| Month 0 |
Health 20 |
Work
Money
| Wallet 0 |
Bills 0 |
Public Fund
| Message | Response |
|---|---|
Waiting...
Workers
| Worker | Health | Requests |
|---|---|---|
 | 20 | 0 |
| 20 | 0 |
| 20 | 0 |
| 20 | 0 |
| 20 | 0 |
| 20 | 0 |
| 20 | 0 |
| 20 | 0 |
Check
The Public Fund administrator checked your employment.
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Money
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Public Fund
Waiting...
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Workers
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This is a decision-making study. Please do not talk or communicate with any other participants during the study. If you have any questions, please raise your hand and a monitor will come to answer your questions privately.
In this study, you will participate in an interaction with other participants. Each participant begins with health points and their health points can increase or decrease depending on everyone's choices. At the end of the study, you will be paid based on your final health, 20 cents for each point.
The decisions that you make are anonymous and the other participants will not know who made which decisions. Your decisions will affect your own payment and other people’s payments, so please carefully read these instructions.
In this interaction, you will look for a job in order to pay bills at the end of each month. The bills are the cost of meeting basic needs such as food, shelter, and medicine. If you cannot pay the bills, then you do not meet your basic needs and your health suffers. To avoid this, you can ask for help from your group. You are in a group of eight workers who live in the same town. The other workers in your group are other participants in this study.
The town has set up a Public Fund with an administrator who collects contributions and distributes benefits to unemployed workers. Workers pay taxes to the fund when they earn income, and they can ask to withdraw money from the fund after they look for a job.
Importantly, you and the other workers could withdraw money from the fund whether you find a job or not. The administrator of the Public Fund cannot check a worker’s employment so they do not know if a worker is really unemployed. However, if all of the funds have been used up, then no one can receive benefits whether they are unemployed or not.
These steps repeat for 24 months. Every month, you are in the same group of workers and any unused money in Public Fund carries over to the next month.
Your final health at the end determines your additional earnings in the study, 20 cents per health point.
In this interaction, you will look for a job in order to pay bills at the end of each month. The bills are the cost of meeting basic needs such as food, shelter, and medicine. If you cannot pay the bills, then you do not meet your basic needs and your health suffers. To avoid this, you can ask for help from your group. You are in a group of eight workers who live in the same town. The other workers in your group are other participants in this study.
The town has set up a Public Fund with an administrator who collects contributions and distributes benefits to unemployed workers. Workers pay taxes to the fund when they earn income, and they can ask to withdraw money from the fund after they look for a job.
Importantly, you and the other workers could withdraw money from the fund whether you find a job or not. The administrator of the Public Fund does not have time to check every worker’s claim of unemployment, but they will check 1/3 of the time, and if the worker did have a job, then they do not receive the money and they are banned from asking for help the following month.
These steps repeat for 24 months. Every month, you are in the same group of workers and any unused money in Public Fund carries over to the next month.
Your final health at the end determines your additional earnings in the study, 20 cents per health point.
In this interaction, you will look for a job in order to pay bills at the end of each month. The bills are the cost of meeting basic needs such as food, shelter, and medicine. If you cannot pay the bills, then you do not meet your basic needs and your health suffers. To avoid this, you can ask for help from your group. You are in a group of eight workers who live in the same town. The other workers in your group are other participants in this study.
The town has set up a Public Fund with an administrator who collects contributions and distributes benefits to unemployed workers. Workers pay taxes to the fund when they earn income, and they can ask to withdraw money from the fund after they look for a job.
Importantly, you and the other workers could withdraw money from the fund whether you find a job or not. The administrator of the Public Fund does not have time to check every worker’s claim of unemployment, but they will check 1/3 of the time, and if the worker did have a job, then they must return the money and pay a fine.
These steps repeat for 24 months. Every month, you are in the same group of workers and any unused money in Public Fund carries over to the next month.
Your final health at the end determines your additional earnings in the study, 20 cents per health point.
In this interaction, you will look for a job in order to pay bills at the end of each month. The bills are the cost of meeting basic needs such as food, shelter, and medicine. If you cannot pay the bills, then you do not meet your basic needs and your health suffers. To avoid this, you can ask for help from your group. You are in a group of eight workers who live in the same town. The other workers in your group are other participants in this study.
The town has set up a Public Fund with an administrator who collects contributions and distributes benefits to unemployed workers. Workers pay taxes to the fund when they earn income, and they can ask to withdraw money from the fund after they look for a job.
Importantly, you and the other workers could withdraw money from the fund whether you find a job or not. The administrator of the Public Fund cannot check a worker’s employment so they do not know if a worker is really unemployed. However, if all of the funds have been used up, then no one can receive benefits whether they are unemployed or not. To help conserve the fund, the administrator allows each worker to request help no more than half of the time, specifically a worker can make up to 12 requests over 24 months.
These steps repeat for 24 months. You will stay in the same group of workers and the amount in Public Fund carries over from month to month.
Your final health at the end determines your additional earnings in the study, 20 cents per health point.
Please locate the work panel on your screen. Each month, you look for a job by clicking the button labeled “Look for Job!” You have a 50% chance of finding a job and a 50% chance of unemployment. If you find a job, you earn a wage of 20. All workers pay 6 in taxes to the Public Fund when they find a job. If you are unemployed, you earn 0. Your earnings will appear in your wallet in the money panel.
Your wallet shows the money you have available to spend for the month. Each month, you also have to pay bills of -6 to meet your basic needs. If you cannot pay the bills, then your health decreases by -18. If you can pay your bills, then you spend any leftover money on extra goods that boost your health by 1 point for each dollar spent.
Note that you always automatically spend any money in your wallet at the end of the month to boost your health as much as you can.
All workers in your group can ask for help from the Public Fund each month. The Public Fund is set up for workers who are unemployed but the administrator cannot check everyone's employment. So, a worker could also ask for help whether they find a job or not.
The Public Fund gains money each month by collecting taxes from workers. A worker who requests help will receive 6 from the Public Fund to pay their bills if funds are available. If there are not enough funds available (less than 6), then all requests are denied until more taxes are collected. (If multiple workers request the last remaining funds, the recipients will be randomly determined.)
Any remaining money in the Public Fund carries over to the next month. After the last month, any remaining money in the Public Fund is divided equally among workers and adds to their health.
All workers in your group can ask for help from the Public Fund each month. The Public Fund is set up for workers who are unemployed but the administrator cannot check their employment. So, a worker could also ask for help whether they find a job or not.
The administrator allows each worker to ask for help up to half of the time. A worker can make up to 12 requests every 24 months. When a worker has used all of their requests, they can no longer ask for help.
The Public Fund gains money each month by collecting taxes from workers. A worker who requests help will receive 6 from the Public Fund to pay their bills if funds are available. If no more funds are available, then all requests are denied until more taxes are collected. (If multiple workers request the last remaining funds, the recipients will be randomly determined.)
Any remaining money in the Public Fund carries over to the next month. After the last month, any remaining money in the Public Fund is divided equally among workers and adds to their health.
The workers panel shows the workers in your group, their health, and how many times they asked for help. Your worker icon is highlighted in blue.
The workers panel shows the workers in your group, their health, and how many times they asked for help. Your worker icon is highlighted in blue.
Before a worker receives money from the Public Fund, the administrator could check their unemployment. The administrator does not have time to check everyone but they will spot check 1 out of 3 claims of unemployment. For each case, the check is randomly determined and there is a 1/3 chance that the claim will be checked and a 2/3 chance the claim will not be checked.
If the administrator checks and the worker does have a job, then the worker does not receive the money and is banned from asking for help the following month.
Before a worker receives money from the Public Fund, the administrator could check their unemployment. The administrator does not have time to check everyone but they will spot check 1 out of 3 claims of unemployment. For each case, the check is randomly determined and there is a 1/3 chance that the claim will be checked and a 2/3 chance the claim will not be checked.
If the administrator checks and the worker did have a job, then the worker has to pay back the money, -6, and pay a fine of -9, so they lose -15 health.
Each month, you have a 50% chance of finding a job that pays 20 in wages. If you find a job, you pay 6 in taxes to the Public Fund.
Next, you decide whether to request help from the Public Fund. The administrator cannot check employment, so a worker could request help whether they find a job or not.
Last, you pay bills and spend any remaining money to boost your health, 1 point per dollar.
If you cannot pay bills of -6, your health suffers and you lose -18 health points.
These steps repeat for 24 months. At the end, you earn 20 cents per health point based on your final health.
Each month, you have a 50% chance of finding a job that pays 20 in wages. If you find a job, you pay 6 in taxes to the Public Fund.
Next, you decide whether to request help from the Public Fund. The administrator cannot check employment, so a worker could request help whether they find a job or not. You can ask for help up to 12 times every 24 months.
Last, you pay bills and spend any remaining money to boost your health, 1 point per dollar.
If you cannot pay bills of -6, your health suffers and you lose -18 health points.
These steps repeat for 24 months. At the end, you earn 20 cents per health point based on your final health.
The workers panel shows the workers in your group, their health, and how many times they asked for help. Your worker icon is highlighted in blue.
Please answer the following questions to check your understanding. If you do not know the answers, then review the instructions and try again. You can proceed with the study after you answer these questions correctly.
1. At the end of the month, what happens to the money you have left over after paying your bills?
2. If the Public Fund does not have enough money to help everyone who asks, what happens?
3. What happens if there is money left over in the Public Fund at the end of each month?
4. If you cannot pay your bills and suffer hardship, how many health points do you lose or gain?
Each month, you have a 50% chance of finding a job that pays 20 in wages. If you find a job, you pay 6 in taxes to the Public Fund.
Next, you decide whether to request help from the Public Fund. The administrator cannot check employment, so a worker could request help whether they find a job or not.
Before you receive money from the Public Fund, there is a 1/3 chance that the administrator will check your employment. If you have a job, then you do not receive the money and you are banned from asking for help the following month.
Last, you pay bills and spend any remaining money to boost your health, 1 point per dollar.
If you cannot pay bills of -6, your health suffers and you lose -18 health points.
These steps repeat for 24 months. At the end, you earn 20 cents per health point based on your final health.
Each month, you have a 50% chance of finding a job that pays 20 in wages. If you find a job, you pay 6 in taxes to the Public Fund.
Next, you decide whether to request help from the Public Fund. The administrator cannot check employment, so a worker could request help whether they find a job or not.
Then, you pay bills and spend any remaining money to boost your health, 1 point per dollar. If you cannot pay bills of -6, your health suffers and you lose -18 health points.
If you received money from the Public Fund, then there is a 1/3 chance that the administrator will check your employment. If you had a job, then you must return the money, -6, and pay a fine of -9, so you lose -15 health.
These steps repeat for 24 months. At the end, you earn 20 cents per health point based on your final health.
Please answer the following questions to check your understanding. If you do not know the answers, then review the instructions and try again. You can proceed with the study after you answer these questions correctly.
1. At the end of the month, what happens to the money you have left over after paying your bills?
2. If the Public Fund does not have enough money to help everyone who asks, what happens?
3. What happens if there is money left over in the Public Fund at the end of each month?
4. If you cannot pay your bills and suffer hardship, how many health points do you lose or gain?
5. If you ask for help, what are the chances that the Public Fund administrator will check if you have a job?
After you receive your share, your final health is .
Please sit quietly until everyone else has completed the study.
After everyone is finished, you will take a brief survey.
What is your sex?
What is your age?
What is your ethnicity?
Please answer the following questions about the United States government and current support for the unemployed in the United States.
In general, do you think the U.S. government should help people who are unemployed by providing money to pay their bills?
How much money should the U.S. government provide to someone who is unemployed?
Do you think the U.S. government should limit how long it will give money to someone who is unemployed? Choose the maximum amount of time the government should provide support.
Do you think the U.S. government currently provides too little, too much, or just the right amount of money to someone who is unemployed?
In general, do you think the U.S. government should tax people with income in order to give money to people who are unemployed?
Do you think the U.S. government currently collects too little, too much, or just the right amount of taxes to provide money to people who are unemployed?
Are you personally willing to pay more taxes to help provide money to people who are unemployed?
How did you make your decisions in this study?
Please write any other comments about the study below.
This is your participant code: