Non-price energy conservation program and household energy consumption in Bangladesh

Last registered on June 22, 2019

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Non-price energy conservation program and household energy consumption in Bangladesh
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0002367
Initial registration date
August 08, 2017

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
August 08, 2017, 12:43 PM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Last updated
June 22, 2019, 8:06 PM EDT

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, North South University, Bashundhara, Dhaka-1229, Bangladesh

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
Senior Lecturer, Department of Economics, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
PI Affiliation
Associate Professor, Department of Economics, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2017-04-04
End date
2017-11-16
Secondary IDs
Abstract
We use a randomized controlled field experiment to examine the relative effectiveness of information in influencing residential energy consumption in Bangladesh. We assess the role of information on energy consumption by testing the effects of the following information: (i) expert advice on electricity conservation; (ii) (average) electricity consumption of others in the city; and (iii) own electricity consumption relative to neighbors’.

Registration Citation

Citation
Ahsanuzzaman, Ahsanuzzaman, Asad Islam and Liang Wang. 2019. "Non-price energy conservation program and household energy consumption in Bangladesh." AEA RCT Registry. June 22. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.2367-4.0
Former Citation
Ahsanuzzaman, Ahsanuzzaman, Asad Islam and Liang Wang. 2019. "Non-price energy conservation program and household energy consumption in Bangladesh." AEA RCT Registry. June 22. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/2367/history/48541
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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We provide the following interventions: (i) expert advice on electricity conservation (Information/Knowledge treatment), (ii) information about (average) electricity consumption of others in the city (City/Suburb treatment) , and (iii) information about own electricity consumption relative to comparable neighbors' electricity consumption (Neighbor treatment); and (iv) no intervention - control group.
Intervention Start Date
2017-04-04
Intervention End Date
2017-09-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Energy use, household electricity bill, other energy consumption and bills (such as gas)
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Survey data, and information from energy bill to be collected from agency and households

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Targeted households for our project are the ones with air-conditioners at home. We first identify the 2400 households with air-conditioners in three cities in Bangladesh- Dhaka, Khulna, and Jessore. We then randomly assign 2400 households into 4 groups. Three of the 4 groups are treated with three different treatments, and the remaining group is the control. The sample size in each group is almost equally divided. Randomization took place at the household (apartment) level.

Experimental Design Details
Starting in April 04, 2017 we provide 3 treatment groups with the corresponding interventions in the months of April-May, May-June, August. The final round collects data in October without any intervention provided.

The first treatment group receives information related to the production and consumption of electricity and its relation to the climate change shown in a flow chart. The enumerators visit the households once in a month from April-May, June, and August and provide and explain the information carried in the flow chart. This group is also provided with the 10 point tips, with advice from the city electricity distribution company experts, to conserve electricity and hence reduce expenditure on electricity use. In addition, for the information to be reminded and emphasized to the households, most important 6 of 10 tips are provided in stickers and displayed at obvious places in the house to allow dwellers to easily and frequently see them.

In each month mentioned above, the enumerators also visit in the second treatment group to provide a flyer to each household. Households are divided into three sub-groups based on their electricity use compared to the city average household's electricity use. The three sub-groups are: (i) good/efficient users whose electricity bills are one standard deviation lower than the average household's bill; (ii) bad/inefficient users whose electricity bill is one standard deviation higher than the average household's bill; and (iii) average users whose electricity bills are within one standard deviation of the average household's bill. The good/efficient households are provided flyers with a norm sign which indicates appreciation for their good use, while the bad users are provided with flyers with a thumb-down sign indicating dis-appreciation for their extravagant electricity use. The average users are provided with flyers showing the city average. Each sub-group is explained about their standing of electricity use compared to the city average households' electricity use.

The last treatment differs from the second one mainly in terms of how the comparison is made. Instead of the city-wide average dweller, a household electricity bill is compared with a neighbor's electricity bill. If a household's bill is above the median bill among the neighborhood households' bills we post a sad sign, if the bill is below we post a smile sign and so on.

Surveys before, during and after the field experiment will further generate data on values, attitudes, and household characteristics of the participants and will also help examine the impact on awareness of energy conservation potentials.
Randomization Method
Randomization is done in office by a computer.
Randomization Unit
Apartment (household) is the unit of randomization
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
2400 households
Sample size: planned number of observations
2400 households
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
600 in control group, 1800 households in three treatment groups each group dividing equally.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Monash University Human Research Ethics Committee
IRB Approval Date
2017-02-03
IRB Approval Number
7841
Analysis Plan

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Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials