Consistency of Risk Preference Measures and the Role of Ambiguity: An Artefactual Field Experiment from China

The not-invented-here (NIH) syndrome describes a negatively-shaped attitude of employees towards externally generated knowledge. Despite being cited as one of the largest barriers in the transfer of external knowledge, empirical evidence on interventions to overcome NIH remains scarce. To address this research gap, we design a brief and specificrecategorisational-intervention on basis of the common in-group identity model in order to change employees’ attitudes towards external knowledge directly. Additionally, we take into account the effects of affirmations as a frequently mentioned countermeasure to NIH and also investigate the role of dual identities in recategorisation. To test our hypothesis, we conducted a large field experiment with a total of 1,097 employees within a multinational organisation. Results revealed that (I) organisational identification and status are positively related to higher levels of NIH, (II) a recategorisational-intervention completely removes the NIH bias and leads to a significant increase in the evaluation of external knowledge.

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The Role of Behavioral Frictions in Health Insurance Marketplace Enrollment and Risk: Evidence from a Field Experiment

The American Economic Review ◽

10.1257/aer.20190823 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 111 (5) ◽

pp. 1549-1574

Author(s):

Richard Domurat ◽

Isaac Menashe ◽

Wesley Yin

Keyword(s):

Health Insurance ◽

Field Experiment ◽

Positive Selection ◽

Adverse Selection ◽

Low Income ◽

Market Risk ◽

Selection Model ◽

Heterogeneous Effects ◽

Low Income Consumers

We experimentally varied information mailed to 87,000 households in California’s health insurance marketplace to study the role of frictions in insurance take-up. Reminders about the enrollment deadline raised enrollment by 1.3 pp (16 percent) in this typically low take-up population. Heterogeneous effects of personalized subsidy information indicate misperceptions about program benefits. Consistent with an adverse selection model with frictional enrollment costs, the intervention lowered average spending risk by 5.1 percent, implying that marginal respondents were 37 percent less costly than inframarginal consumers. We observe the largest positive selection among low income consumers, who exhibit the largest frictions in enrollment. Finally, we estimate the implied value of the letter intervention to be $25 to $53 per month in subsidy dollars. These results suggest that frictions may partially explain low take-up for marketplace insurance, and that interventions reducing them can improve enrollment and market risk in exchanges. (JEL C93, G22, G52, H75, I13)

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The role of family members and social norms in the demand for maternal health services: Evidence from a field experiment in India

AEA Randomized Controlled Trials ◽

10.1257/rct.7906 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Anushka Chawla ◽

Pooja Suri

Keyword(s):

Maternal Health ◽

Health Services ◽

Social Norms ◽

Field Experiment ◽

Family Members ◽

Maternal Health Services

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Risky Politics? Associations between Adolescent Risk Preference and Political Engagement

10.31234/osf.io/ea6hw ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Benjamin Oosterhoff

Keyword(s):

Risk Preference ◽

Political Engagement ◽

Political Interest ◽

Government Officials ◽

Adolescent Risk ◽

Future Data ◽

Monitoring The Future ◽

Nationally Representative ◽

Adaptive Role

This study examined associations among adolescent risk preference and political engagement using nationally representative Monitoring the Future data from high school seniors (N=109,574; modal age=18 years) spanning 1976-2014. Greater risk preference was associated with greater past voting, donating to a campaign, writing government officials, boycotting, and protesting. Greater risk preference was associated with higher future intentions to boycott and protest, but lower intentions to donate to or volunteer for a campaign. In general, associations between risk preference and political engagement became stronger with higher levels of political interest. Results highlight the importance of considering the adaptive role of adolescent risk preference and suggest that political engagement may be a constructive outlet for youth who pursue or are comfortable taking risks.

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Potential forMethanosarcinato contribute to uranium reduction during acetate-promoted groundwater bioremediation

10.1101/202242 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Dawn E Holmes ◽

Roberto Orelana ◽

Ludovic Giloteaux ◽

Li-Ying Wang ◽

Pravin Shrestha ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Field Experiment ◽

Electron Donor ◽

Enrichment Culture ◽

Cell Suspensions ◽

Contaminated Groundwater ◽

Subunit A ◽

Sedimentary Environments

AbstractPrevious studies ofin situbioremediation of uranium-contaminated groundwater with acetate injections have focused on the role ofGeobacterspecies in U(VI) reduction because of a lack of other abundant known U(VI)-reducing microorganisms. Monitoring the levels of methyl CoM reductase subunit A (mcrA) transcripts during an acetate-injection field experiment demonstrated that acetoclastic methanogens from the genusMethanosarcinawere enriched after 40 days of acetate amendment. The increased abundance ofMethanosarcinacorresponded with an accumulation of methane in the groundwater. An enrichment culture dominated by aMethanosarcinaspecies with the sameMethanosarcina mcrAsequence that predominated in the field experiment could effectively convert acetate to methane. In order to determine whetherMethanosarcinaspecies could be participating in U(VI) reduction in the subsurface, cell suspensions ofM. barkeriwere incubated in the presence of U(VI) with acetate provided as the electron donor. U(VI) was reduced by metabolically activeM. barkericells, however, no U(VI) reduction was observed in inactive controls. These results demonstrate thatMethanosarcinaspecies could play an important role in the long-term bioremediation of uranium-contaminated aquifers after depletion of Fe(III) oxides limits the growth ofGeobacterspecies. The results also suggest thatMethanosarcinahave the potential to influence uranium geochemistry in a diversity of anaerobic sedimentary environments.

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