How Field Experiments in Economics Can Complement Psychological Research on Judgment Biases

2021 ◽  
pp. 096372142110336
Author(s):  
John A. List
Keyword(s):  
Field Experiments ◽  
Tax Compliance ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Endowment Effect ◽  
Laboratory Research ◽  
Individual Behaviors ◽  
Judgment Biases ◽  
Omission Bias ◽  
Open Air Markets

This review summarizes results of field experiments examining individual behaviors across several market settings—from open-air markets to rideshare markets to tax-compliance markets—where people sort themselves into market roles wherein they make consequential decisions. Using three distinct examples from my own research on the endowment effect, left-digit bias, and omission bias, I showcase how field experiments can help researchers understand mediators, heterogeneity, and causal moderation involved in judgment biases in the field. In this manner, the review highlights that economic field experiments can serve an invaluable intellectual role alongside traditional laboratory research.

scholarly journals eResearch:  Ethics, Security, Design, and Control in Psychological Research on the Internet

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian A. Nosek ◽  
Mahzarin R. Banaji ◽  
Anthony G. Greenwald
Keyword(s):  
Data Storage ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Laboratory Research ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Security Design ◽  
Confidential Data ◽  
Internet Study ◽  
Data Transmission Security ◽  
And Control

Differences between traditional laboratory research and Internet-based research require review of basic issues of research methodology. These differences have implications for research ethics (e.g., absence of researcher, potential exposure of confidential data and/or identity to a third-party, guaranteed debriefing) and security (e.g., confidentiality and anonymity, security of data transmission, security of data storage, and tracking subjects over time). We also review basic design issues a researcher should consider before implementing an Internet study, including the problem of subject self-selection and loss of experimental control on the Internet laboratory. An additional challenge for Internet-based research is the increased opportunity for subject misbehavior, intentional or otherwise. We discuss methods to detect and minimize these threats to the validity of Internet-based research.

scholarly journals A Review of how Behavioural Insights have been Applied to Tax-Related Policy and Field Experiments in the European Union

2021 ◽  
Vol 72 (6) ◽  
pp. 799-825
Author(s):  
Michal Müller
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Tax Evasion ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Critical Evaluation ◽  
Tax Compliance ◽  
Future Research ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
The Real ◽  
Behavioural Insights

Tax evasion is a problem in every country. Since taxes are the most important source of income for the state budget, finance ministers and tax authorities strive to increase tax compliance and secure higher tax revenues. In the context of European Union objectives to monitor the effects of behavioural insights and gather information for critical evaluation, this article contributes to these efforts by summarizing policies and measures related to increasing tax compliance. This article is based on a systematic review and is complemented by other relevant sources related to applying behavioural insights to tax policy. The article concludes that although there is empirical evidence to suggest that behaviourally informed initiatives and interventions have had a significant impact on tax compliance in the short term, there is not enough evidence to draw conclusions on the long-term effects. In addition, the real motives and causal mechanisms that have led to increased tax compliance are not entirely clear. The results of the research suggest that deterrence is an important factor. Although deterrence might increase tax compliance, it is uncertain whether it has any positive effect on tax morale in general. The article raises the argument that many behaviourally-informed techniques are actually based on deterrence. In this respect, the article calls for further research to reveal the real effects of behavioural insights. Further work on reviewing and evaluating research results will also be important, as individual initiatives across EU countries are not easily traceable. This fact represents the limits of this study and highlights opportunities for future research.

scholarly journals Measuring visual search and distraction in immersive virtual reality

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. 172331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bettina Olk ◽  
Alina Dinu ◽  
David J. Zielinski ◽  
Regis Kopper
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Human Performance ◽  
Ecological Validity ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Laboratory Research ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Immersive Virtual Reality ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Target Reaction

An important issue of psychological research is how experiments conducted in the laboratory or theories based on such experiments relate to human performance in daily life. Immersive virtual reality (VR) allows control over stimuli and conditions at increased ecological validity. The goal of the present study was to accomplish a transfer of traditional paradigms that assess attention and distraction to immersive VR. To further increase ecological validity we explored attentional effects with daily objects as stimuli instead of simple letters. Participants searched for a target among distractors on the countertop of a virtual kitchen. Target–distractor discriminability was varied and the displays were accompanied by a peripheral flanker that was congruent or incongruent to the target. Reaction time was slower when target–distractor discriminability was low and when flankers were incongruent. The results were replicated in a second experiment in which stimuli were presented on a computer screen in two dimensions. The study demonstrates the successful translation of traditional paradigms and manipulations into immersive VR and lays a foundation for future research on attention and distraction in VR. Further, we provide an outline for future studies that should use features of VR that are not available in traditional laboratory research.

scholarly journals The behavioralist as tax collector: Using natural field experiments to enhance tax compliance

2017 ◽  
Vol 148 ◽  
pp. 14-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Hallsworth ◽  
John A. List ◽  
Robert D. Metcalfe ◽  
Ivo Vlaev
Keyword(s):  
Field Experiments ◽  
Tax Compliance ◽  
Natural Field

Sex as a Social Reality: Field and Laboratory Research

1981 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 645-653 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rhoda Kesler Unger
Keyword(s):  
Field Experiments ◽  
Social Reality ◽  
Laboratory Research ◽  
Social Cognitions ◽  
Field Observations ◽  
Sex And Gender ◽  
Laboratory Techniques ◽  
The Social ◽  
And Gender

The factors responsible for sex related effects are examined by means of an analysis of methods frequently used to study them. Field observations, field experiments, and laboratory techniques used in the investigation of sex and gender are discussed. It is suggested that the distinction between reactive and nonobtrusive measurement may be particularly useful in predicting when sex related differences may be found. It is also suggested that there is no one universal sexual reality. Sex related effects may be constructed by the social cognitions of the participants in a study as well as by the conceptual assumptions underlying the methods themselves.

scholarly journals The case for laboratory experiments in behavioural public policy

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
PETER D. LUNN ◽  
ÁINE NÍ CHOISDEALBHA
Keyword(s):  
Policy Development ◽  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Laboratory Research ◽  
Behavioural Science ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Randomised Controlled

AbstractBehavioural science is increasingly applied to policy in many countries. While the empirical approach to policy development is welcome, we argue with reference to existing literature that laboratory experiments are presently underused in this domain, relative to field studies. Assumptions that field experiments, including randomised controlled trials, produce more generalisable results than laboratory experiments are often misplaced. This is because the experimental control offered by the laboratory allows underlying psychological mechanisms to be isolated and tested. We use examples from recent research on energy efficiency and financial decision-making to argue that mechanism-focused laboratory research is often not only complementary to field research, but also necessary to interpreting field results, and that such research can have direct policy implications. The issues discussed illustrate that in some policy contexts a well-designed laboratory study can be a good – perhaps the best – way to answer the kinds of research questions that policy-makers ask.

scholarly journals The significance of non-controlled natural light, temperature and humidity in the commercial micropropagation of Solanum tuberosum L. Cultivar Diamant

2015 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
FJ Zapata Arias ◽  
Shahana Akter ◽  
SM Asadul Haque ◽  
Shilpi Akther ◽  
Firoza Khatun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solanum Tuberosum ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Solanum Tuberosum L ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Unit Cost ◽  
Laboratory Research ◽  
Natural Light ◽  
In Vitro Plants ◽  
Temperature And Humidity

The aim of our study was to reduce the unit cost of in vitro micropropagation of the Solanum tuberosum cultivar Diamant widely cultivated in Bangladesh with the guarantee that the quality and quantity of the in vitro plants produced was not jeopardized. This was done by entirely replacing the conventional micropropagation conditions of maintaining the in vitro plants in a controlled room whose temperature varies between 25 and 30°C, its humidity between 60 to 70% and its light intensity of 20,238 to 20,409 for 19 hours; with a room whose roof was made of corrugated plastic sheets that allow a partial passage of natural light. Under this conditions the amount of light, temperature and humidity were not controlled. During the time work the temperatures in this non-conventional room fluctuate between 14 and 40°C, the light intensities were between 20,017 to 20,687 Lux and the humidity between 40 to 90%. Experiments were initiated in May, 2009 through March, 2014 covering summer, rainy and winter seasons. After two years of laboratory research and two years of field studies, we have not found differences between yield production of the micropropagated plants grown under control and non-controlled conditions, very often the latter plants were robust and adapted faster when transfer to field conditions. All plants used in the field experiments were no more than seven in vitro passages. A RBCD yield trail of the plants was done during two seasons and it was no found any difference in yield between them. Moreover, a yield trail of the minitubers to produce breeder seed (second generation) was done during the season 2013-2014 and no differences were found between the controls and the tubers derived from the low cost. Plant Tissue Cult. & Biotech. 24(2): 131-139, 2014 (December)

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