Toward an Understanding of the Welfare Effects of Nudges: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Uganda

Erwin Bulte, John List and Daan van Soest

No 26286, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Social scientists have recently explored how framing of gains and losses affects productivity. We conducted a field experiment in peri-urban Uganda, and compare output levels across 1000 workers over isomorphic tasks and incentives, framed as either losses or gains. We find that loss aversion can be leveraged to increase the productivity of labor. The estimated welfare costs of using the loss contract are quite modest – perhaps because the loss contract is viewed as a (soft) commitment device.

JEL-codes: C93 D03 J01 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr, nep-exp, nep-lab and nep-upt
Note: DEV LS
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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Working Paper: Toward an Understanding of the Welfare Effects of Nudges: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Uganda (2019)
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