Abstract
This paper reports the results of an experiment designed to study how subjects’ decision making may be affected by the timing of participation payments (or show-up fees). The experiment follows Davis et al. (J. Econ. 30:69–95, 2004) where subjects were asked to make a sequential purchase decision and were given the opportunity to purchase information about the value of a good prior to a decision to purchase the good itself. There, subjects purchased information less often than expected which was interpreted as risk-seeking behavior. Here, we test a payment hypothesis by varying the timing of the participation payment. Payment of a show-up fee before the decision-making stages of the experiment increases information purchase, which we interpret as an increase in risk-averse behavior.
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Davis, L.R., Joyce, B.P. & Roelofs, M.R. My money or yours: house money payment effects. Exp Econ 13, 189–205 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10683-010-9235-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10683-010-9235-7