In a laboratory experiment, we find that subjects do not exhibit preference for control when the alternative is a random dictatorship, a lottery implementing either their choice or the choice of someone else with equal probability. In contrast,
we replicate Owens et al. (2014)’s result that they do so when the alternative is to have the choice of someone else implemented with certainty. This implies that the introduction of random dictatorships in discrete procedures such as those used for
the allocation of some public procurement contracts does not necessarily involve a loss of perceived autonomy.