BEAST Lab

We look at the role of goal setting in a labor market framework. Non-binding, in contrast to binding, goals are those that receive no punishment for failing to reach them. They are seen in many different industries and markets such as self-help, health and fitness, and financial planning. These goals are set to simply create a target or reference point in strategizing how to best reach a certain level of productivity or success. The incentive structure for non-binding goals relies on the internal or psychological motivations that occur when individuals set and achieve their goals. 

The number of occupations that require an occupational license has consistently increased in the past few decades. We use a computer-based task to measure the effect of both licenses, which are required, and certifications, which are optional, on productivity and wages in a simulated labor market. Licenses and certifications can be thought of as binding or non-binding goals in their ability to motivate and encourage productivity. However, as with any goal, there are costs associated with reaching them.

Increased media focus on immigration policy has raised many questions regarding how immigrants can successfully integrate into an established society and what impact immigration has on social cohesion. While the increased attention has motivated more research, an important consideration is how propaganda interacts with identity in groups to affect immigrant integration and cooperation within a society. Our project uses a modified public goods game and propaganda-based priming to test how different types of propaganda impact how individuals new to a group (immigrants) not only integrate but function in their new group and how it impacts overall social cooperation and success. Within the context of our experiment, different treatment groups are exposed to different propaganda that is either left, neutral, or right-leaning and we randomly reveal the political preferences of group members. This, along with a chat mechanism, allows us to identify a causal mechanism between types of propaganda, political identity, and cooperation when presented with out-group participants.

This project deals with gender identity and self-selection which we will address by running two separate treatments, one where groups self-select and another where they are assigned to groups. All participants will complete anagrams as a way of capturing real effort. To control for effort people may exhibit when working independently versus in groups everyone will also complete anagrams individually. The order of completing anagrams individually versus in a group will be randomized across experiment sessions. 

Through this experiment, we look to address how gender can play a role in the effort given in groups. Group work is something that is utilized frequently in a classroom setting and this type of work may have different levels of effectiveness based on someone's gender and the composition of the group. A better understanding of this could impact how people utilize group work while teaching.