Thesis Repository - Game Changer: Mobile Apps Leveling Up Field Experiments

This repository contains the code and data associated with my thesis titled "Game Changer: Mobile Apps Leveling Up Field Experiments".

Student: Lucie Schulz Advisor: Andrew Hobbs

Department of Economics University of San Francisco 2130 Fulton St. San Francisco, CA 94117

Thesis Submission for the Master of Science Degree in Applied Economics

e-mail: lschulz@dons.usfca.edu

Abstract: This study investigates investment decision-making among 133 microcredit borrowers of FINCA Uganda using a mobile game simulating real-world livestock investments, aiming to explore alternative financial education solutions for populations with limited access to traditional methods. We analyzed decision-making speed and error rates across five game sessions, based on 117,870 decisions. Results show a significant increase in decision-making speed, indicating growing user familiarity with the interface and process. However, error rates present a complex picture: while initial decisions (first 10) show no significant change in error rate over time, error rates increase at specific levels throughout the study. This may reflect difficulties in understanding financial concepts or game mechanics.

The study demonstrates the potential of mobile apps for controlled experiments among populations with minimal digital exposure. Nevertheless, the error patterns highlight the need for further investigation into cognitive factors affecting decision-making in the game. Future research should explore the reasons behind the increased error rates and assess the benefits of incorporating explicit educational components and real-time decision feedback to improve learning outcomes. The study's generalizability to other populations or contexts with varying levels of financial literacy may be limited.

Getting Started

• This repo contains the raw data used in the thesis
• A jupyter notebook with all the code used in the thesis and to generate visualizations
• A do file for Fixed-Effects Models used in the thesis