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Increasing Organ Donor Registration as a Means to Increase Transplantation: An Experiment With Actual Organ Donor Registrations
Increasing Organ Donor Registration as a Means to Increase Transplantation: An Experiment With Actual Organ Donor Registrations
Judd B. Kessler
Alvin E. Roth
American Economic Journal: Economic Policy (Forthcoming)
Abstract
The U.S. has a severe shortage of organs for transplant. Recently
— inspired by research based on hypothetical choices — jurisdictions
have tried to increase organ donor registrations by changing
how the registration question is asked. We evaluate these changes
with a novel “field-in-the-lab” experiment, in which subjects change
their real organ donor status, and with new donor registration data
collected from U.S. states. A “yes/no” frame is not more effective
than an “opt-in” frame, contradicting conclusions based on
hypothetical choices, but other question wording can matter and
asking individuals to reconsider their donor status increases registrations.
