Is there selection bias in laboratory experiments? The case of social and risk preferences

Blair Cleave, Nikos Nikiforakis () and Robert Slonim

Experimental Economics, 2013, vol. 16, issue 3, 372-382

Abstract: Laboratory experiments are frequently used to examine the nature of individuals’ social and risk preferences and inform economic theory. However, it is unknown whether the preferences of volunteer participants are representative of the population from which the participants are drawn, or whether they differ due to selection bias. To answer this question, we measured the preferences of 1,173 students in a classroom experiment using a trust game and a lottery choice task. Separately, we invited all students to participate in a laboratory experiment using common recruitment procedures. To evaluate whether there is selection bias, we compare the social and risk preferences of students who eventually participated in a laboratory experiment to those who did not, and find that they do not differ significantly. However, we also find that people who sent less in a trust game were more likely to participate in a laboratory experiment, and discuss possible explanations for this behavior. Copyright Economic Science Association 2013

Keywords: Selection bias; Laboratory experiments; External validity; Social preferences; Risk preferences; C90; D03 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (93)

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Working Paper: Is there selection bias in laboratory experiments? The case of social and risk preferences (2013)
Working Paper: Is There Selection Bias in Laboratory Experiments? The Case of Social and Risk Preferences (2011)
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DOI: 10.1007/s10683-012-9342-8

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