Advanced Search

Back to History Current Version

Can Information Influence the Social Insurance Participation Decision of China's Rural Migrants?

Last registered on September 21, 2018

View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

Can Information Influence the Social Insurance Participation Decision of China's Rural Migrants?

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0003265

Initial registration date

September 13, 2018

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

September 21, 2018, 12:08 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country

Region

Primary Investigator

Name

Affiliation

Australian National University

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

PI Affiliation

World Bank

Contact Investigator

PI Name

PI Affiliation

Jinan University

Contact Investigator

PI Name

PI Affiliation

Southwestern University of Finance and Economics

Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status

Completed

Start date

2015-04-12

End date

2016-12-26

Keywords

Additional Keywords

Migration, Social Insurance, Information

JEL code(s)

H53, H55, J46, J61, O15, O17, O53, P35

Secondary IDs

Abstract

Over the past two decades, China has experienced significant internal labor mobility, and more than 160 million registered rural residents are now living as migrants in China's cities. Under the "guest worker" system, access to urban social insurance programs by rural migrants has been restricted, and even after legal reforms seeking to expand their participation, migrant participation among in urban health insurance and pension programs remains low. From the 2015 Rural-Urban Migration in China (RUMiC) Survey it is evident that only 31% of migrants were participating in urban pension and health insurance programs. This experiment is designed to understand whether poor understanding of social insurance, both the process of enrolling and costs and benefits, drives the relatively low rates of migrant participation in these programs. The team used the 2015 RUMiC survey as a baseline and then conducted an random information intervention in December 2015 and January 2016 in households of 13 cities where the RUMiC Survey was implemented. The team then evaluated the effect of the information intervention on the social insurance participation of treatment and control respondents using the 2015 and 2016 rounds of the RUMiC survey.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Giles, John et al. 2018. "Can Information Influence the Social Insurance Participation Decision of China's Rural Migrants?." AEA RCT Registry. September 21. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.3265-1.0

Former Citation

Giles, John et al. 2018. "Can Information Influence the Social Insurance Participation Decision of China's Rural Migrants?." AEA RCT Registry. September 21. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/3265/history/34509

Sponsors & Partners

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information

Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

Intervention Start Date

2015-12-07

Intervention End Date

2016-01-29

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

actual and intended participation in urban social pension and health insurance programs of rural migrants

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design

The experiment was conducted based on the RUMiC Survey. Specifically, the baseline survey data are from 13 cities data of the 2015 RUMiC survey. After the 13 cities survey was finished in 2015, in the early December we randomly selected approximately 35% of households from the 13 cities to conduct an information intervention. The intervention consists of delivery of a pamphlet which contains the information of cost, benefits, portability of urban social pension and health insurance programs and the contacts of social-protection bureau in the local cities and short explanation on the information by the fieldworkers. The intervention was finished in the end of January of 2016. In the late March in 2016, we began the 2016 RUMiC Survey, which is the follow-up survey of this experiment. By comparing the baseline and follow-up surveys and the control and treatment groups, we evaluate the effect of the information intervention on social insurance participation.

Experimental Design Details

Randomization Method

Randomization done in office by a computer

Randomization Unit

Household

Was the treatment clustered?

Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

In the baseline survey, 4096 households.

Sample size: planned number of observations

In the baseline survey, 6593 rural migrants aged above 16 and below the retirement age.

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

1389 households in the treatment group (i.e. with information intervention), and 2707 in the control group.

Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)

Supporting Documents and Materials

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name

Australian National University Ethic Committee

IRB Approval Date

2015-12-02

IRB Approval Number

2013/688

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information

Intervention

Is the intervention completed?

Yes

Intervention Completion Date

January 29, 2016, 12:00 +00:00

Data Collection Complete

Yes

Data Collection Completion Date

December 26, 2016, 12:00 +00:00

Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)

The baseline sample was 4096 household; the follow up survey has 2903 households left with a 29% of attrition rate.

Was attrition correlated with treatment status?

No

Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations

4710 rural migrants aged above 16 and below the retirement age. There are missing values in the characteristics of some of these observations.

Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms

1010 households and 1632 individuals in the treatment group; 1893 households and 3078 individuals in the control group.

Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?

No

Program Files

Program Files

No

Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials