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To pay or not to pay: Measuring risk preferences in lab and field

Author

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  • Brañas-Garza, Pablo
  • Estepa Mohedano, Lorenzo
  • Jorrat, Diego
  • Orozco, Víctor
  • Rascon-Ramirez, Ericka

Abstract

Measuring risk preferences in the field is critical for policy, however, it can be expensive and may generate unequal payoffs due to bad luck. For instance, the commonly used measure of Holt and Laury (2002) relies on a dozen of lottery choices and payments which makes it time consuming and costly, but also raises moral concerns as a result of the unequal payments generated by the lotteries. We propose a short version of the Holt and Laury (2002) which produces in the lab (Spain) the same results as the long HL. Using the short HL in the field (Honduras and Nigeria), we observe that paying or not for the measurement of risk preferences produces the same findings. Our low-cost approach makes the measurement of risk preferences simpler, faster and cheaper in the lab and field.

Suggested Citation

  • Brañas-Garza, Pablo & Estepa Mohedano, Lorenzo & Jorrat, Diego & Orozco, Víctor & Rascon-Ramirez, Ericka, 2020. "To pay or not to pay: Measuring risk preferences in lab and field," MPRA Paper 103088, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:103088
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    Cited by:

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    2. Kai Ruggeri & Amma Panin & Milica Vdovic & Bojana Većkalov & Nazeer Abdul-Salaam & Jascha Achterberg & Carla Akil & Jolly Amatya & Kanchan Amatya & Thomas Lind Andersen & Sibele D. Aquino & Arjoon Aru, 2022. "The globalizability of temporal discounting," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 6(10), pages 1386-1397, October.
    3. Alfonso-Costillo, Antonio, 2021. "Taking risks by flying paper airplanes," MPRA Paper 108541, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Thomas Meissner & Xavier Gassmann & Corinne Faure & Joachim Schleich, 2022. "Individual characteristics associated with risk and time preferences: A multi country representative survey," Papers 2204.13664, arXiv.org, revised May 2022.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Risk preferences; Holt Laury; Field Experiments; Monetary Payoffs; Incentives.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty

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