UK Data Archive Study Number Measuring Risk and Time Preferences: Large-Scale Field Experiments, Budgetlines

UK Data Archive Study Number 7129 - Measuring Risk and Time Preferences: Large-Scale Field Experiments, 2009-2011

Budgetlines Survey conducted using the CentERpanel

datum auteur(s)

juni 2009 Corrie Vis T: +31 13 466 8327 E: [email protected] Postbus 90153, 5000 LE Tilburg Warandelaan 2, Gebouw K, 6e verdieping, kamer K642

© CentERdata, Tilburg, 2012 Alle rechten voorbehouden. Niets uit deze uitgave mag worden verveelvoudigd, opgeslagen in een geautomatiseerd gegevensbestand, of openbaar gemaakt, in enige vorm of op enige wijze, hetzij elektronisch, mechanisch, door fotokopieën, opnamen of op enige andere manier, zonder voorafgaande schriftelijke toestemming van de uitgever.

Table of contents 1 Project description ............................................................................ 2 2 Introduction ..................................................................................... 3 3 Codebook ........................................................................................ 4 4 Background characteristics CentERpanel

budgetlijnen – Wieland Müller, mei 2009

1/12

............................................ 8

1

Project description

Title: Budgetlines Data file: budgetlijnen_3p.sav Funding sources: The Economic and Social Research Council in the UK Investigator: Dr. Syngjoo Choi (UCL) and Prof.Dr. Wieland Müller (Tilburg) Sample: members of the CentERpanel of 16 years of age and older Overview of the response: Selected number of household members: 1960 (100%) Response complete: 1182 (60.3%) Date of data collection: May 15 – May 19, 2009

2

Introduction

Commissioned by Dr. Syngjoo Choi and Prof. dr. Wieland Müller, in the weekend of week 20 in 2009 a questionnaire was presented to the CentERPanel. Respondents had to allocate points to 'accounts'. The questionnaire was presented to 1960 panel members, of which 1182 respondents completely filled out the questionnaire (response percentage 60.3%).

3

Codebook

This codebook contains the questionnaire as presented to the CentERPanel. The variable names are in bold and correspond to the names in the dataset. The routing of the questionnaire is shown in italic at the variable of interest. nohhold number (id) of the household nomem number (id) of the member in the household weeknr (weekno) year and week number when survey was conducted arandom random number from 1 to 25 brandom random number 1 or 2 blauw (blue) amount on blue (x-axis) at round arandom rood (red) amount on red (y-axis) at round arandom ronde (round) round number arandom kleur (color) brandom 1 = red, 2 = blue payoff payment in euro = amount on [color brandom] in round [arandom] * 0.25 [intro1] Deze vragenlijst bestaat uit een experiment op het gebied van individuele besluitvorming. Onderzoeksinstellingen in Groot-Brittannië en Nederland hebben geld beschikbaar gesteld om dit onderzoek uit te voeren. In dit experiment kunt u echt geld verdienen dat zal worden betaald in de vorm van CentERpunten. Wat u verdient is voor een deel afhankelijk van uw beslissingen en voor een deel van toeval. Leest u alstublieft de instructies zorgvuldig door omdat het om een aanzienlijk geldbedrag gaat. Gedurende het experiment spreken we over punten in plaats van euro's. Uw verdiensten worden berekend in punten en later aan u in geld uitbetaald. LET OP: U zult pas over een aantal weken het aantal punten aan uw tegoed toegevoegd zien. U zult dit niet meteen zien. 4 punten = 1 euro

[intro2] Dit experiment bestaat uit 25 ronden. Iedere ronde staat op zichzelf, maar de taak die u hebt, is steeds dezelfde. In iedere ronde hebt u de taak om punten te verdelen tussen twee rekeningen, die BLAUW en ROOD heten. Bij het begin van iedere ronde krijgt u een aantal mogelijke puntenverdelingen, waaruit u er één mag kiezen. Nadat u uw beslissing hebt gemaakt, kiest de computer op basis van toeval een rekening; elk van de rekeningen BLAUW en ROOD hebben een gelijke kans om gekozen te worden. Uw verdiensten in een ronde zijn de punten die u op de rekening hebt gezet die door de computer is gekozen, de punten die u op de andere rekening hebt gezet tellen niet mee. [test1] Om uw beslissing in iedere ronde te maken, maakt u gebruik van een grafiek. Hieronder ziet u hoe dat er uit ziet. De BLAUWE rekening komt overeen met de horizontale as en de RODE rekening komt overeen met de verticale as. Ieder punt in de grafiek stelt een verdeling voor tussen de BLAUWE en de RODE rekening. Bij het begin van iedere beslissingsronde ziet u een lijn die de mogelijke puntenverdelingen tussen de BLAUWE en RODE rekening voorstelt. In iedere beslissingsronde kunt u alleen een punt kiezen, dat op de lijn ligt. Voorbeelden van lijnen die u te zien kunt krijgen ziet u hieronder. In elke ronde selecteert de computer een lijn die de beide assen snijdt tussen de 10 en 100 punten en ten minste één van de assen op 50 of meer punten. De lijnen die voor u in de verschillende beslisronden worden geselecteerd zijn onafhankelijk van elkaar. [test2] In iedere ronde krijgt u van de computer een nieuwe lijn. Bij iedere keuze, mag u elke toewijzing van punten kiezen tussen de BLAUWE en de RODE rekening die op de lijn ligt. U mag er één punt kiezen. Hieronder ziet u een voorbeeld van zo'n lijn. Een mogelijke keuze is A, waarbij u 20.0 punten toewijst aan de BLAUWE rekening en 41.0 punten aan de RODE rekening. Een andere mogelijke keuze is B, waarbij u 55.4 punten toewijst aan de BLAUWE rekening en 17.6 punten aan de RODE rekening. Er zijn nog veel meer punten op deze lijn die u kunt kiezen dan alleen punt A of B. U mag ieder punt op de lijn kiezen. Alleen, u kunt maar één punt kiezen in iedere ronde. [test3] Op dit scherm kunt u even twee ronden oefenen. Om te beginnen klikt u op START. Dan krijgt u een lijn te zien met mogelijke puntenverdelingen in deze oefenronde. Om een toewijzing te kiezen gebruikt u de muis om de cursor op het computerscherm langs de lijn te bewegen naar de toewijzing die u wenst. (Om dit de doen, breng de cursor eerst in de buurt van het punt op de lijn.) U ziet dat u alleen toewijzingen kunt kiezen die op de lijn liggen. Als u weet welke beslissing u wilt nemen, klikt u op de linker muisknop om uw keuze te maken. Om de beslissing te bevestigen, klikt u op de OK knop. U wordt dan automatisch doorgestuurd naar de volgende ronde. Om een ander punt op deze lijn te kiezen, moet u op annuleren klikken. Nadat u twee keer een oefenronde hebt gedaan, zal de 'verder' knop verschijnen waarmee u naar de volgende informatiepagina kunt gaan. Dit is een oefenscherm. De keuze die u maakt, wordt niet opgeslagen. [intro3] Nadat u uw keuze hebt bevestigd, kiest de computer op basis van toeval één rekening; elk van de rekeningen BLAUW en ROOD hebben een gelijke kans om gekozen te worden. Als de BLAUWE rekening is gekozen, zijn uw verdiensten in de ronde het aantal punten op de BLAUWE rekening. De punten op de andere rekening worden niet meegerekend. Als de RODE rekening is gekozen, zijn uw verdiensten in de ronde het aantal punten op de RODE rekening. De punten op de andere rekening worden niet meegerekend. Vervolgens begint een nieuwe beslissingsronde. U krijgt van de computer een grafiek met een nieuwe lijn. U maakt dan weer een nieuwe keuze voor het aantal punten dat u op de BLAUWE en op de RODE rekening zet. De computer kiest dan weer tussen de BLAUWE en de RODE rekening. Dit proces herhaalt zich, totdat er 25 ronden geweest

zijn. Na de laatste ronde krijgt u een scherm met de mededeling dat het experiment beëindigd is. [intro4] Verdiensten Dit is de manier waarop bepaald wordt hoeveel u verdient in dit experiment. Na afloop van het experiment (na de 25e ronde), kiest de computer op basis van toeval één ronde uit de 25 ronden. Om dat te doen trekt de computer een getal van 1 tot en met 25. Dus de geselecteerde ronde is uitsluitend afhankelijk van toeval: alle ronden hebben een gelijke kans om gekozen te worden. Omdat slechts één ronde (van de 25 ronden totaal) op basis van toeval wordt geselecteerd en uitbetaald, is er geen terugkoppeling bij iedere ronde over de uitkomst (welke ronde is geselecteerd door de computer en de verdienste in die ronde). De geselecteerde ronde, uw eigen keuze in die ronde en het bedrag dat u krijgt uitbetaald worden op het scherm getoond. De punten worden omgerekend naar geld. Vier punten zijn 1 euro waard. U krijgt de punten bijgeschreven bij uw CentERpunten, waarbij 1 punt in dit experiment dus 25 CentERpunten waard is. [intro5] Het experiment gaat nu beginnen. U krijgt vanaf nu 25 schermen te zien met de grafiek en 25 verschillende lijnen. De computer kiest de lijnen op basis van toeval. Zoals uitgelegd in de eerdere instructies, is het uw taak om een punt te selecteren uit de mogelijke puntenverdelingen. Om de punt op de lijn te kunnen bewegen, breng de cursor eerst in de buurt van het punt op de lijn. Het kan even duren voordat het volgende scherm verschijnt. Om te beginnen klikt u op het volgende scherm op START. pointx01 to pointx25 intersection of the line and the x-axis pointy01 to pointy25 intersection of the line and the y-axis xc1 to xc25 respondents choice of point x-coordinate yc1 to yc25 respondents choice of point y-coordinate xs1 to xs25 starting point of the cursor on the screen x-coordinate ys1 to ys25 starting point of the cursor on the screen y-coordinate

v28 {NO_BACK} Het experiment is geëindigd. Ronde [ronde] is geselecteerd voor uitbetaling. Uw toewijzing in deze ronde was: BLAUWE rekening = [blauw] punten RODE rekening = [rood] punten De op basis van toeval geselecteerde rekening in deze ronde is [kleur]. Dus uw betaling in dit experiment is [payoff] euro in CentERpunten. eva2t1 t/m eva2t5 NB: Maakt u alstublieft de vragenlijst af totdat u weer bij het beginscherm komt. Pas dan registreert het systeem de vragenlijst als volledig ingevuld. Tot slot. Wat vond u van deze vragenlijst: eva2t1 Vond u het moeilijk om de vragen te beantwoorden? eva2t2 Vond u de vragen duidelijk? eva2t3 Heeft de vragenlijst u aan het denken gezet? eva2t4 Vond u het onderwerp interessant? eva2t5 Vond u het plezierig om de vragen in te vullen? 1 beslist niet 2 3 4 5 beslist wel opm Do you have any comments about this questionnaire? 1 yes 2 no if opm=1 evaopm You can give your comments here. 1..255 characters datumb Date start questionnaire tijdb Time start questionnaire datume Date end questionnaire tijde Time end questionnaire

4

Background characteristics CentERpanel

geslacht

positie

Gender 1

Male 2

Position in the household 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Female Head of household* Married partner Non-married partner Parent/parent-in-law Child living at home Housemate Family member or boarder

* The head of the household is the person whose name is on the rental agreement or the sale contract of the house. If the contract contains multiple names, the head of household is the one with the highest income/earnings. gebjaar

Year of birth 1900..2005

leeftijd

Age of household member

lftdcat

Age in CBS-categories (CBS is Dutch Central Bureau of Statistics) 1 14 years old and younger 2 15 - 24 years old 3 25 - 34 years old 4 35 - 44 years old 5 45 - 54 years old 6 55 - 64 years old 7 65 years old and older

aantalhh

Number of household members 1 2 3 Three persons 4 5 6 7 Seven persons 8 9

One person Two persons Four persons Five persons Six persons Eight persons Nine persons or more

aantalki

partner

woonvorm

sted

Number of children living at home in the household 0 None 1 One child 2 Two children 3 Three children 4 Four children 5 Five children 6 Six children 7 Seven children 8 Eight children 9 Nine or more children The head of the household lives together with a partner (married or not) 0 No 1 Yes Type of living arrangement 1 Living alone 2 child(ren) 3 4 5

household (Non)married

living

together,

(Non)married living together, with child(ren) Living alone, with child(ren) Something else

Measure of urbanness* of city of residence 1 Very strongly urban 2 Strongly urban 3 Avergage urban 4 Not very urban 5 Not urban * Density of addresses in the neighbourhood per km 2 U r b a n n e s s v 2.500 or more e r y s t r o n g l y s 1.500 to 2.500 t

without

r o n g l y a 1.000 to 1.500 v e r a g e n 500 to 1.000 o t v e r y n Less than 500 o t prov

Province 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

Groningen Friesland Drenthe Overijssel Flevoland Gelderland Utrecht Noord-Holland Zuid-Holland Zeeland Noord-Brabant Limburg

regio

Region city of residence 1 Three big cities* 2 Remainder west 3 North 4 East 5 South * Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Den Haag/The Hague (including surrounding towns).

belbezig

Main occupation 1 Salaried worker 2 Works (partly?) in household- or family business 3 Is practising a free (?) profession, freelance or self-employed 4 Is looking for work after job loss 5 Is looking for work for the first time 6 Is attending school or studying 7 Takes care of the household 8 Is retired (early, AOW or VUT (two retirement schemes)) 9 Is (partly) unfit for work 10 Does unpaid work while keeping benefits 11 Does volunteer work 12 Does something else 13 Is too young, does not have an occupation

bedrtak

Line of business* 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 municipal) 11 12 13 14 15 -13 -14

Agriculture or mining Industrial Energy- or water production Construction Trade Hotel and catering Transport Financial institution Business services Public sector (Federal,

province

or

Education Health and well-being services Culture, sports and recreation Non-profit or issue organization Something else Does not apply (belbezig>3) Unknown (missing)

* Only available for panel members with belbezig smaller or equal to 3. woning

Type of home the household lives in 1 Owns home 2 Rental home 3 Sublet 4 Free housing

9

Unknown (missing)

ses

Social class 1 High 2 3 4 5 Low 9 Unknown (missing)

brutoink

Personal monthly gross income* in euro’s -13 I really don't know -14 I don't want to tell -15 Unknown (missing)

nettoink

Personal monthly net income* in euro’s -13 I really don't know -14 I don't want to tell -15 Unknown (missing) * Because not everyone wants CentERData to know his/her income, a 0 (zero) can mean two different things: (1) there is truly no income; and (2) the panel member filled out a 0 (zero), because he/she doesn't know the income, or doesn't want CenterData to know the income. In the second case panel members should mention that they do not know the income (-13) or do not want to tell (-14). Unfortunately, not all panel members do this, and some keep answering 0 (zero), although they do have an income. It is not possible to determine who these people are. Alse, there are panel member that did not answer anything at the income questions. They have a score -15.

brutocat

Personal gross monthly income in categories 1 EUR 500 or less 2 EUR 501 to EUR 1000 3 EUR 1001 to EUR 1500 4 EUR 1501 to EUR 2000 5 EUR 2001 to EUR 2500 6 EUR 2501 to EUR 3000 7 EUR 3001 to EUR 3500 8 EUR 3501 to EUR 4000 9 EUR 4001 to EUR 4500 10 EUR 4501 to EUR 5000 11 EUR 5001 to EUR 7500 12 More than EUR 7500 13 I really don't know 14 I don't want to tell

nettocat

Personal net monthly income in categories 1 EUR 500 or less 2 EUR 501 to EUR 1000 3 EUR 1001 to EUR 1500 4 EUR 1501 to EUR 2000 5 EUR 2001 to EUR 2500 6 EUR 2501 to EUR 3000 7 EUR 3001 to EUR 3500 8 EUR 3501 to EUR 4000 9 EUR 4001 to EUR 4500 10 EUR 4501 to EUR 5000 11 EUR 5001 to EUR 7500 12 More than EUR 7500 13 I really don't know 14 I don't want to tell

brutohh nettohh

Gross monthly household income* in euro’s Net monthly household income* in euro’s *All monthly incomes of the x-number of household members added, where the income of those who scored -13, -14, or -15 is set to 0.

inkomen

Net monthly household income in categories 1 EUR 1150 or less 2 EUR 1151 to EUR 1800 3 EUR 1801 to EUR 2600 4 More than EUR 2600 9 Unknown (missing)* * The net monthly income of at least 1 household member is unknown.

oplcat

Education in CBS-categories 1 basisonderwijs / elementary schooling (age 4-12) 2 vmbo / low type of high school 3 havo/vwo / high type of high school 4 mbo / secondary vocational education 5 hbo / higher professional education (college) 6 wo / university

see for instance: http://www.minbuza.nl/en/welcome/Netherlands/general,education_and_research.html lftdhhh

Age of the head of the household

religie

5 6 7

Religous background of levensbeschouwing 1 None 2 (Roman)catholic 3 Protestant Church in The Netherlands 4 Evangelic Humanistic Islamic Something else

9

Unknown (missing)

koopmens

Does this person do groceries 0 No 1 Yes

kostwin

Is breadwinner/supporter of the family* 0 No 1 Yes * The head breadwinner is the one with the highest income.

account

Does the personal finances 0 No 1 Yes

This questionnaire consists of an experiment in the area of individual decision making. Research institutions in Great Britain and the Netherlands have made money available to conduct this research. In this experiment you can earn real money that will be paid in the form of CentERpoints. What you earn, partly depends on your decisions and partly on chance. Please read the instructions carefully because it concerns a considerable amount [of money]. During the experiment we speak in terms of Points instead of euro. Your earnings will be calculated in points and later paid to you in money. 4 points = 1 euro

Deze vragenlijst bestaat uit een experiment op het gebied van individuele besluitvorming. Onderzoeksinstellingen in Groot-Brittannië en Nederland hebben geld beschikbaar gesteld om dit onderzoek uit te voeren. In dit experiment kunt u echt geld verdienen dat zal worden betaald in de vorm van CentERpunten. Wat u verdient is voor een deel afhankelijk van uw beslissingen en voor een deel van toeval. Leest u alstublieft de instructies zorgvuldig door omdat het om een aanzienlijk bedrag gaat. Gedurende het experiment spreken we over punten in plaats van euro's. Uw verdiensten worden berekend in punten en later aan u in geld uitbetaald. 4 punten = 1 euro

Verder

In this experiment you take part in 25 independent decision rounds which are very similar to each other. In every round you have the task to divide points between two accounts, which are called BLUE and ROOD. At the beginning of every round, you get a number of points, which you can put into the accounts. 1 After you have made your decision, the computer randomly chooses an account; each of the accounts BLUE and ROOD has an equal chance to be chosen. Your earnings in a round are the points which you have put in the account that has been chosen by the computer, the points which are in the other account do not count.

In dit experiment neemt u deel aan 25 onafhankelijke beslissingsronden die sterk op elkaar lijken. In iedere ronde hebt u de taak om punten te verdelen tussen twee rekeningen, die BLAUW en ROOD heten. Bij het begin van iedere ronde krijgt u een groep van aantallen punten, die u op de rekeningen kunt zetten. Nadat u uw beslissing hebt gemaakt, kiest de computer op basis van toeval een rekening; elk van de rekeningen BLAUW en ROOD hebben een gelijke kans om gekozen te worden. Uw verdiensten in een ronde zijn de punten die u op de rekening hebt gezet die door de computer is gekozen, de punten die op de andere rekening staan tellen niet mee.

Verder

1

Vorige

Wieland: This is of course not the case and we need to tell the programmers to change this.

To make your decision in every round, you use a graph. Below you see how this looks like. The BLUE account corresponds to horizontal axis and the RED account corresponds to the vertical axis. Every point in the graph presents a distribution between the BLUE and the RED account. For example, the point in the graph below represents a division of 47.7 points to the BLUE account and 22.5 points to the RED account.

Om uw beslissing in iedere ronde te maken, maakt u gebruik van een grafiek. Hieronder ziet u hoe dat er uit ziet. De BLAUWE rekening komt overeen met de horizontale as en de RODE rekening komt overeen met de verticale as. Ieder punt in de grafiek stelt een verdeling voor tussen de BLAUWE en de RODE rekening. Bijvoorbeeld, het punt in de onderstaande grafiek stelt voor de verdeling van 47.7 punten aan de BLAUWE rekening en 22.5 punten aan de RODE rekening.

Verder

Vorige

At the beginning of every decision round you see a line which presents a collection of possible point assignments, from which you can choose. Examples of lines which you might get to see can be seen below. In each round the computer selects a line which intersects the two axes between 10 and 100 points and at least one of the axes at 50 or more points. The lines which in the different decision rounds will be chosen for you are independent of each other.

Bij het begin van iedere beslissingsronde ziet u een lijn die een verzameling van mogelijke puntentoewijzingen voorstelt, waaruit u mag kiezen. Voorbeelden van lijnen die u te zien kunt krijgen ziet u hieronder. In elke ronde selecteert de computer een lijn die de beide assen snijdt tussen de 10 en 100 punten en tenminste één van de assen op 50 of meer punten. De lijnen die voor u in de verschillende beslisronden worden gekozen zijn onafhankelijk van elkaar.

Verder

Vorige

In every choice, you can choose any division of points in the BLUE and the RED account which lies on the line. For example, below can you see that choice A on the line presents a decision that assigns 20.0 points to the BLUE account and 41.0 points to the RED account. Another possible choice is B, which assigns 55.4 points to the BLUE account and 17.6 points to the RED account.

Bij iedere keuze, mag u elke toewijzing van punten kiezen tussen de BLAUWE en de RODE rekening die op de lijn ligt. Bijvoorbeeld, hieronder kunt u zien dat keuze A op de lijn een beslissing voorstelt die 20.0 punten toewijst aan de BLAUWE rekeningen en 41.0 punten aan de RODE rekening. Een andere mogelijke keuze is B, waarbij u 55.4 punten toewijst aan de BLAUWE rekening en 17.6 punten aan de RODE rekening.

Verder

Vorige

Click on START. To choose an assignment, you use the mouse to move the cursor on the computer screen to an assignment that you wish. You see that you can only choose assignments which lie on the line. If you know which decision you want to make, you click on the left mouse button to make your choice. To go to the next round you click on the OKAY button. You can practise the choice for an assignment on the line in the graph below.

Klik op START. Om een toewijzing te kiezen gebruikt u de muis om de cursor op het computerscherm te bewegen naar de toewijzing die u wenst. U ziet dat u alleen toewijzingen kunt kiezen die op de lijn liggen. Als u weet welke beslissing u wilt nemen, klikt u op de linker muisknop om uw keuze te maken. Om naar de volgende ronde te gaan klikt u op de OK knop. U kunt de keuze voor een toewijzing even oefenen op de lijn in onderstaande grafiek. Rondes per sessie: 25 Ronde Nummer Kans X Kans Y Positie BLAUW ROOD Start

Dit is een testpagina, deze antwoorden worden niet opgeslagen.

Verder

Vorige

After you have confirmed your choice, the computer randomly chooses one account; each of the accounts BLUE and ROOD has an equal chance to be chosen. If the BLUE account is chosen, your earnings of the round are the number of points in the BLUE account. If the RED account is chosen, your earnings of the round are the number of points in the BLUE account. The points in the other account will not be counted in. Then you are asked to make an assignment in another independent decision. This process is repeated until all 25 rounds are done. At the end of the last round you get to see on the screen that the experiment is over.

Nadat u uw keuze hebt bevestigd kiest de computer op basis van toeval één rekening; elk van de rekeningen BLAUW en ROOD hebben een gelijke kans om gekozen te worden. Als de BLAUWE rekening is gekozen, zijn uw verdiensten in de ronde het aantal punten op de BLAUWE rekening. Als de RODE rekening is gekozen, zijn uw verdiensten in de ronde het aantal punten op de RODE rekening. De punten op de andere rekening worden niet meegerekend. Vervolgens wordt u gevraagd om een toewijzing te maken in een ander onafhankelijke beslissing. Dit proces wordt herhaald tot alle 25 ronden gedaan zijn. Aan het einde van de laatste ronde krijgt u op het beeldscherm te zien dat het experiment is geeindigd.

Verder

Vorige

Earnings Your earnings in the experiment will be determined as follows. At the end of experiment, the computer randomly chooses one of the 25 decision rounds. To do this, the computer draws a number between 1 and 25. The selected round depends exclusively on chance: all rounds have an equal chance to be chosen. The selected round, your own choice in this round, and the amount which you will be paid will be shown on the screen. The points are converted into money. Four points are worth 1 euro. You get the points added to your CentERpoints, where 1 point in this experimenting is worth 25 CentERpoints.

Verdiensten Uw verdiensten in het experiment worden als volgt bepaald. Aan het einde van het experiment, kiest de computer op basis van toeval één beslissingsronde uit de 25. Om dat te doen trekt de computer een getal van 1 tot en met 25. Dus de geselecteerde ronde is uitsluitend afhankelijk van toeval: alle ronden hebben een gelijke kans om gekozen te worden. De geselecteerde ronde, uw eigen keuze in die ronde en het bedrag dat u krijgt uitbetaald worden op het scherm getoond. De punten worden omgerekend naar geld. Vier punten zijn 1 euro waard. U krijgt de punten bijgeschreven bij uw CentERpunten, waarbij 1 punt in dit experiment dus 25 CentERpunten waard is.

Verder

Vorige

On each of the following 25 screens you get to see a graph with randomly chosen budget lines. As explained in the earlier instructions, it is your task to select a point on the budget line. Since only one randomly chosen round (of the in total 25 round) will be paid out, there is no feedback about a round. It can take a moment before the next screen appears. To start you click on START.

Op elk van de volgende 25 schermen krijgt u de grafiek te zien met de op basis van toeval gekozen budgetlijnen. Zoals uitgelegd in de eerdere instructies, is het uw taak om een punt te selecteren op de budgetlijn. Omdat slechts één ronde (van de 25 ronden totaal) op basis van toeval wordt geselecteerd en uitbetaald, is er geen terugkoppeling bij iedere ronde. Het kan even duren voordat het volgende scherm verschijnt. Om te beginnen klikt u op START.

Verder

Vorige

Measuring Time Preferences Wave 1 Survey conducted using the CentERpanel

Date Author(s)

July 2011 Marika de Bruijne T: +31 13 466 3507 E: [email protected] Postbus 90153, 5000 LE Tilburg Warandelaan 2, Gebouw K, 6e verdieping, kamer K637

© CentERdata, Tilburg, 2012 Alle rechten voorbehouden. Niets uit deze uitgave mag worden verveelvoudigd, opgeslagen in een geautomatiseerd gegevensbestand, of openbaar gemaakt, in enige vorm of op enige wijze, hetzij elektronisch, mechanisch, door fotokopieën, opnamen of op enige andere manier, zonder voorafgaande schriftelijke toestemming van de uitgever.

Table of contents 1

Introduction ....................................................................................2

2

Codebook .......................................................................................3

3

Background characteristics CentERpanel ........................................... 28

Measuring Time Preferences -Wave 1

1/32

1

Introduction

The first wave of the experiment Measuring Time Preferences has been conducted in the weekend between June 17th and 21st, 2011. The second wave has been done in the weekend between September 9 and 12, 2011. The questionnaire has been issued to 2971 panel members, aged 16 years or older. Among them, 1425 members filled out the questionnaire completely.


2/32

2

Codebook

This codebook contains the questionnaire as issued to the CentERpanel. • • • • •

• •

Variable names: the variable names are in bold aand correspond to the names in the dataset. Routing: the routing of the questionnaire is shown in italic at the variable of interest. Open: open response item; no limit to the length of the response. String: response item with a maximum number of characters (default 255). Numeric variables: Ranges are shown in italic if the respondent did not see them on the screen. If the response to a question has not been limited to a range, this is shown in the codebook as ‘integer’. So-called ‘fills’ (variable text) are shown in square brackets [], e.g. [age]. Variables in curly brackets are not part of the dataset, but the corresponding questions or texts were part of the questionnaire.

nohhold number (id) of the household - encrypted nomem number (id) of the member in the household weeknr year and week number when the questionnaire was issued arandom random variable 1..2; meaning x and y axes 1 normal axes 2 reversed axes brandom random variable 1..2; order sets of dates, early dates-late dates vs late dates-early dates 1 first early dates, then late dates 2 first late dates, then early dates payday1 payday2 euro1 euro2 early later ronde

date of first payment date of second payment amount in euros first payment 0.00..999.00 amount in euros second payment 0.00..999.00 number of tokens first payment number of tokens second payment Which round has been selected


3/32

for

payment?

1..40

{intro1} This questionnaire is about taking decisions. Research organisations in Great-Brittain and The Netherlands have supplied money for this study. During the first part of the questionnaire we ask you to distribute money between two points in time when you would receive the money. Then, questions about your household and some multiple choice questions will be asked. The money you earn in this questionnaire is real. Therefore, please read the instructions carefully. Thank you very much in advance for participating in this study! {intro2} In the first part of the study, you will choose 40 times between two dates to receive money, where the choice is always between ‘sooner’ or ‘later’. After you have made all decisions, the computer will randomly select one of these decisions. You will receive the money based on this decision. Each of the 40 decisions has the same probability of being selected by the computer. Therefore, you should consider each of the 40 decisions as one that matters. At the end of the questionnaire, the selection of the computer will be shown, including the amount of money you will receive. Note: only if you completely fill out the questionnaire and if you provide an account number where we can transfer the money to, you will be able to receive money. {intro3} Before we describe an example of the choice situation, we will explain to you how the payment of money works. At the end of the questionnaire you will get the oppurtunity to provide an account number where you would like to receive the money. If an account number for your household is already known at CentERdata, you can choose to receive the money at this account. A different account number is also possible, but in that case, you will have to provide the account number at the end of the questionnaire. CentERdata will arrange with your bank that you will receive the money at the exact date or dates that you have chosen. We will make sure that with absolute certainty you will receive the amount at the date or dates that you have chosen. In case of problems with a payment, you can contact the CentERdata helpdesk, through phone number 0800 - 023 14 15.


4/32

{intro4} Now we will explain how you can make the choices. In this study we will talk about tokens instead of euro’s. The tokens are exchanged for real money in the following way: four tokens are worth 1 euro. At every choice situation we will ask you to distribute tokens between two different points in time. During the first 20 rounds, you will choose between Thursday [June 23rd/September 15th] 2011 versus Thursday [September 15th/December 8th] 2011. The second date is exactly 12 weeks later than the first date. In the next screen you can see an example. {intro5a-d} To make your decision in each round, you will use a graph. You can see below what the graph looks like. The BLUE text describes the [vertical/horizontal] axis of the white square. This resembles the number of tokens at [June 23rd/September 15th]. The RED text describes the [horizontal/vertical] axis. This resembles the number of coins at [September 15th/December 8th]. Please look at the sloping black line cutting through the big white square. Each point on this line shows a possible distribution between the number of tokens at [June 23rd/September 15th] and [September 15th/December 8th]. In each of the first 20 rounds, the computer randomly selects a new line. The axes run from 0 to 100 tokens. In each round the computer selects a line that crosses the [vertical/horizontal] axis between 10 and 50 tokens and crosses the [horizontal/vertical] axis above the intersection with the [vertical/horizontal] axis and below 100 tokens. It is always possible to make the choice in such a way that you will receive more money at [September 15th/December 8th] than at [June 23rd/September 15th]. In each round you can choose one point at the line. The timeline at the top of the screen shows the different payment dates that are used in the choices. The current round number is shown at the right side of the screen. Below that number you can see the amount of tokens that are currently assigned to [June 23rd/September 15th] and [September 15th/December 8th].


5/32

if arandom=1 and brandom=1: Intro5a

if arandom=2 and brandom=1: Intro5b

if arandom=1 and brandom=2: Intro5c


6/32

if arandom=2 and brandom=2: Intro5d


7/32

{intro6a-d} Below you can see two examples of choices. A potential choice is A, where you assign 35.1 tokens to [June 23rd/September 15th] and 20.1 tokens to [September 15th/December 8th]. B is another possible choice, where 5.7 tokens are assigned to [June 23rd/September 15th] and 60.5 tokens to [September 15th/December 8th]. In this example, if you shift your choice from point A to point B, then you can earn 40.4 tokens more at [September 15th/December 8th] by giving up 29.4 tokens at [23 juni/15 september]. Or vice versa, if your choice shifts from point B to point A, then you receive 29.4 tokens more at [June 23rd/September 15th] by giving up 40.4 tokens at [September 15th/December 8th]. There are many more points at this line for you to choose, other than point A or point B. You are allowed to choose any point on the line. Note however: only a single point can be chosen in each round. if arandom=1 and brandom=1: Intro6a


8/32

if arandom=2 and brandom=1: Intro6b

if arandom=1 and brandom=2: Intro6c


9/32

if arandom=2 and brandom=2: Intro6d

{tryout} In this screen you can practice two rounds. To start, click on the START button. Then a line with possible token assignments will be shown for this practice round. To choose an assignment, use your mouse to move the cursor on the computer screen along the line, in the direction of the assignment that you would like to use. To accomplish this, first move the cursor near the point on the line. You will see that only assignments on top of the line are allowed. If you know which assignment you would like to choose, click on the left button of the mouse to choose the assignment. To record your choice, click on the OK button in the lower left corner. You will then be transferred automatically to the next round. To choose a different point on the line, please click the ‘Cancel’ button. After playing two practice rounds, you will be automatically transferred to the next information screen. This is a practice screen. The choice you make, will not be recorded.


10/32

{Example screen:}

{intro7} The experiment starts now. You will be shown two times 20 rounds. During the first 20 rounds, we ask you to assign tokens between the following dates: Thursday [June 23rd/September 15th] 2011 versus Thursday [September 15th/December 8th] 2011. The difference between these two dates is exactly 12 weeks. After you filled out the first 20 rounds, you will receive information about the second set of 20 rounds. First move the cursor near the the point on the line, in order to move the point on the line. It can take some time before the next screen appears. To start, click the START button in the next screen. {eerste 20 ronden} This is the real experiment. Please distribute tokens between Thursday [June 23rd/September 15th] 2011 and Thursday [September 15th/December 8th] 2011. You will automatically proceed to the next screen, after finishing all 20 rounds.


11/32

{Example screen:}

{intermez} Those were the first 20 rounds. In the next screen the second part of the experiment will be shown, with 20 new rounds. During these rounds you will make a choice between the forllowing dates: Thursday [September 15th/June 23rd] 2011 versus Thursday [December 8th/September 15th] 2011. The difference between these dates is exactly 12 weeks. Again, the axes run from 0 to 100 tokens. At the start of each round the computer selects a line that crosses the [vertical/horizontal] axis between 10 and 50 tokens and crosses the [horizontal/vertical] axis above the intersection with the [vertical/horizontal] axis and below 100 tokens. It can take some time before the next screen appears. To start, click the START button in the next screen. {tweede 20 ronden} This is the real experiment. Please distribute tokens between Thursday [September 15th/June 23rd] 2011 and Thursday [December 8th/September 15th] 2011. You will automatically proceed to the next screen, after finishing all 20 rounds.


12/32

{Example screen:}

{The lines in the second set of 20 rounds are the same as those in the first set of 20 rounds, but in a different, random order.} d1interc1-40 d2interc1-40 d1start1-40 d2start1-40 d1keus1-40 d2keus1-40 tijdbro1-40 tijdlid1-40

intercept date1 (early), round 1-40 intercept date2 (late), round 1-40 starting position date1 (early), round 1-40 starting position date2 (late), round 1-40 choice datum1 (early), round 1-40 choice datum2 (late), round 1-40 time at which the browser chose the line, round 1-40 time at which the panel member made his/her decision, round 1-40

{fintro1} Those were all 40 rounds. The selected round and the amount of money you have earned will be shown at the end of the questionnaire. In the next part of the questionnaire we would like to ask questions about your financial situation and expenses. The answers to these questions will be used to analyse the results of the experiment. Please think carefully when answering each question.


13/32

fin1t1 What is the highest annual interest rate that you currently receive on your savings or investments? If you do not have any savings or investments, please provide the annual interest rate you would receive if you had any savings or ivnestments. Please give the answer as a percentage. Percentage (%): 0.0..100.0 -999 I do not know if fin1t1<>response: {fin1_che} You did not answer the question. Would you like to return to provide an answer? if fin1t1=-999: fin1a Please choose the category that contains the highest annual interest rate that you receive on your savings or investments. If you do not have any savings or investments, please provide the annual interest rate you would receive if you had any savings or ivnestments. 1 0% - 2% 2 3% - 5% 3 6% - 8% 4 9% - 11% 5 12% - 14% 6 15% - 17% 7 18% - 20% 8 21% - 25% 9 26% - 30% 10 31% or more


14/32

fin2t1 What is the lowest annual interest rate that you currently pay on your loans? If you do not have any loans, please provide what the lowest annual interest rate would be if you had a loan. Please give the answer as a percentage. Percentage (%): -999 I do not know if fin2t1<>response: {fin2_che} You did not answer the question. Would you like to return to provide an answer? if fin2t1=-999: fin2a Please choose the category that contains the lowest annual interest rate that you pay on your loans. If you do not have any loans, please provide what the lowest annual interest rate would be if you had a loan. 1 0% - 2% 2 3% - 5% 3 6% - 8% 4 9% - 11% 5 12% - 14% 6 15% - 17% 7 18% - 20% 8 21% - 25% 9 26% - 30% 10 31% or more {fintro2} Now we will ask some questions about the expenses of you and your household. Please give an estimate of the expenses of your household for every category. To simplify answering the questions, you can choose to provide monthly expenses or expenses in the past 12 months. If your household did not spend anything in a particular category, please provide a ‘0’ at one of the two periods (‘monthly’ or ‘in the past 12 months’). fin3v1f1-fin3v2f1 How much did you household spend on food and drinks to be consumed at home?


15/32

(E.g. bread, potatoes, vegetables, fruit, pasta, meat, fish, pastries and sweets, nonalcoholic and alcoholic beverages, etc.) You can choose to provide monthly expenditure or expenditure in the past 12 months. fin3v1f1 amount in euro’s per month: fin3v2f1 amount in euro’s in the past 12 months: if (fin3v1f1=empty and fin3v2f1=empty): {zcheck3} You left both fields empty at the previous question. It is very important for this study to obtain complete information. Please enter an amount at one of the two fields. The question will be repeated. {repeat questions fin3v1f1-fin3v2f1} fin4v1f1- fin4v2f1 How much did your household spend on eating outside the home? (E.g. in restaurants, bars, café’s, company- or schoolcanteen, etc.) You can choose to provide monthly expenditure or expenditure in the past 12 months. fin4v1f1 amount in euro’s per month: fin4v2f1 amount in euro’s in the past 12 months: if (fin4v1f1=empty and fin4v2f1=empty): {zcheck4} You left both fields empty at the previous question. It is very important for this study to obtain complete information. Please enter an amount at one of the two fields. The question will be repeated. {repeat questions fin4v1f1- fin4v2f1} fin5v1f1- fin5v2f1 How much did your household spend on paying bills? (E.g. for heating, electricity, water, telephone, cable, internet etc., but do not include insurances.) You can choose to provide monthly expenditure or expenditure in the past 12 months. fin5v1f1 amount in euro’s per month: fin5v2f1 amount in euro’s in the past 12 months:


16/32

if (fin5v1f1=empty and fin5v2f1=empty): {zcheck5} You left both fields empty at the previous question. It is very important for this study to obtain complete information. Please enter an amount at one of the two fields. The question will be repeated. {repeat questions fin5v1f1- fin5v2f1} fin6v1f1-fin6v2f1 How much did your household spend on insurances? (E.g. on contents insurance, car insurance, life insurance, health insurance, etc.) You can choose to provide monthly expenditure or expenditure in the past 12 months. fin6v1f1 amount in euro’s per month: fin6v2f1 amount in euro’s in the past 12 months: if (fin6v1f1=empty and fin6v2f1=empty): {zcheck6} You left both fields empty at the previous question. It is very important for this study to obtain complete information. Please enter an amount at one of the two fields. The question will be repeated. {repeat questions fin6v1f1-fin6v2f1} fin7v1f1-fin7v2f1 How much did your household spend on costs related to your house? If you are the owner of a house or flat, these costs consist of interest payments on your mortgage, collective building insurance and property tax. When you are renting a house or flat, these costs consist of rent. Do not include spending on repairs and maintenance of your house. Also, do not include your contents insurance. You can choose to provide monthly expenditure or expenditure in the past 12 months. fin7v1f1 amount in euro’s per month: fin7v2f1 amount in euro’s in the past 12 months:


17/32

if (fin7v1f1=empty and fin7v2f1=empty): {zcheck7} You left both fields empty at the previous question. It is very important for this study to obtain complete information. Please enter an amount at one of the two fields. The question will be repeated. {repeat questions fin7v1f1-fin7v2f1} fin8v1f1-fin8v2f1 How much did your household spend on clothing? (You can for example think of shoes, sports clothing and products such as watches and jewellery.) You can choose to provide monthly expenditure or expenditure in the past 12 months. fin8v1f1 amount in euro’s per month: fin8v2f1 amount in euro’s in the past 12 months: if (fin8v1f1=empty and fin8v2f1=empty): {zcheck8} You left both fields empty at the previous question. It is very important for this study to obtain complete information. Please enter an amount at one of the two fields. The question will be repeated. {repeat questions fin8v1f1-fin8v2f1} fin9v1f1-fin9v2f1 How much did your household spend on transportation? (You can for example think of petrol, gas, maintenance of your car (parts, repairs and service), and public transport such as train or bus. Do not include insurance or costs associated with the purchase of vehicle.) You can choose to provide monthly expenditure or expenditure in the past 12 months. fin9v1f1 amount in euro’s per month: fin9v2f1 amount in euro’s in the past 12 months: if (fin9v1f1=empty and fin9v2f1=empty): {zcheck9} You left both fields empty at the previous question. It is very important for this study to obtain complete information. Please enter an amount at one of the two fields. The question will be repeated. {repeat questions fin9v1f1-fin9v2f1}


18/32

fin10vf1-fin10vfa How much did your household spend on medical care and expenses related to your health? (You can for example think of drugs, GP or dentist visits, hospital expenses, costs associated with pregnancy; i.e. everything that is not covered by insurance.) You can choose to provide monthly expenditure or expenditure in the past 12 months. fin10vf1 amount in euro’s per month: fin10vfa amount in euro’s in the past 12 months: if (fin10v1f1=empty and fin10v2f1=empty): {zcheck10} You left both fields empty at the previous question. It is very important for this study to obtain complete information. Please enter an amount at one of the two fields. The question will be repeated. {repeat questions fin10vf1-fin10vfa} fin11vf1-fin11vfa Think of the amount that your household spends on bills such as rent, mortgage, payments related to loans and expenses on food, clothing, transportation, entertainment and other expenses that your household has. Do not include the amount that you spend on durable consumption goods such as vehicles, refrigerator, washing machine, dishwasher, television, computer, etc. What is the total amount that you reach approximately? You can choose to provide monthly expenditure or expenditure in the past 12 months. fin11vf1 amount in euro’s per month: fin11vfa amount in euro’s in the past 12 months: if (fin11v1f1=empty and fin11v2f1=empty): {zcheck11} You left both fields empty at the previous question. It is very important for this study to obtain complete information. Please enter an amount at one of the two fields. The question will be repeated. {repeat questions fin11vf1-fin11vfa} {qintro1} Finally we would like to present some puzzles to you. Your answers to these questions will help the researchers to analyse the results of this study.


19/32

Would you like to try and provide an answer. Only when you really do not know the answer, you can provide ‘I do not know’. q1 Consider that you have 100 euro’s on a savings account with an annual interest rate of 2 percent. If the money remains in the account, how much money do you think there will be in the account after five years? 1 more than 102 euro’s 2 exactly 102 euro’s 3 less than 102 euro’s 99 I do not know q2 Consider that the interest rate on your savings account is 1 percent annually, and inflation is 2 percent annually. After one year, would you be able to but more, exactly the same, or less with the money in your account than now? 1 more 2 exactly the same 3 less 99 I do not know q3 Do you think the next statement is true or false? Investing in shares of one company will give a more certain return, than investing in a diversified equity fund. 1 true 2 false 99 I do not know q4t1 A ball and a hat together cost 1,10 euro’s. The ball costs 1,00 euro more than the hat. How much does the hat cost? Provide an answer in cents. Cents integer -999 I do not know if q4t1<>response: {q4_check} You did not answer the question. Would you like to return to provide an answer? q5t1 If 5 machines need 5 minutes to produce 5 products, how many minnutes do 100 machines need to produce 100 products?


20/32

Minutes integer -999 I do not know if q5t1<>response: {q5_check} You did not answer the question. Would you like to return to provide an answer? q6t1 Part of a lake is covered with water lilies. Every day, this part doubles in size. If it takes 48 days to cover the complete lake with water lilies, how long does it take to cover half the lake? Days integer -999 I do not know if q6t1<>response: {q6_check} You did not answer the question. Would you like to return to provide an answer?


21/32

{qintro2} For the next three questions we show a figure with one part missing. Every figure has a pattern going from left to right and from top to bottom. Below you can see an example of such a figure.

Below, six different parts of a figure are shown. The question is which part belongs to the larger figure, to complete the pattern. Only one part fits.

The correct answer in this case is f. In the next screens you will see three similar questions.


22/32

q7 Please look at the following figure. (1/3)

Which of the parts below fits this figure best?

1a 2b 3c 4d 5e 6f 99 I do not know


23/32





24/32





25/32

{uitkomst} These were the questions belonging to the study. For payment in the first part, the computer selected round [ronde]. Your assignment in this round was: [early] tokens at [payday1] and [later] tokens at [payday2]. The tokens are exchanged for money as follows: four tokens are worth 1 euro. This means that you will receive [euro1] euro at [payday1] and [euro2] euro at [payday2]. In the next screen you can supply the account number where you would like to receive the money. If an account number of the household is known at CentERdata: {reknra} At CentERdata an account number for your household that has been supplied to use previously is already known. Should we transfer the money to this account? 1 yes 2 no If reknrA=2 or the account number of the household is not known at CentERdata: {reknrvf1- reknrvfa} [account number not known: Since no account number for your household is known at CentERdata, we need your account number.] Please fill out the number of the account where you would like to receive the money. This information will not be used for any other purpose than payment of the money that you earned in this study. Please fill out the name exactly as it is known by the bank and belonging to the account number. In name of {reknrvf1} Account number {reknrvfa}

eva2t1 – eva2t5 Thank you very much for filling out this questionnaire. Note: Please finish the questionnaire until you reach the opening screen. Only then the system will register the questionnaire as completed. Finally. What did you think of this questionnaire: 1 = completely disagree 5 = completely agree eva2t1 Did you find it difficult to answer the questions? eva2t2 Where the questions clear?


26/32

eva2t3 Did the questionnaire make you think? eva2t4 Do you think the subject is interesting? eva2t5 Did you enjoy filling out the questionnaire? 1 1 completely disagree 22 33 44 5 5 completely agree opm Do you have any comments about this questionnaire? 1 yes 2 no if opm=1 evaopm You can give your comments here. open Datumb Date start questionnaire Tijdb Time start questionnaire Datume Date end questionnaire Tijde Time end questionnaire Dintro1 to Duitkoms

Date corresponding variables

Tintro1 to Tuitkoms

Time corresponding variables


27/32

3

Background characteristics CentERpanel

geslacht

positie

Gender 1 2

Male Female

Position in the household 1 Head of household* 2 Married partner 3 Non-married partner 4 Parent/parent-in-law 5 Child living at home 6 Housemate 7 Family member or boarder * The head of the household is the person whose name is on the rental agreement or the sale contract of the house. If the contract contains multiple names, the head of household is the one with the highest income/earnings.

gebjaar

Year of birth 1900..2011

leeftijd

Age of household member

lftdcat

Age in CBS-categories (CBS is Dutch Central Bureau of Statistics) 1 14 years and younger 2 15 - 24 years old 3 25 - 34 years old 4 35 - 44 years old 5 45 - 54 years old 6 55 - 64 years old 7 65 years and older

lftdhhh

Age of the head of household

aantalhh

Number of household members 1 One person 2 Two persons 3 Three persons 4 Four persons 5 Five persons 6 Six persons 7 Seven persons 8 Eight persons 9 Nine persons or more


28/32

aantalki

partner

Number of children living at home in the household 0 None 1 One child 2 Two children 3 Three children 4 Four children 5 Five children 6 Six children 7 Seven children 8 Eight children 9 Nine children or more The head of household lives together with a partner (married or not) 0 No 1 Yes

woonvorm

Type of living arrangement household 1 Living alone 2 (Non)married living together, without child(ren) 3 (Non)married living together, with child(ren) 4 Living alone, with child(ren) 5 Something else

sted

Measure of urbanness* of city of residence 1 Very strongly urban 2 Strongly urban 3 Average urban 4 Not very urban 5 Not urban *Urbanness very strongly strongly average not very not

belbezig

Density of addresses in the neighbourhood per km2 2.500 or more 1.500 to 2.500 1.000 to 1.500 500 to 1.000 Less than 500

Main occupation 1 Salaried worker 2 Works (partly?) in household- or family business 3 Is practising a free (?) profession, freelance or self-employed 4 Is looking for work after job loss 5 Is looking for work for the first time 6 Is attending school or studying 7 Takes care of the household 8 Is retired (early, AOW of VUT (two retirement schemes)) 9 Is (partly) unfit for work 10 Does unpaid work while keeping benefits 11 Does volunteer work 12 Does something else 13 Is too young, does not have an occupation


29/32

brutoink

Personal monthly gross income* in euro’s -13 I really don’t know -14 I don’t want to tell -15 Unknown (missing)

nettoink

Personal monthly net income* in euro’s -13 I really don’t know -14 I don’t want to tell -15 Unknown (missing) * Because not everyone wants CentERData to know his/her income, a 0 (zero) can mean two different things: (1) there is truly no income; and (2) the panel member filled out a 0 (zero), because he/she doesn't know the income, or doesn't want CentERData to know the income. In the second case panel members should mention that they do not know the income (-13) or do not want to tell (-14). Unfortunately, not all panel members do this, and some keep answering 0 (zero), although they do have an income. It is not possible to determine who these people are. Also, there are panel member that did not answer anything at the income questions. They have a score -15.

brutocat

Personal gross monthly income in categories 1 EUR 500 or less 2 EUR 501 to EUR 1000 3 EUR 1001 to EUR 1500 4 EUR 1501 to EUR 2000 5 EUR 2001 to EUR 2500 6 EUR 2501 to EUR 3000 7 EUR 3001 to EUR 3500 8 EUR 3501 to EUR 4000 9 EUR 4001 to EUR 4500 10 EUR 4501 to EUR 5000 11 EUR 5001 to EUR 7500 12 More than EUR 7500 13 I really don’t know 14 I don’t want to tell

nettocat

Personal net monthly income in categories 1 EUR 500 or less 2 EUR 501 to EUR 1000 3 EUR 1001 to EUR 1500 4 EUR 1501 to EUR 2000 5 EUR 2001 to EUR 2500 6 EUR 2501 to EUR 3000 7 EUR 3001 to EUR 3500 8 EUR 3501 to EUR 4000 9 EUR 4001 to EUR 4500 10 EUR 4501 to EUR 5000 11 EUR 5001 to EUR 7500 12 More than EUR 7500 13 I really don’t know 14 I don’t want to tell


30/32

brutohh nettohh

Gross monthly household income* in euro’s Net monthly household income* in euro’s * All monthly incomes of the x-number of household members added, where the income of those who scored -13, -14, or -15 is set to 0.

inkomen

Net monthly household income in categories 1 EUR 1150 or less 2 EUR 1151 to EUR 1800 3 EUR 1801 to EUR 2600 4 More than EUR 2600 9 Unknown (missing)* * The net monthly income of at least 1 household member is unknown.

oplcat

Education 1 2 3 4 5 6

in CBS-categories basisonderwijs / elementary schooling (age 4-12) vmbo / low type of high school havo/vwo / high type of high school mbo / secondary vocational education hbo / high professional education (college) wo / university

woning

Type of home the household lives in 1 Owns home 2 Rental home 3 Sublet 4 Free housing 9 Unknown (missing)

regio

Region city of residence 1 Three big cities* 2 Remainder west 3 North 4 East 5 South * Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Den Haag/The Hague (including surrounding towns).

prov

Province 20 Groningen 21 Friesland 22 Drenthe 23 Overijssel 24 Flevoland 25 Gelderland 26 Utrecht 27 Noord-Holland 28 Zuid-Holland 29 Zeeland 30 Noord-Brabant 31 Limburg


31/32

bedrtak

Line of business* 1 Agriculture or mining 2 Industrial 3 Energy- or water production 4 Construction 5 Trade 6 Hotel and catering 7 Transport 8 Financial institution 9 Business services 10 Public sector (Federal, province or municipal) 11 Education 12 Health and well-being services 13 Culture, sports and recreation 14 Non-profit or issue organization 15 Something else -13 -14

Does not apply (belbezig>3) Unknown (missing)

* Only available for panel member with belbezig smaller or equal to 3. ses

Social class 1 High 2 3 4 5 Low 9 Unknown (missing)

religie

Religious background or view of life 1 None 2 (Roman)catholic 3 Protestant Church in The Netherlands 4 Evangelic 5 Humanistic 6 Islamic 7 Something else 9 Unknown (missing)

koopmens

Does this person do groceries 0 No 1 Yes

kostwin

Is breadwnner/supporter of the family* 0 No 1 Yes * The head breadwinner is the one with the highest income.

account

Does the personal finances 0 No 1 Yes


32/32

ESRC End of Award Report For awards ending on or after 1 November 2009 This End of Award Report should be completed and submitted using the grant reference as the email subject, to [email protected] on or before the due date. The final instalment of the grant will not be paid until an End of Award Report is completed in full and accepted by ESRC. Grant holders whose End of Award Report is overdue or incomplete will not be eligible for further ESRC funding until the Report is accepted. We reserve the right to recover a sum of the expenditure incurred on the grant if the End of Award Report is overdue. (Please see Section 5 of the ESRC Research Funding Guide for details.) Please refer to the Guidance notes when completing this End of Award Report. Grant Reference Grant Title

RES-061-25-0348 Measuring Risk and Time Preferences: Large-Scale Field Experiments Grant Start Date 01 October 2008 Total Amount £ Expended: Grant End Date 30 September 2011 Grant holding Institution University College London Grant Holder Syngjoo Choi Grant Holder’s Contact Address Email Details Department of Economics [email protected] University College London Telephone Gower Street, London WC1E 0207 679 5851 6BT Co-Investigators (as per project application): Institution

1. Non-technical summary Please provide below a project summary written in non-technical language. The summary may be used by us to publicise your work and should explain the aims and findings of the project. [Max 250 words] This project involves two economic experiments in 2009 and 2011 in an existing household panel survey. They aim at understanding possible sources of heterogeneity in important economic outcomes such as saving and wealth accumulation. The first experiment is about 1

decision making under uncertainty, while the second one is about intertemporal decision making. Traditional economic analysis assumes that choices are rational. In this standard view, heterogeneity in choices is attributed to heterogeneity in preferences, information, beliefs, or constraints. Alternatively, heterogeneity in choices can be also driven by differences in the quality of decision making. This new view has important consequences because it suggests that “revealed preferences” from actual choices may not be “true” underlying preferences. The experiments are designed to measure separately quality and preferences of decision making under uncertainty and over time, while controlling other sources. Classical revealed preference theory offers a criterion for decision-making quality: if decisions are high quality, the choices are consistent with utility maximization. In both experiments, we find that high-income and high-education subjects display greater levels of consistency than low-income and low-education subjects, and young subjects are more consistent than older subjects. We also find that consistency with utility maximization is strongly related to household wealth accumulation and saving, while controlling the effects of individual preferences. We thus conclude that heterogeneity in quality of decision making is an important source of explaining variations of real economic outcomes such as saving and wealth.

2. Project overview a) Objectives Please state the aims and objectives of your project as outlined in your proposal to the us. [Max 200 words] I planned to conduct two field experiments to measure individual risk and time preferences. The field environment is the CentERpanel in the Netherlands whose survey is conducted through the internet on a weekly basis. An innovative graphical interface was supposed to be incorporated into the CentERpanel survey, which allows web-based experiments in a large scale. The combined use of the experimental data with the panel survey would enhance our understanding of important economic activities involving risk and time dimensions, such as saving and investment.

b) Project Changes Please describe any changes made to the original aims and objectives, and confirm that these were agreed with us. Please also detail any changes to the grant holder’s institutional affiliation, project staffing or funding. [Max 200 words] The project has been implemented as planned in the original project.

2

c) Methodology Please describe the methodology that you employed in the project. Please also note any ethical issues that arose during the course of the work, the effects of this and any action taken. [Max 500 words] The two experiments use the CentERpanel, an online, weekly, stratified survey of a sample of over 2,000 households and 5,000 individual members. The CentERpanel provides a unique opportunity to combine experimental data with sociodemographic and economic variables from the survey. The subjects in the experiment were randomly recruited from the entire CentERpanel body. The first experiment about decision making under uncertainty was conducted in May 2009 with 1,182 CentERpanel adult members, while the second experiment about intertemporal decision making was done in June and September 2011 with 1,425 panel members. Because the experiments were conducted under the CentERdata protocol and there was no ethical issue arising during the experiments. We presented subjects with a sequence of decision problems: under uncertainty in the first experiment and over time in the second experiment. In the first experiment decision problems can be interpreted as the allocation of an endowment between two risky assets, while they are the allocation of an endowment over two payment dates in the second experiment. These decision problems are presented using and adapting a graphical interface introduced by Choi et al. (2007). Because the design is user-friendly, it is possible to present each subject with many choices, allowing us to analyze the data at the level of the individual subject. Because choices are from standard budget lines, we can use revealed preference tests to investigate the extent to which the data comply with utility maximization. Because we observe many choices over a wide range of budget lines, the data allow high-power tests of revealed preference conditions. For the criterion for quality, classical revealed preference theory also provides a direct test: choices are consistent with maximizing a utility function if and only if they satisfy the Generalized Axiom of Revealed Preference (GARP). Because GARP offers an exact test (either choice data satisfy GARP or they do not), a variety of goodness-of-fit indices have been proposed for quantifying the extent of violation. The main index is Afriat's (1972) Critical Cost Efficiency Index (CCEI). It can be interpreted as measuring the fraction of income that an individual is “wasting” by making inconsistent choices. For risk preferences, we use a flexible economic model enabling us to measure separately loss aversion and risk aversion. For time preferences, we employ a quasi-hyperbolic discounting model allowing us to measure separately present-bias, time discounting, and utility curvature. We estimate these preference parameters at the level of individual subjects. With the measures of decision-making quality and individual preferences, we conduct a variety of regression analyses with socio-demographic information in order to find (i) who is more rational? (ii) who is more risk / loss averse? (iii) who is more time patient / exhibits more likely present-bias? Also, using the panel data information on saving and lifetime wealth accumulation, we implement regression analyses to understand if the experimental measures of quality and preferences are associated with variations in such real economic outcomes.

d) Project Findings Please summarise the findings of the project, referring where appropriate to outputs recorded on the ESRC website. Any future research plans should also be identified. [Max 500 words] This project has generated one complete working paper, titled “Who Is (More) Rational?”, and will produce at least two more academic papers. The first paper, “Who Is (More) Rational?”, utilizes the data from the first experiment. This 3

paper addresses the measurement of decision-making quality in the domain of decision making under risk. Revealed preference theory offers a criterion for decision-making quality: if decisions are high quality then there exists a utility function that the choices maximize. We thus measure aspects of decision-making quality by calculating how nearly individual choice behavior in an experiment complies with economic rationality in the sense of a consistent (complete and transitive) preference ordering. A large-scale field experiment enables us to test for consistency with utility maximization. We find that high-income and high-education subjects display greater levels of consistency than low-income and low-education subjects, men are more consistent than women, and young subjects are more consistent than older subjects. We also find that consistency with utility maximization is strongly related to wealth: conditional on measures of current income, education, basic sociodemographics and household structure, a standard deviation increase in the consistency scores of the person who is primarily responsible for household financial matters is associated with 15-19 percent more household wealth. This result is little changed when we add controls for violations of the dominance principle, a summary measure of risk tolerance, and a standard conscientiousness test. The second paper, currently work in progress, addresses the measurements of risk preferences. We estimate risk preferences using a two-parameter utility model – one parameter is the coefficient of risk aversion and the other is a measure of loss/disappointment aversion. We explain heterogeneity in preferences and in types of behaviors in terms of sociodemographic variables and investigate the correspondence between individual investment and savings decisions and behavior in the laboratory. This enhances our understanding of important economic decisions such as savings and portfolio choices. The third paper, also work in progress, addresses both measurements of decision-making quality and time preferences in the domain of intertemporal choices. We develop a novel experimental design that allows us to collect many decisions over time at the level of individual subjects. This enables us to find patterns of consistency over time as well as consistency in a particular time period. Also, the novel design allows us to estimate separately usual time discounting, present-bias and utility curvature altogether. The current findings are (i) that highincome and high-education subjects display greater levels of consistency than low-income and low-education subjects, young subjects are more consistent than older subjects in a given time period; (ii) that older subjects are less time consistent than young subjects; and (iii) older subjects tend to demand more sooner payments than young subjects. We also collect household-level consumption data that makes us identify household savings. We find that consistency with utility maximization over time is strongly related to savings, while controlling standard socio-demographics, time preferences, and cognitive abilities.

e) Contributions to wider ESRC initiatives (eg Research Programmes or Networks) If your project was part of a wider ESRC initiative, please describe your contributions to the initiative’s objectives and activities and note any effect on your project resulting from participation. [Max. 200 words] The project was a solo, independent one.

4

3. Early and anticipated impacts a) Summary of Impacts to date Please summarise any impacts of the project to date, referring where appropriate to associated outputs recorded on the Research Outcomes System (ROS). This should include both scientific impacts (relevant to the academic community) and economic and societal impacts (relevant to broader society). The impact can be relevant to any organisation, community or individual. [Max. 400 words] This project is mainly for academic purpose and its findings have been so far appealed to a wide group of audiences in the academic community. First, the first outcome, titled “Who Is (More) Rational?”, has been presented in many universities and conferences in both US and Europe. The places in the United States include Stanford University, University California at Berkeley, New York University, University of Wisconsin at Madison, etc. The places in the Europe include University College London, conferences at the Institute Fiscal Studies, University of York, University of St. Andrews, Toulouse School of Economics, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, etc. On the other hand, the experimental techniques that have been developed in this project have attracted academic and practical interests from other research organizations. One notable example is that I have been working with IFS researchers (Thomas Crossley (also affiliated to University of Cambridge and James Bank (also affiliated to University of Manchester)) to adapt the experimental techniques into the English Longitudinal Study of Aging (ELSA). This joint work has been financially supported by the ESRC, whose title is Measurement of Risk and Time Preferences in the English Longitudinal Study of Aging and its grant number is RES-000-22-4264. The study at the ELSA has been conducted in the summer 2011 and we are currently analyzing the data.

b) Anticipated/Potential Future Impacts Please outline any anticipated or potential impacts (scientific or economic and societal) that you believe your project might have in future. [Max. 200 words] I believe the project has a potential of impacting not only scientific community but also policy makers, and thus societies. Because the project provides a way of measuring decision-making quality along with standard economic preferences, policy makers can use the tools developed in the project, in order to understand who tend to make systematically poor decisions in important real-life outcomes such as saving and investments. In other words, combined with other traditional ways, this study can enlighten a way of identifying vulnerable social groups in modern complex world and financial markets. For example, the findings in the project suggest that older people is more vulnerable in the errors of financial decision making, which is consistent with common anecdotal evidence in the media. This study provides a scientific way of measuring such things. My coauthors and I will continue to present outcomes from this project in many academic seminars and conferences. This joint activity will prompt the dissemination of knowledge acquired from this research. Also, I expect that the experimental tools developed in this project will have a significant impact on the design of household surveys. I will continue any efforts of 5

collaborating with those who use household survey as their research tool.

You will be asked to complete an ESRC Impact Report 12 months after the end date of your award. The Impact Report will ask for details of any impacts that have arisen since the completion of the End of Award Report.

6

UK Data Archive Study Number Measuring Risk and Time Preferences: Large-Scale Field Experiments, Budgetlines

Recommend Documents