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on Experimental Economics |
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Issue of 2023‒09‒18
23 papers chosen by |
| By: | Kaiser, Tim (University of Kaiserslautern); Menkhoff, Lukas (DIW Berlin); Oberrauch, Luis (University of Kaiserslautern) |
| Abstract: | We study the age-dependent malleability of patience via educational interventions designed to foster financial decision-making capabilities and to induce a more future-oriented mindset. We conduct a field experiment covering both youths and adults in Uganda and aggregate evidence from earlier experiments to study the generalizability of effects. In our field experiment, we find heterogenous effects by age: adults' patience and discount factors are unaffected by the intervention after 15 months follow-up, but we observe large effects on patience and estimated discount factors and field saving behavior for youth. In the meta-analysis, we find that the results are generalizable across contexts. |
| Keywords: | patience, time preferences, malleability, field experiment, educational intervention |
| JEL: | C93 D15 I21 G53 |
| Date: | 2023–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16399&r=exp |
| By: | Paul Bettega; Paolo Crosetto; Dimitri Dubois; Rustam Romaniuc |
| Abstract: | People use commitment devices to formalize and facilitate their goals. Self-commitments are ubiquitous and may take different forms: soft, when the commitment can be broken at a low cost, or hard, when that cost is high. The effects of soft and hard commitments have usually been studied separately. We conduct an online experiment with 1527 individuals representative of a big gambling company’s client population to study the comparative effects of hard and soft commitment devices in a risk taking game. Our results show that asking for a hard limit leads subjects to reduce their risk-taking even when the limit turns out to be non-binding, i.e., the commitment is ex-post soft. Hard commitments lead to slightly lower levels of risk taking. |
| Keywords: | Soft Commitment, Hard Commitment, Risk Taking, Self-Control |
| JEL: | C93 D02 D91 |
| Date: | 2023–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gbl:wpaper:2023-05&r=exp |
| By: | Klara Kinnl (Department of Economics, Vienna University of Economics and Business); Jakob Möller (Institute for Markets and Strategy, Vienna University of Economics and Business); Anna Walter (Institute for Markets and Strategy, Vienna University of Economics and Business; Institute for Advanced Studies Vienna) |
| Abstract: | We investigate gender differences in individual credit claiming for teamwork. In a large-scale online experiment, participants work on an interactive task in teams of two and subsequently report their subjective contribution to the teamwork. In three between-subject treatments, we incentivize participants to either i) state their beliefs about their contribution truthfully, ii) to exaggerate their contribution, or iii) to exaggerate and thereby harm the other team member. Our setup allows us to distinguish between overconfidence and exaggeration with and without negative externalities, and to test whether there is a gender gap in credit claiming. We find that men and women both equally overestimate their contributions, but men exaggerate more than women: As soon as there is an incentive to exaggerate, men claim to have contributed more than women, even when exaggeration harms the team member. This gender gap in credit claiming is particularly pronounced among very large claims and for high-contributors. Strategic misrepresentations of contributions to teamwork can thus have sizeable equity consequences on the labor market. |
| Keywords: | Experiment, Gender differences, Incentives, Team work, Overconfidence, Beliefs |
| JEL: | J16 C92 D9 |
| Date: | 2023–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwwuw:wuwp345&r=exp |
| By: | Ginzburg, Boris (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid); Guerra, Jose Alberto (Universidad de los Andes); Lekfuangfu, Warn N. (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid) |
| Abstract: | Using a laboratory experiment, we study the incentives of individuals to contribute to a public good that is provided if and only if the fraction of contributors reaches a certain threshold. We jointly vary the size of the group, the cost of contributing, the required threshold, and the framing of contributions (giving to the common pool, or not taking from the common pool). We find that a higher threshold makes individuals more likely to contribute. The effect is strong enough that in a small group, raising the required threshold increases the probability that the public good is provided. In larger groups, however, the effect disappears. At the same time, we do not find a consistent effect of framing on the probability of contributing or on the likelihood of success. |
| Keywords: | threshold public goods; critical mass; framing effect; laboratory experiment |
| JEL: | C92 D91 H41 |
| Date: | 2023–08–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000089:020819&r=exp |
| By: | Afridi, Farzana (Indian Statistical Institute); Basistha, Ahana (Indian Statistical Institute); Dhillon, Amrita (King's College London); Serra, Danila (Texas A&M University) |
| Abstract: | What motivates individuals to participate in social activism? Do awareness campaigns and information about others' willingness to act play a role? We conduct an online experiment within a survey of nearly 2000 Indian men, focusing on activism to combat health sector fraud during the COVID-19 pandemic. In different treatment groups, we either provide information about the social problem, correct misaligned beliefs about others' willingness to act, or both. Participants are then cross-randomized to engage in one of three forms of activism: signing a petition, making a donation to an NGO fighting for the cause, or watching a video on ways to support the cause. We also experimentally examine the impact of allowing subjects to choose between the three forms of activism. Providing information and correcting downward biased beliefs about others increases petition signing, but has no impact on donations and video viewing. Giving participants a choice of actions decreases the probability of any single action being taken up. Our comprehensive examination of the factors influencing engagement in different forms of activism within a unified framework generates insights on the motivations behind participation in collective efforts for social change. |
| Keywords: | activism, information, beliefs, experiment |
| JEL: | D73 D83 I15 P0 |
| Date: | 2023–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16358&r=exp |
| By: | Kinnl, Klara; Möller, Jakob; Walter, Anna |
| Abstract: | We investigate gender differences in individual credit claiming for teamwork. In a large-scale online experiment, participants work on an interactive task in teams of two and subsequently report their subjective contribution to the teamwork. In three between-subject treatments, we incentivize participants to either i) state their beliefs about their contribution truthfully, ii) to exaggerate their contribution, or iii) to exaggerate and thereby harm the other team member. Our setup allows us to distinguish between overconfidence and exaggeration with and without negative externalities, and to test whether there is a gender gap in credit claiming. We find that men and women both equally overestimate their contributions, but men exaggerate more than women: As soon as there is an incentive to exaggerate, men claim to have contributed more than women, even when exaggeration harms the team member. This gender gap in credit claiming is particularly pronounced among very large claims and for high-contributors. Strategic misrepresentations of contributions to teamwork can thus have sizeable equity consequences on the labor market. |
| Keywords: | Experiment; Gender differences; Incentives; Team work; Overconfidence; Beliefs |
| Date: | 2023–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wus005:45551070&r=exp |
| By: | Armenak Antinyan; Tigran Aydinyan; Anna Ressi; Lilia Wasserka-Zhurakhovska |
| Abstract: | While the existence of the in-group bias is a well-researched phenomenon in Economics, the established findings are of limited value for understanding its dynamics in the context of challenging societal and economic times. The aim of this paper is to shed more light on whether intergroup discrimination manifests itself differently in a loss compared to a gain domain (corresponding to periods of economic upturns and downturns). We run an online experiment with natural identities, in which participants allocate money between three recipients who vary in the social distance to the decision-maker. We find that, on average, the in-group favoritism documented in the gain domain vanishes in the loss domain. While this result seems to imply that participants become egalitarian in the loss domain, it is actually driven by out-group favoring allocation types becoming more extreme in their decisions. Overall, the loss domain leads to a stronger polarization regarding the question of how different social groups in the society should be treated. |
| Keywords: | in-group bias, favoritism, discrimination, gain and loss domain, polarization |
| JEL: | C99 D30 D63 D91 J10 J15 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10606&r=exp |
| By: | Fumarco, Luca (Masaryk University); Harrell, Benjamin (Trinity University); Button, Patrick (Tulane University); Schwegman, David J. (American University); Dils, E (YouthForce NOLA) |
| Abstract: | Racial, ethnic, and gender minorities face mental health disparities. While mental health care can help, minoritized groups could face discriminatory barriers in accessing it. Discrimination may be particularly pronounced in mental health care because providers have more discretion over accepting patients. Research documents discrimination broadly, including in access to health care, but there is limited empirical research on discrimination in access to mental health care. We provide the first experimental evidence, from a correspondence audit field experiment ("simulated patients" study), of the extent to which transgender and non-binary people, African Americans, and Hispanics face discrimination in access to mental health care appointments. We find significant discrimination against transgender or non-binary African Americans and Hispanics. We do not find evidence of discrimination against White transgender and non-binary prospective patients. We are mostly inconclusive as to if cisgender African Americans or Hispanics face discrimination, except we find evidence of discrimination against cisgender African American women. |
| Keywords: | mental health care, transgender, racial discrimination, audit, therapy |
| JEL: | C93 I14 J16 I11 I18 J15 |
| Date: | 2023–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16388&r=exp |
| By: | Georgia E. Buckle (University of Portsmouth); Wolfgang J. Luhan (University of Portsmouth) |
| Abstract: | We study whether money managers impose their risk preferences onto investments for clients paternalistically and whether they impose them more, the more their client’s risk preference differs from their own. We conduct an online experiment, where participants make an investment decision for themselves and on behalf of another participant (as money managers). When investing for another (the client), we use the strategy method to elicit decisions for every possible investment the other participant could have made for their own payoff, such that money managers have complete information of their client’s risk preference. With this, we systematically manipulate the difference in risk preference between the manager and client within subjects. Overall, we find that money managers do project their risk preferences onto clients’ investments due to paternalism. The manager’s risk preference significantly influenced their investment for others, despite knowing their client’s risk preference, and them having no stake in the decision. Investments were also significantly predicted by the client’s known risk preference, but this was a substantially worse predictor than the managers’ preference. We also find, as predicted, that managers do deviate further from their client’s risk preference, the more that preference differs from their own. |
| Keywords: | decision making for others, paternalism, risk preferences, experiment |
| JEL: | C91 D81 G11 G40 |
| Date: | 2023–08–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pbs:ecofin:2023-07&r=exp |
| By: | Werner, Katharina; Skali, Ahmed |
| Abstract: | How does conflict exposure affect trust? We hypothesize that direct (first-hand) experience with conflict induces parochialism: trust towards out-groups worsens, but trust towards in-groups, owing to positive experiences of kin solidarity, may improve. Indirect exposure to conflict through third-party accounts, on the other hand, reduces trust toward everyone. We find consistent support for our hypotheses in a lab-in-the-field experiment in Maluku, Indonesia, which witnessed a salient Christian-Muslim conflict during 1999-2002, as well as in three cross-country datasets exploiting temporal and spatial variation in exposure to violence. Our results help resolve a seeming contradiction in the literature and inform policies on resolving conflicts. |
| Keywords: | trust, conflict, direct exposure, indirect exposure, religion, discrimination |
| JEL: | C93 D74 Z12 Z13 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1319&r=exp |
| By: | Groß, Mona (Department of Health Care Management, University of Cologne, Germany); Hennig-Schmidt, Heike (Department of Economics, University of Bonn, Germany Departement of Health Economics and Health Management, University of Oslo, Norway); Wiesen, Daniel (Department of Health Care Management, University of Cologne, Germany) |
| Abstract: | We study how the heterogeneity in responses to performance pay can be explained by personality traits. We utilize data from behavioral experiments and surveys on personality traits with physicians, medical students, and non-medical students. Performance pay is introduced at a within-subject level and complements either fee-for-service or capitation. We find that the payment system matters regarding the behavioral impact of personality traits. More conscientious and more agreeable individuals provide higher quality of care under capitation. Although performance pay further improves the quality, more conscientious and agreeable individuals respond less to capitation-based performance pay. Other personality traits are not behaviorally relevant. Under fee-for-service-based schemes, personality traits do not significantly related to individuals’ behavior. Our findings inform the incentive design for physicians and the potential sorting into incentive schemes based on personality traits. |
| Keywords: | Fee-for-service; capitation; blended pay for performance; personality traits; quality of care; heterogeneity |
| JEL: | C91 I11 |
| Date: | 2023–09–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:oslohe:2023_005&r=exp |
| By: | Martin Brown (Study Center Gerzensee); Jan Schmitz (Radboud University); Christian Zehnder (University of Lausanne) |
| Abstract: | We report data from a laboratory experiment studying the behavioral mechanisms which contribute to the increase in strategic defaults during an economic crisis. In our experiment, subjects can default on an outstanding loan, but moral constraints and social norm enforcement may provide incentives to repay. We exogenously vary the state of the economy: In the weak economy more borrowers are forced to default than in the strong. Our data reveal two main effects of an economic contraction: First, weak economic conditions seem to soften moral constraints as solvent debtors strategically default more often. Second, weak economic conditions undermine social norm enforcement. The decrease in norm enforcement, however, is not caused by a break-down of the repayment norm itself, but rather is a consequence of the additional informational uncertainty in weak economic conditions. In a weak economy peers are reluctant to sanction, because the risk of harming innocent debtors is higher. |
| Date: | 2023–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:szg:worpap:2303&r=exp |
| By: | Kenju Kamei (Faculty of Economics, Keio University); Smriti Sharma (Business School, Newcastle University); Matthew J. Walker (Business School, Newcastle University) |
| Abstract: | Sanction enforcement offers the potential to mitigate free riding on punishment among multiple third parties. Cross-societal differences in the effectiveness of sanction enforcement may be explained by factors rooted in cultural evolution. This paper provides the first experiment to study third-party enforcement of punishment norms with and without opportunities for higher-order punishment by selecting two different societies in terms of the degree of ancestral kinship ties: India and the United Kingdom. In both societies, third parties strongly inflict punishment when they encounter a norm violation, and a third party's failure to punish the norm violator invites higher-order punishment from their fellow third parties. These behavioral patterns are consistent with a model of social preferences and literature from anthropology and theoretical biology. On the other hand, two clear cross-societal variation emerges. First, third-party enforcement is stronger in the UK than in India. Parallel to this behavioral pattern, a supplementary survey also validates the conjecture that people in a society with looser ancestral kinship ties (the UK) are relatively more willing to engage in pro-social punishment. Second, intriguingly, the group size effect varies across the two societies: whereas third parties free ride on others' punitive acts in the UK, they punish more when in the presence of other third parties in India. |
| Keywords: | Experiment, Cross-societal variation, Public Goods, Third-party punishment, Higher-order |
| JEL: | C92 H41 D01 D91 |
| Date: | 2023–08–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:keo:dpaper:2023-014&r=exp |
| By: | Bailey, Megan R. (University of Calgary); Brown, David P. (University of Alberta, Department of Economics); Shaffer, Blake (University of Calgary); Wolak, Frank A. (Stanford University) |
| Abstract: | We use a field experiment to measure the effectiveness of financial incentives and moral suasion “nudges” to shift the timing of electric vehicle (EV) charging. We find EV owners respond strongly to financial incentives, while nudges have no statistically discernible effect. When financial incentives are removed, charge timing reverts to pre-intervention behavior, showing no evidence of habit formation and reinforcing our finding that “money matters”. Our charge price responsiveness estimate is an order of magnitude larger than typical household electricity consumption elasticities. This result highlights the greater flexibility of EV charging over other forms of residential electricity demand. |
| Keywords: | Electric Vehicles; Demand Response; Nudges; Experiment |
| JEL: | Q41 Q48 Q55 Q58 R48 |
| Date: | 2023–08–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:albaec:2023_008&r=exp |
| By: | Oriana Bandiera; Vittorio Bassi; Robin Burgess; Imran Rasul; Munshi Sulaiman; Anna Vitali |
| Abstract: | There are 420 million young people in Africa today. Understanding how youth search for jobs and what affects their ability to find good jobs is of paramount importance. We do so using a field experiment tracking young job seekers for six years in Uganda's main cities. We examine how two standard labor market interventions impact their search for good jobs: vocational training, vocational training combined with matching youth to firms, and matching only. Training is offered in sectors with high quality firms. The matching intervention assigns workers for interviews with such firms. At baseline, unskilled youth are optimistic about their job prospects, especially over the job offer arrival rate from high quality firms. Those offered vocational training become even more optimistic, search more intensively and direct their search towards high quality firms. However, youth additionally offered matching become discouraged because call back rates from firm owners are far lower than their prior. As a result, they search less intensively and direct their search towards lower quality firms. These divergent expectations and search behaviors have persistent impacts: vocational trainees without match offers achieve greater labor market success, largely because they end up employed at higher quality firms than youth additionally offered matching. Our analysis highlights the foundational but separate roles of skills and expectations in job search, how interventions cause youth to become optimistic or discouraged, and how this matters for long run sorting and individual labor market outcomes. |
| JEL: | J64 O12 |
| Date: | 2023–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:31570&r=exp |
| By: | Ardislamov Vladlen (Ардисламов, Владлен) (The Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration) |
| Abstract: | Subject: the study is dedicated to a retrospective assessment of time intervals. Relevance: The theory of contextual change states that both attention and long-term memory are involved in estimating the length of past time intervals. However, the same manipulations on the test subjects under experimental conditions can lead to opposite effects. The probe task can either consume the resource of attention or create more short memorable events. The former should lead to a decrease in the interval estimate, and the latter to an increase. Scientific novelty: The predictions of this model have not been confirmed in the meta-analysis by its author, as well as in several studies with long (9-58 min) intervals. Methods: We conducted an experiment (N = 92) trying to establish the role of the resource of attention and long-term memory in the assessment of long time intervals. The results of the study show the assessment of time has no relationship with the cognitive load, or with the number of events remembered. However, a posteriori analysis of the data was carried out, inspired by the theory of metacognitive evaluation of the passage of time, first published in 2022. The results of a posteriori analysis showed the existence of a relationship between the estimated time and the discrepancy between the remembered events and the number of events perceived by the subjects (metacognitive component). Conclusions: based on this data, a metacognitive time estimation model is put forward and further studies are proposed to verify it. |
| Keywords: | contextual change model, hindsight, long-term memory, attention, metacognition |
| JEL: | D91 |
| Date: | 2021–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rnp:wpaper:w20220100&r=exp |
| By: | Shan Huang; Chen Wang; Yuan Yuan; Jinglong Zhao; Jingjing Zhang |
| Abstract: | Estimating the effects of long-term treatments in A/B testing presents a significant challenge. Such treatments -- including updates to product functions, user interface designs, and recommendation algorithms -- are intended to remain in the system for a long period after their launches. On the other hand, given the constraints of conducting long-term experiments, practitioners often rely on short-term experimental results to make product launch decisions. It remains an open question how to accurately estimate the effects of long-term treatments using short-term experimental data. To address this question, we introduce a longitudinal surrogate framework. We show that, under standard assumptions, the effects of long-term treatments can be decomposed into a series of functions, which depend on the user attributes, the short-term intermediate metrics, and the treatment assignments. We describe the identification assumptions, the estimation strategies, and the inference technique under this framework. Empirically, we show that our approach outperforms existing solutions by leveraging two real-world experiments, each involving millions of users on WeChat, one of the world's largest social networking platforms. |
| Date: | 2023–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2308.08152&r=exp |
| By: | Ivo Steimanis (University of Marburg); Max Burger (University of Marburg); Bernd Hayo (University of Marburg); Andreas Landmann (Friedrich-Alexander-Universitaet Erlangen-Nuernberg); Bjoern Vollan (University of Marburg) |
| Abstract: | The literature regarding the effects of environmental hazards on social preferences is mixed and partially contradictory. The lack of a baseline in these studies is a severe methodological constraint, as it is hard to identify heterogeneous treatment effects through experience in the recovery process. We exploit a panel of incentivized behavioral measures of solidarity conducted before and after the devastating damages caused by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. We find that Haiyan’s impact on individuals’ degree of solidarity was non-linear: solidarity was negatively affected in villages with medium damages, whereas no significant impact was observed in those villages that were most and least affected. A potential explanation for this non-linear effect is differences in people's experiences concerning the aid process and help from other villagers. In villages with medium damages, the quality of the aid process and help from other villagers was perceived to be significantly worse than that received by more and less affected villages. Lastly, survey evidence shows that the non-linear effects persist almost 10 years after the disaster. |
| Keywords: | Social preferences, environmental hazard, natural experiment, social dynamics, Typhoon Haiyan, Philippines |
| JEL: | Q54 C93 D91 O12 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mar:magkse:202319&r=exp |
| By: | Garbe, Lisa; McMurry, Nina; Scacco, Alexandra; Zhang, Kelly |
| Abstract: | Governments across the Global South have begun introducing biometric IDs (eIDs) in an attempt to improve citizen-state legibility. While such initiatives can improve government efficiency, they also raise important questions about citizen privacy, especially for groups with a history of mistrust in the state. If concerns about increased legibility produce differential eID uptake or changes in political behavior, eID initiatives may exacerbate societal inequalities. In a conjoint experiment with 2, 073 respondents from four Kenyan regions, we examine how perceptions of and willingness to register for eID under different policy conditions vary across politically dominant, opposition, and "securitized" (heavily policed) ethnic groups. Our results indicate broad support for expanded legibility, with respondents across groups preferring policies that link eIDs with a range of government functions. However, we find meaningful group-level variation in support for specific policy features, and suggestive evidence that policies facilitating greater surveillance may discourage opposition political participation. |
| Keywords: | Legibility, Surveillance, Digitalization, Kenya, Political Inequality, Ethnic Politics |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:wzbipi:spvii2023101&r=exp |
| By: | Bokern, Paul (RS: GSBE UM-BIC, Microeconomics & Public Economics, RS: GSBE other - not theme-related research); Linde, Jona (RS: GSBE UM-BIC, Microeconomics & Public Economics); Riedl, Arno (RS: GSBE UM-BIC, Microeconomics & Public Economics); Werner, Peter (RS: GSBE UM-BIC, Microeconomics & Public Economics) |
| Abstract: | We investigate how preferences have been affected by exposure to the COVID-19 crisis. Our main contributions are: first, our participant pool consists of a large general population sample; second, we elicited a wide range of preferences (risk, time, ambiguity, and social preferences) using different incentivized experimental tasks; third, we elicited preferences before the onset of the crises and in three additional waves during the crises over a time period of more than a year, allowing us to investigate both short-term and medium-term preference responses; fourth, besides the measurement of causal effects of the crisis, we also analyze within each wave during the crisis, how differential exposure to the crisis in the health and financial domain affects preferences. We find that preferences remain remarkably stable during the crisis. Comparing them before the start and during the crisis, we do not observe robust differences in any of the elicited preferences. Moreover, individual differences in the exposure to the crisis at best show only weak effects in the financial domain. |
| JEL: | C90 D01 |
| Date: | 2023–08–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:umagsb:2023012&r=exp |
| By: | Bellue, Suzanne (University of Mannheim); Bouguen, Adrien (Santa Clara University); Gurgand, Marc (Paris School of Economics); Munier, Valerie (University of Montpellier 1); Tricot, André (University of Montpellier 1) |
| Abstract: | While in-service teacher training programs are designed to enhance the performance of several cohorts of students, there is little evidence on the persistence of their effects. We present the two-year results of a large-scale, randomized study of an intensive in-service teacher training program in France: during and after implementation. Our estimates highlight the short-run effectiveness of the training program; it successfully improves students' outcomes but only during the implementation year. A detailed analysis of teachers' outcomes indicates that teachers changed their pedagogical vision and practices but struggled to apply acquired skills to contents not directly covered in the training. |
| Keywords: | in-service teacher training, professional development, teacher effect |
| JEL: | I20 |
| Date: | 2023–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16398&r=exp |
| By: | Lopez Garcia, Italo (University of Southern California); Luoto, Jill E. (University of Southern California); Aboud, Frances E. (McGill University); Fernald, Lia C.H. (University of California at Berkeley) |
| Abstract: | We present results two years after the end of a group-based parenting intervention tested in a cluster randomized control trial in rural Kenya. The original program consisted of 16 fortnightly village-based sessions over 8 months and had large positive impacts on children's cognition and parenting behaviors immediately after its end. Over the next two years, a random half of intervention villages received a light-touch "booster" intervention to offer continued yet less intensive program support. With and without the booster extension, early program impacts were sustained two years later, albeit smaller in magnitude. Boosters had a small positive added value on parenting behaviors and children's socioemotional development, despite the interruption of COVID-19 to their delivery. Sustained impacts on children's development were strongly mediated by improvements in parenting behaviors, disadvantaged families accrued the largest benefits, and two years later our program remains one of the most cost-effective and potentially scalable programs globally to date. These results point to encouraging paths forward for maximizing the reach and longer-term effectiveness of early childhood development programs to improve child development in low-resource remote settings. |
| Keywords: | parenting intervention, parenting behaviors, early child development, group-based delivery, rural Kenya |
| JEL: | H43 I10 I20 I38 O15 |
| Date: | 2023–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16392&r=exp |
| By: | Tadao Hoshino |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the causal interpretation of linear social interaction models in the presence of endogeneity in network formation under a heterogeneous treatment effects framework. We consider an experimental setting in which individuals are randomly assigned to treatments while no interventions are made for the network structure. We show that running a linear regression ignoring network endogeneity is not problematic for estimating the average direct treatment effect. However, it leads to sample selection bias and negative-weights problem for the estimation of the average spillover effect. To overcome these problems, we propose using potential peer treatment as an instrumental variable (IV), which is automatically a valid IV for actual spillover exposure. Using this IV, we examine two IV-based estimands and demonstrate that they have a local average treatment-effect-type causal interpretation for the spillover effect. |
| Date: | 2023–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2308.04276&r=exp |