identities is important for increasing charitable giving. We conducted a field experiment to examine how different recognition methods impact giving, and found that all forms of recognition that we examined had a positive impact on increasing donations, whereby recognizing only highest donors (positive recognition) and recognizing only lowest donors (negative recognition) had the most pronounced effect. We argue that selective recognition (both positive and negative) creates tournament-like incentives. Recognizing the highest donors activates the desire to seek a positive prize of prestige, thus increasing the proportion of donors who contribute large amounts. Recognizing the lowest donors activates the desire to avoid a negative prize of shame, thus decreasing the proportion of donors who do not contribute or contribute very little. Therefore, selective recognition is an effective tool that can be used in the field by charities to increase donations.

Thomas de Hoop, Ricardo Fort, Luuk van Kempen

Cited by*: 0 Downloads*: 14

This paper discusses voluntary contributions to health education in a shanty town in Peru, using a new experimental setup to identify voluntary contributions to local public goods. The experiment enables individuals to contribute to a health education meeting facilitated by an NGO, which they know will only be organised if the cumulative investment level exceeds a certain threshold value. In contrast to expectations of aid distributors, individuals contributed a substantial amount of money, despite the long-term nature of the health benefits from health education. High discount rates only seem to have had a detrimental effect on investment in a poorer subsample. Results from a complementary experiment, which identifies donations to a nutrition program, suggest that positive beliefs about short-term benefits from health education in the form of learning effects have played an important role in the investment decision. The results indicate that channelling decision-making power about public good provision to beneficiaries not necessarily implies a crowding out of investment in local public goods with long-term benefits. Hence, particular attention is given to the potential role of cash transfers in the financing of local public goods.

Richard Carson , Theodore Groves , John A List

Cited by*: 0 Downloads*: 1

Researchers, using contingent valuation (CV) to value changes in nonmarket goods, typically believe respondents always answer questions truthfully or they answer truthfully only when it is in their interest to do so. The second position, while consistent with economic theory, implies that interpreting survey responses depends critically on the incentive structure provided. We derive simple tests capable of distinguishing the two views. Our theoretical model for examining the incentive structure of a single binary choice relaxes the usual expected utility assumption. We test our theory using a field experiment involving voting to provide a public good. Experimental results are consistent theoretical predictions and cast doubt on the relevance of a large experimental literature using inconsequential questions and non-incentive-compatible mechanisms to make inferences about CV. The framework put forth should help in understanding the role played by theoretical conditions for preference elicitation and lend insight into the hypothetical bias literature.

Richard Damania, Per Fredriksson , John A List

Cited by*: 0 Downloads*: 5

This study uses a three-stage common agency model to explore the linkages between trade policy, corruption and environmental policy in an imperfect market setting. We show that the effect of trade liberalization on the stringency of environmental policy depends critically on the level of corruption-in relatively corrupt countries, trade openness leads to more stringent environmental policy. In such countries, this interaction, therefore, lends trade liberalization a type of "multiplier effect," raising both economic growth and environmental policy stringency.

Christopher Blattman, Julian C. Jamison, Margaret Sheridan

Cited by*: 0 Downloads*: 26

We show that a number of "non cognitive" skills and preferences, including patience and identity, are malleable in adults, and that investments in them reduce crime and violence. We recruited criminally-engaged men and randomized half to eight weeks of cognitive behavioral therapy designed to foster self-regulation, patience, and a noncriminal identity and lifestyle. We also randomized $200 grants. Cash alone and therapy alone initially reduced crime and violence, but effects dissipated over time. When cash followed therapy, crime and violence decreased dramatically for at least a year. We hypothesize that cash reinforced therapy's impacts by prolonging learning-by-doing, lifestyle changes, and self-investment.

Juan-Camilo Cardenas

Cited by*: 0 Downloads*: 9

No abstract available

Jared Rubin, Anya Samek, Roman Sheremeta

Cited by*: 0 Downloads*: 17

Firms face an optimization problem that requires a maximal quantity output given a quality constraint. How firms should incentivize quantity and quality to meet these dual goals remains an open question. We provide a theoretical model and conduct an experiment in which participants are paid for both quantity and quality of a real effort task. Consistent with the theoretical predictions, higher quality incentives encourage participants to shift their attention from quantity to quality and to decrease the error rate at the expense of lowering quantity of output. This quantity-quality trade-off is significantly impacted by the participant's ability and level of loss aversion.

Gerhard Klimeck, Anya Samek

Cited by*: 0 Downloads*: 8

We conducted an experiment with 30,000 users of a virtual nanotechnology facility, nanoHUB.org. We investigate the effect of virtual points and message framing on user participation in a survey. In one treatment, users receive points for completing the survey. In another treatment, users are exposed to a visual observation cue. We vary the social message, either emphasizing the private benefit to the user or the social benefit to the community of participation. Participation rates are increased through virtual points and for users receiving the private benefit messaging. The observation cue doesn't have an effect.

John A List, Anya Samek

Cited by*: 0 Downloads*: 4

An active area of research within economics concerns the underpinnings of why people give to charitable causes. This study takes a new approach to this question by exploring motivations for giving among children aged 3-5. Using data gathered from 122 children, our artefactual field experiment naturally permits us to disentangle pure altruism and warm glow motivators for giving. We find evidence for the existence of pure altruism but not warm glow. Our results suggest pure altruism is a fundamental component of our preferences, and highlight that warm glow preferences found amongst adults likely develop over time. One speculative hypothesis is that warm glow preferences are learned through socialization.

Edwin Leuven, Hessel Oosterbeek, Bas van der Klaauw

Cited by*: 0 Downloads*: 62

In a randomized field experiment where first year university students could earn financial rewards for passing all first year requirements within one year we find small and non-significant average effects of financial incentives on the pass rate and the numbers of collected credit points. There is however evidence that high ability students collect significantly more credit points when assigned to (larger) reward groups. Low ability students collect less credit points when assigned to larger reward groups. After three years these effects have increased, suggesting dynamic spillovers. The small average effect in the population is therefore the sum of a positive effect for high ability students and a (partly) off-setting negative effect for low ability students. A negative effect of financial incentives for less able individuals is in line with research from psychology and recent economic laboratory experiments which shows that external rewards may be detrimental for intrinsic motivation.

Inkyoung Hur, Sung-Hee Kim, Anya Samek, Ji Soo Yi

Cited by*: 0 Downloads*: 50

We investigate the effect of different interactive technologies on the decision-making process in an information search laboratory experiment. In our experiment, the participant makes a selection from a list of differently-valued objects with multiple attributes. We compare presenting information in static form to two methods of interactive presentation. In the first, the participant can manually sort objects by attribute, a capability similar to that found in spreadsheet software. In the second, we present an interactive visual tool that (1) automatically sorts all objects by attribute and (2) uses visual cues for comparisons. Manual sorting capability does not cause an improvement in decisions in this context. On the other hand, the visual tool increases the value of the objects selected by the participant and decreases time spent deliberating. We also find that our interactive presentations affect the decision-making process of participants by changing the number of intermediate options considered. Our results highlight the importance of investigating the effect of technology on information search, and suggest that appropriate interactive visual displays may improve search in practice.

Carlos A Alpizar, Steven Buck

Cited by*: 0 Downloads*: 12

In this paper, we distinguish between horizontal and vertical trust. We investigate how these measures of trust, as well as measures of trustworthiness and risk aversion are related to the probability of rural farmers of having had a loan from a bank. Using experimental and survey data from 191 farmers of the Amazon region of Ecuador, we find that: (1) controlling for risk aversion, women do not trust differently than men in each trust game, however, women compared to men do trust outside professionals more than community members, and (2) isolated rural farmers with stronger preferences for trusting outside professionals experience higher levels of bank loan uptake.

John A List

Cited by*: 0 Downloads*: 3

Given the importance of job placement for Ph.D.s, it is surprising that economists have not closely examined the factors that affect procuring job interviews for new Ph.D. economists.' In this study, I investigated those factors using a data set gathered at the 1997 American Economic Association (AEA) meetings in New Orleans. My purpose was to increase the information available to Ph.D. candidates who wish to maximize their postgraduation job prospects. In addition, this study may guide undergraduates and master's candidates who seek to pursue a Ph.D. in economics. The results of the findings, however, could benefit more than job seekers-they may provide academic departments and private industry with a comparative baseline for making decisions to interview job candidates. The job market for new Ph.D.s consists of two submarkets-academic and businesshndustry. The following are questions regarding job seekers in both submarkets. (1) Do employers in academia seek the same attributes as businesshndustry? (2) Is there discrimination in the interview decision? (3) Is an MBA important in the Ph.D. market? (4) How many more interviews are secured by candidates with a finished dissertation? (5) How important are teaching and research credentials? (6) Are graduates from top-ranked programs given special consideration in the job market? (7) Do personal letters of recommendation or calls from professors make a difference in the interview decision? (8) How influential are recommendation letters from prestigious economists? (9) What is the marginal effect of submitting another application? A simple theoretic construct provides a basis for understanding the two-step job-search process carried out by new Ph.D. economists.* In the first step, the job seeker decides whether to enter one or both submarkets and determines the optimal number of applications to submit. The second step reflects the actual decision process regarding acceptance or rejection of a job offer. Because a natural prerequisite to securing a job is an initial interview, my main focus in this study was to discover the optimal job search strategies for new Ph.D. economists by determining applicant characteristics that are conducive to obtaining interviews.

Nick Drydakis

Cited by*: 0 Downloads*: 7

This research examines the possible discrimination faced by gay men compared to heterosexuals when applying for jobs in the Greek private sector. This issue was addressed through the observation of employer hiring decisions. Mailing pairs of curriculum vitae, distinguished only by the sexual orientation of the applicants, led to the observation that gay men faced a significantly lower chance of receiving an invitation for an interview. However, in cases where employers called applicants back, the wages offered did not differ significantly between gay and heterosexual applicants. Nevertheless, there is substantial evidence to suggest that discrimination based on sexual orientation does exist in the Greek labour market, and at alarmingly high levels.