We study the manipulation of preferences over redistribution. Previous work showed that preferences over redistribution are malleable by the experience of success or failure in a preceding real-effort task. We manipulate the information subjects receive about the importance of chance relative to effort in determining success. We investigate the effect of this manipulation on (i) subjects' redistribution choices affecting third parties, and (ii) preferences for redistributive taxation. Our results show that informing the subjects about the relative importance of chance after the real-effort task does not mitigate the self-serving bias in redistribution choices. Only providing full information before the real-effort task prevents the emergence of the self-serving bias.
BACKGROUND: Roughly one quarter of short-term temporary deferrals (STTDs) of blood donors are low hemoglobin deferrals (LHDs), i.e. STTDs due to a hemoglobin (Hb) value falling below a cutoff of 125g/L for female and 135g/L for male donors. Donors may perceive LHDs as social exclusion, which can cause social pain, decrease self-esteem, and lead to antisocial behavior. Yet, little is known about the impact of LHDs on donor motivation. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: We use a quasi-experiment with 80,060 donors, invited to blood drives in the canton of Zurich, Switzerland between 2009 and 2014. Within a narrow window of Hb values around the predetermined cutoff, the rate of LHDs jumps discontinuously. This discontinuous jump allows us to quantify the causal effect of LHDs on donor motivation, as it is uncorrelated with other unobserved factors that may affect donor motivation too. RESULTS: We find different behavioral reactions to LHDs for female and male donors. Female donors do not react to the first LHD. However, after any repeated LHD, they are 13.53 percentage points (p-value < 0.001) less likely to make at least one donation attempt within the next 18 months and make 0.389 fewer donation attempts (p-value < 0.001). Male donors already react to the first LHD. They are 5.32 percentage points (p-value: 0.139) less likely to make at least one donation attempt over the next 18 months and make 0.227 (p-value: 0.018) fewer donation attempts. After any repeated LHD, male donors are 13.30 percentage points (p-value: 0.004) less likely to make at least one donation attempt and make 0.152 (p-value: 0.308) fewer donation attempts. CONCLUSION: LHDs have detrimental impacts on donor motivation, especially if they occur repeatedly-suggesting that avoiding false LHDs and helping donors to better cope with them helps to maintain the pool of motivated donors.
This paper studies peer effects on individual performance among elite athletes in high-stakes tournaments. I ask whether the presence of a teammate affects athletes' performance using data from the latest seven World Swimming Championships. To identify causal effects I apply a regression discontinuity design by comparing athletes' performance in the finals when their teammate barely qualified and barely not qualified for the same final. Female athletes accompanied by a teammate swam 0.41%-0.56% of the average time faster, or ranked by 0.75-1.16 higher in the final. Male athletes' performance is unaffected. Potential channels and gender differences are discussed.
Childbearing is one of the most significant life events that bring not only joy but also anxiety and stress. The World Health Organisation (WHO, 2004) reported that worldwide about 10% of pregnant women and 13% of women who had just given birth experience a mental disorder, primarily depression. In developing countries this share was even higher, that is, 15.6% during pregnancy and 19.8% after childbirth. Moreover, perinatal depression and stress are also related to several adverse child outcomes (Aizer et al., 2016;Carlson, 2015;Persson & Rossin-Slater, 2018). One well-known intervention to improve maternal well-being and child development was the Home Visiting Program (HVP) that offered perinatal and parental support to disadvantaged firsttime mothers. It had been implemented in the United States (Olds et al., 2019), the United Kingdom (Robling et al.,
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