Title: Market vs Regulation – A Field Experiment on Mayors’ Decisions in Urban Planning 

Abstract:

After 40 years of significant urban land take, the French government established in the 2021 Climate & Resilience Law a “net zero land take” target by 2050 (i.e., “ZAN” in French). The scale of urban land take results from the accumulation of many small development projects. These projects are overrepresented in low-density territories, relatively to their population and economic dynamisms (Arambourou et al., 2023; Bocquet, 2023). The high administrative fragmentation of the French metropolitan territory, with 34,806 on January the 1st, 2024, leads to infrastructure duplications in a general context of weak territorial coordination (Augias, 2021; CEV, 2019). To reach the “net zero land take” target by 2050, the French government has designed a prescriptive regulation instrument. The time is divided into ten-year periods, 2021-2031, 2031-2041 and 2041-2050. For the first period, an intermediary objective has been defined by the national government and corresponds to an envelope of roughly 125,000 hectares available for land take in metropolitan France. The envelope is currently allocated by regions to municipalities. Using business-as-usual projections, the land area needs for 2021-2031 are estimated at almost 200,000 hectares. The gap between business-as-usual needs and land area available for land take is expected to widen for the next periods. This objective to reduce land take hence represents a major systemic break in urban planning. The ability to provide sufficient housing and premises to reach households and businesses’ needs, under the municipal budget and land-take reduction constraints, is largely questioned. This ability largely depends on the ability of mayors to use abatement strategies: downward re-evaluation of the needs, increased density, urban recycling and rehabilitation, and renaturation. The mayors’ ability depends in return both on their willingness to use abatement strategies, prioritizing certain development projects, convincing private actors and citizens, and on their technical and financial capacity (Bihouix et al., 2022). In an online field experiment, we will analyse the urban development strategies of local electives facing a bidding land-take regulation. In addition, we will evaluate how a market-based instrument modifies the participants' strategies, especially in terms of economically rational behaviour and cooperation. 

Title: How do Groups Search? An experimental study

Abstract: 

The search for a suitable alternative is often a collective process, yet little is known about how groups search. I report results from lab experiments on collective search, varying the stopping decision rule and whether groups agree on the value of alternatives, and contrasting it with individual search. Several insights emerge. First, groups search for longer, especially under stricter stopping rules. Second, collective search affects performance, as groups tend to do better than individuals when preferences are aligned but worse otherwise. Finally, collective search shapes search strategies, affecting individuals' selectiveness and mitigating nonstationary search behavior. 

Title: The choice of plant-based versus meat dishes in a university restaurant : more about social image than climate change?

Abstract : 

The aim of this presentation is to gain feedback on an experimental design. The objective of this experiment is to examine whether making others' choices visible and activating social image considerations increases the individual likelihood of adopting pro-environmental behaviors, specifically choosing a vegetarian or plant-based meal. The experiment will involve approximately 400 participants and will take place over 10 days. Participants will choose between three dish options (standard meat, standard vegetarian, and premium vegetarian) with the visibility of each being manipulated through different colored trays. We will use two types of nudges: the color of the trays will make choices more less visible, and the size of the tray stacks will indicate a descriptive norm (on the choices of others). We plan to explore how stated environmental concern (assessed through a preliminary questionnaire) influences the choices and their sensitivity to nudges, and whether perceived social norms influence such choices. Specific treatments may include the researcher manipulating plate stacks to reinforce a pro-vegetarian norm and test for the existence of tipping points. We will analyze the results based on the participants' stated environmental concern and general lifestyle, with post-experimental questionnaires used to understand motivations and verify the effectiveness of the manipulations.

Title: The Effects of Quotas on Teamwork: Prior Biases and Learning

Abstract:

In striving for diversity, organizations frequently adopt quotas in their selection processes to redress imbalances between majority and minority groups. While quotas have demonstrated positive effects on workforce composition, their implications for team performance, career advancement, and long-term retention remain ambiguous. The lasting effects of quotas are tied to workplace interactions. Recent studies have highlighted disparities in group dynamics, particularly between genders, revealing variations in speaking frequency, engagement in teamwork, and willingness to lead. These dynamics are intertwined with confidence levels. However, there is a knowledge gap on the precise influence of quotas on these interactions and confidence. This study explores the effects of quotas on team outcomes, particularly in response to partners' confidence levels. I conduct an online experiment comprising a tournament and a teamwork stage. The tournament's performance determines pair compositions and payment schemes for the subsequent teamwork stage. Participants are randomly sorted into a control and a quota group. The design eliminates composition effects, focusing on the belief that winners are selected based solely on performance or performance and group membership. I measure the impact of quota on confidence, team performance, and willingness to work as a team. Using confidence as a signal of ability, I investigate the learning biases resulting from quota-generated exposure. 

Title: "Worker’s Preferences over Payment Schedules: Evidence from Ridesharing Drivers" 

Abstract: 

An occupation is usually characterized as a combination of what people do and how much they are paid for it, with little attention to the fact that work arrangements also define when people are paid for their labor. This paper complements this discussion by investigating how much value people assign to having a short delay between their tasks and the associated compensation. Using a national experimental survey with ridesharing drivers in Brazil, I find a very strong preference for the quick payment feature, as a third of the drivers report preferring an arrangement that pays always on the same day of the ride against the alternative of earning about twice as much with a month's delay. Evidence from subgroup analysis and free text responses suggests that the short delay is preferable in this context due to (a) the presence of financial constraints combined with (b) the value of being able to quickly adjust income by working more hours when needed. An experimentally induced discussion about the driver's potential liquidity sources makes them marginally more likely to prefer high-rate, long-delay contracts, indicating a modest role for primed perceptions with respect to preferences over work payment schedules.