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Better Knowledge Need Not Affect Behavior: A Randomized Evaluation of the Demand for Lottery Tickets in Rural Thailand

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  • Juliane Zenker
  • Andreas Wagener
  • Sebastian Vollmer

Abstract

Many households in developing countries spend substantial amounts on lottery tickets but have only poor knowledge about the properties of the game and hold upwardly biased beliefs on the prospects of winning. To test whether more accurate knowledge reduces lottery participation, households in rural Thailand were informed, in a randomized intervention, on the actual probability distribution of the Thai Government Lottery. This indeed led to a better knowledge about the Thai Government Lottery in the treatment group. However, the improved knowledge did not (substantially) affect the willingness to pay for lottery tickets.

Suggested Citation

  • Juliane Zenker & Andreas Wagener & Sebastian Vollmer, 2018. "Better Knowledge Need Not Affect Behavior: A Randomized Evaluation of the Demand for Lottery Tickets in Rural Thailand," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 32(3), pages 570-583.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:wbecrv:v:32:y:2018:i:3:p:570-583.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/wber/lhw060
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    Cited by:

    1. Michael Huebler & Dorothee Buehler, 2023. "Technologies follow technologies and occasionally social groups," TVSEP Working Papers wp-036, Leibniz Universitaet Hannover, Institute of Development and Agricultural Economics, Project TVSEP.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Information intervention; Lottery; Thailand; Field experiment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis

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