Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/80694 
Year of Publication: 
2013
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 7374
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Laboratory experiments have become a wide-spread tool in economic research. Yet, there is still doubt about how well the results from lab experiments generalize to other settings. In this paper, we investigate the self-selection process of potential subjects into the subject pool. We alter the recruitment email sent to first-year students, either mentioning the monetary reward associated with participation in experiments; or appealing to the importance of helping research; or both. We find that the sign-up rate drops by two-thirds if we do not mention monetary rewards. Appealing to subjects' willingness to help research has no effect on sign-up. We then invite the so-recruited subjects to the laboratory to measure a range of preferences in incentivized experiments. We do not find any differences between the three groups. Our results show that student subjects participate in experiments foremost to earn money, and that it is therefore unlikely that this selection leads to an over-estimation of social preferences in the student population.
Subjects: 
methodology
selection bias
laboratory experiment
field experiment
other-regarding behavior
social preferences
social approval
experimenter demand
JEL: 
C90
D03
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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