TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Slonim, Robert
AU  - Wang, Carmen
AU  - Garbarino, Ellen
AU  - Merrett, Danielle
        TI  - Opting-In: Participation Biases in the Lab
        PY  - 2012/Sep/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 6865
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/publications/dp6865
        AB  - Assuming individuals rationally decide whether to participate or not to participate in lab experiments, we hypothesize several non-representative biases in the characteristics of lab participants. We test the hypotheses by first collecting survey and experimental data on a typical recruitment population and then inviting them to participate in a lab experiment. The results indicate that lab participants are not representative of the target population on almost all the hypothesized characteristics, including having lower income, working fewer hours, volunteering more often, and exhibiting behaviors correlated with interest in experiments and economics. We discuss the implications and various methods for addressing non-representative biases.
        KW  - laboratory experiments
KW  - participation bias
        ER  -