scholarly journals Why Do Defaults Affect Behavior? Experimental Evidence from Afghanistan

2018 ◽  
Vol 108 (10) ◽  
pp. 2868-2901 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua Blumenstock ◽  
Michael Callen ◽  
Tarek Ghani
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Impact Behavior ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
Default Options ◽  
Cognitive Cost

We report on an experiment examining why default options impact behavior. By randomly assigning employees to different varieties of a salary-linked savings account, we find that default enrollment increases participation by 40 percentage points—an effect equivalent to providing a 50 percent matching incentive. We then use a series of experimental interventions to differentiate between explanations for the default effect, which we conclude is driven largely by present-biased preferences and the cognitive cost of thinking through different savings scenarios. Default assignment also changes employees’ attitudes toward saving, and makes them more likely to actively decide to save after the study concludes. (JEL C93, D14, D91, O12)

scholarly journals Discrimination by politicians against religious minorities: Experimental evidence from the UK

2021 ◽  
pp. 135406882110210
Author(s):  
Lee Crawfurd ◽  
Ukasha Ramli
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Minority Group ◽  
Conservative Party ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
Correspondence Study ◽  
The Uk

Are Labour party politicians anti-Semitic, and are Conservative party politicians Islamophobic? In this correspondence study we measure the responsiveness of elected local representatives in the United Kingdom to requests from putative constituents from minority religious groups. We send short email requests to 10,268 local government representatives from each of the main political parties, from stereotypically Islamic, Jewish, and Christian names. Response rates are six to seven percentage points lower to stereotypically Muslim or Jewish names. The two major political parties both show equal bias towards the two minority group names. Results suggest that the bias in response may be implicit. Bias is lower in more dense and diverse locations.

scholarly journals Together We Will: Experimental Evidence on Female Voting Behavior in Pakistan

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 207-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xavier Giné ◽  
Ghazala Mansuri
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Voting Behavior ◽  
Awareness Campaign ◽  
Emerging Democracies ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
Percent Increase ◽  
Party Vote Shares ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Percent Decrease

In many emerging democracies women are less likely to vote than men and, when they do vote, are likely to follow the wishes of male household and clan heads. We assess the impact of a voter awareness campaign on female turnout, candidate choice and party vote shares. Geographic clusters within villages were randomly assigned to treatment or control, and within treated clusters, some households were not targeted. Compared to women in control clusters, both targeted and untargeted women in treated clusters are 11 percentage points more likely to vote, and are also more likely to exercise independence in candidate choice, indicating large spillovers. Data from polling stations suggests that treating 10 women increased female turnout by about seven votes, resulting in a cost per vote of US$3.1. Finally, a 10 percent increase in the share of treated women at the polling station led to a 7 percent decrease in the share of votes of the winning party. (JEL D72, J12, J16, O12, O17, Z13)

Gray University Degrees: Experimental Evidence from India

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 292-309
Author(s):  
Tanmoy Majilla ◽  
Matthias Rieger
Keyword(s):  
Emerging Markets ◽  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Entry Level ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
Indian Context ◽  
The Impact

Scams involving university degrees are flourishing in many emerging markets. Using a resume experiment in India, this paper studies the impact of gray degrees, or potentially bought academic credentials from questionable universities, on callback rates to job applications. The experiment varied the type of degree (no, gray, and authentic) in online applications to entry-level jobs that require no university qualification. We find that gray degrees increase callback rates by 42 percent or 8 percentage points relative to having no degree. However, we also document that gray degrees fare on average worse than authentic degrees. These empirical patterns are consistent with a model where employers have beliefs about the authenticity of degrees and are discounting gray-degree universities probabilistically. We discuss our findings with respect to the Indian context.

scholarly journals How Research Affects Policy: Experimental Evidence from 2,150 Brazilian Municipalities

2021 ◽  
Vol 111 (5) ◽  
pp. 1442-1480
Author(s):  
Jonas Hjort ◽  
Diana Moreira ◽  
Gautam Rao ◽  
Juan Francisco Santini
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Evaluation Studies ◽  
Research Information ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Poor Countries ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Effective Policy ◽  
Reminder Letters ◽  
Larger Sample

Can research findings change political leaders’ beliefs and policies? We use experiments with 2,150 Brazilian municipalities to measure mayors’ demand for and response to research information. In one experiment, we find that mayors are willing to pay to learn the results of evaluation studies, and update their beliefs when informed of the findings. They value larger-sample studies more, while not distinguishing between studies in rich and poor countries. In a second experiment, we find that informing mayors about research on a simple and effective policy, taxpayer reminder letters, increases the probability the policy is implemented by 10 percentage points. (JEL D72, D78, D83, O17, O18)

scholarly journals Discrimination by Politicians against Religious Minorities: Experimental Evidence from the UK

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee Crawfurd ◽  
Ukasha Ramli
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Minority Group ◽  
Conservative Party ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
Correspondence Study ◽  
The Uk

Are Labour party politicians anti-Semitic, and are Conservative party politicians Islamophobic? In this correspondence study we measure the responsiveness of elected local representatives in the United Kingdom to requests from putative constituents from minority religious groups. We send short email requests to 10,268 local government representatives from each of the main political parties, from stereotypically Islamic, Jewish, and Christian names. Response rates are six to seven percentage points lower to stereotypically Muslim or Jewish names. The two major political parties both show equal bias towards the two minority group names. Results suggest that the bias in response may be implicit. Bias is lower in more dense and diverse locations.

scholarly journals Investigating the origin and consequences of endogenous default options in repeated economic choices

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joaquina Couto ◽  
Leendert van Maanen ◽  
Maël Lebreton
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Time Pressure ◽  
Internal State ◽  
Choice Process ◽  
Endogenous Default ◽  
Economic Decision Making ◽  
Choice Proportion ◽  
Pressure Time ◽  
Default Options ◽  
Economic Choices

AbstractClassical value-based decision theories state that economic choices are solely based on the value of available options. Experimental evidence suggests, however, that individuals’ choices are biased towards default options, prompted by the framing of decisions. Although the effects of default options created by exogenous framing – such as how choice options are displayed – are well-documented, little is known about the potential effects and properties of endogenous framing, that is, originating from an individual’s internal state. In this study, we investigated the existence and properties of endogenous default options in a task involving choices between risky lotteries. By manipulating and examining the effects of three experimental features – time pressure, time spent on task and relative choice proportion towards a specific option –, we reveal and dissociate two features of endogenous default options which bias individuals’ choices: a natural tendency to prefer certain types of options (natural default), and the tendency to implicitly learn a default option from past choices (learned default). Additional analyses suggest that while the natural default may bias the standard choice process towards an option category, the learned default effects may be attributable to a second independent choice process. Overall, these investigations provide a first experimental evidence of how individuals build and apply diverse endogenous default options in economic decision-making and how this biases their choices.

scholarly journals Face-Saving Strategies Increase Self-Reported Non-Compliance with COVID-19 Preventive Measures: Experimental Evidence from 12 Countries

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-François Daoust ◽  
Éric Bélanger ◽  
Ruth Dassonneville ◽  
Erick Lachapelle ◽  
Richard Nadeau ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Survey Research ◽  
Response Bias ◽  
Treatment Effect ◽  
Preventive Measures ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
Potential Source ◽  
The Face ◽  
Face Saving

Studies of citizens’ compliance with COVID-19 preventive measures routinely rely on survey data. While essential, public health restrictions provide clear signals of what is socially desirable in this context, creating a potential source of response bias in self-reported measures of compliance. In this research, we examine whether the results of a face-saving-strategy that was recently proposed by Daoust et al. (2020) to loosen this constraint are generalizable across twelve countries, and whether the treatment effect varies across subgroups. Our findings show that the face-saving strategy is a very useful tool in every country included, increasing respondents’ proclivity to report non-compliance by 9 to 16 percentage points. This effect holds for different subgroups based on gender, age and education. We conclude that the inclusion of this strategy should be the new standard for survey research that aims to provide crucial data on the current pandemic.

scholarly journals Student Loan Nudges: Experimental Evidence on Borrowing and Educational Attainment

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 108-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin M. Marx ◽  
Lesley J. Turner
Keyword(s):  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Financial Aid ◽  
Student Loans ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Student Loan ◽  
Public Colleges ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
Choice Sets ◽  
Theoretical Analyses

We provide the first experimental evidence on the effect of student loans on educational attainment. Loan amounts listed in financial aid award letters (“offers”) do not alter students’ choice sets but significantly affect borrowing. Students randomly receiving a nonzero offer were 40 percent more likely to borrow than those who received a $0 offer. Per additional borrower, loans increased by $4,000, GPA and completed credits increased by 30 percent, and transfers to four-year public colleges increased by 11 percentage points. Cost-benefit and theoretical analyses suggest nonzero offers enhance welfare, yet over five million students are not currently offered loans. (JEL D14, D91, I22, I23)

scholarly journals A guilt-free strategy increases self-reported non-compliance with COVID-19 preventive measures: Experimental evidence from 12 countries

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. e0249914
Author(s):  
Jean-François Daoust ◽  
Éric Bélanger ◽  
Ruth Dassonneville ◽  
Erick Lachapelle ◽  
Richard Nadeau ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Survey Research ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Response Bias ◽  
Treatment Effect ◽  
Preventive Measures ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
Potential Source

Studies of citizens’ compliance with COVID-19 preventive measures routinely rely on survey data. While such data are essential, public health restrictions provide clear signals of what is socially desirable in this context, creating a potential source of response bias in self-reported measures of compliance. In this research, we examine whether the results of a guilt-free strategy recently proposed to lessen this constraint are generalizable across twelve countries, and whether the treatment effect varies across subgroups. Our findings show that the guilt-free strategy is a useful tool in every country included, increasing respondents’ proclivity to report non-compliance by 9 to 16 percentage points. This effect holds for different subgroups based on gender, age and education. We conclude that the inclusion of this strategy should be the new standard for survey research that aims to provide crucial data on the current pandemic.

How do memory modules differentially contribute to familiarity and recollection?

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olya Hakobyan ◽  
Sen Cheng
Keyword(s):  
Recognition Memory ◽  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Subjective Experience ◽  
Target Article ◽  
Memory Modules ◽  
Familiarity And Recollection ◽  
Memory Contents

Abstract We fully support dissociating the subjective experience from the memory contents in recognition memory, as Bastin et al. posit in the target article. However, having two generic memory modules with qualitatively different functions is not mandatory and is in fact inconsistent with experimental evidence. We propose that quantitative differences in the properties of the memory modules can account for the apparent dissociation of recollection and familiarity along anatomical lines.

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