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Eva Ranehill. Photo.

Eva Ranehill

Professor

Eva Ranehill. Photo.

Hormonal contraceptives do not impact economic preferences: Evidence from a randomized trial

Author

  • Eva Ranehill
  • Niklas Zethraeus
  • liselott Blomberg
  • Bo von Schoultz
  • Angelica Lindén Hirschberg
  • Magnus Johannesson
  • Anna Dreber

Summary, in English

A growing body of correlational studies suggests that sex hormones such as those contained in, or affected by, oral contraceptives (OCs) may impact economic behavior. However, despite widespread use of OCs among women in Western countries, little is known about their potential behavioral effects. The present study investigates whether OCs causally influence economic preferences. We randomly allocate 340 women aged 18–35 to three months of a widely used OC or placebo treatment. At the end of treatment, we conduct an economic experiment measuring altruism, financial risk taking, and willingness to compete. The statistical power is 80% to detect an effect size equal to a Cohen’s d of 0.30 at the 5% level. We find no significant effects of OCs on any of the measured preferences, indicating that this widely used OC treatment, commonly used throughout the world, does not significantly affect the measured economic preferences. Further, we find no relation between menstrual cycle phase and economic preferences in the placebo group.

Publishing year

2018-10

Language

English

Publication/Series

Management Science

Volume

64

Issue

10

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

INFORMS Inst.for Operations Res.and the Management Sciences

Topic

  • Economics

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 0025-1909