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Alekseev, Aleksandr

The (Statistical) Power of Incentives

Alekseev, Aleksandr (2025) The (Statistical) Power of Incentives. Journal of the Economic Science Association, pp. 1-18.

Date of publication of this fulltext: 04 Nov 2025 10:15
Article
DOI to cite this document: 10.5283/epub.78073


Abstract

I study the optimal design of monetary incentives in experiments where incentives are a treatment variable. I propose a novel framework called the Budget Minimization problem in which a researcher chooses the level of incentives that allows her to detect a predicted treatment effect while minimizing her expected budget. The Budget Minimization problem builds upon the power analysis and structural ...

I study the optimal design of monetary incentives in experiments where incentives are a treatment variable. I propose a novel framework called the Budget Minimization problem in which a researcher chooses the level of incentives that allows her to detect a predicted treatment effect while minimizing her expected budget. The Budget Minimization problem builds upon the power analysis and structural modeling. It extends the standard optimal design approach by explicitly incorporating the budget as a part of the objective function. I prove theoretically that the problem has an interior solution under fairly mild conditions. To showcase the practical applications of the Budget Minimization problem, I provide examples of its implementation in several well-known experiments. I also offer a practical guide to assist researchers in utilizing the proposed framework. The Budget Minimization problem contributes to the experimental economists’ toolkit for an optimal design, however, it also challenges some conventional design recommendations.



Involved Institutions


Details

Item typeArticle
Journal or Publication TitleJournal of the Economic Science Association
Publisher:Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Page Range:pp. 1-18
Date8 October 2025
InstitutionsBusiness, Economics and Information Systems > Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre und Ökonometrie > Lehrstuhl für Empirische Wirtschaftsforschung - Prof. Lea Cassar
Identification Number
ValueType
10.1017/esa.2025.10019DOI
KeywordsEconomic experiments; effect size; experimental design; incentives; power analysis; sample size; JEL Codes: C9; D9
Dewey Decimal Classification300 Social sciences > 330 Economics
StatusPublished
RefereedYes, this version has been refereed
Created at the University of RegensburgYes
URN of the UB Regensburgurn:nbn:de:bvb:355-epub-780739
Item ID78073

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