How Research Affects Policy: Evidence from a Policy--Adoption Experiment

Last registered on June 05, 2019
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
How Research Affects Policy: Evidence from a Policy--Adoption Experiment
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0004273
Initial registration date
June 03, 2019

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
June 05, 2019, 2:21 PM EDT

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

Locations

Country
Brazil
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Gautam Rao
Affiliation
Harvard University
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Juan Francisco Santini
PI Affiliation
PUC Rio
PI Name
Diana Moreira
PI Affiliation
University of California, Davis
PI Name
Jonas Hjort
PI Affiliation
Columbia University

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2016-10-24
End date
2019-06-01
Keywords
Governance
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Abstract
We use a larger-scale experiment conducted with 1,818 Brazilian municipalities to estimate the impact of providing research information to policymakers on actual policy adoption. A randomly selected treatment group of 881 mayors was invited to attend an hour-long research information session. An experienced presenter informed attending mayors about a set of rigorous research studies showing large effects of a taxpayer reminder letter policy on tax compliance. 15 to 24 months later, we re-interview tax-department bureaucrats and mayors about policy adoption.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Hjort, Jonas et al. 2019. " How Research Affects Policy: Evidence from a Policy--Adoption Experiment ." AEA RCT Registry. June 05. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.4273-1.0
Former Citation
Hjort, Jonas et al. 2019. " How Research Affects Policy: Evidence from a Policy--Adoption Experiment ." AEA RCT Registry. June 05. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/4273/history/47589
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
A subset of the elected mayors in the 2016 municipal election was randomly invited to attend an information session at a national conference of municipalities. Randomization was stratified on mayor education level, mayor term limit, public employees' average education level, number of inhabitants, Gini coefficient and region of the municipality. Our sample consists of 881 municipalities in the treatment group and 937 municipalities in the control group. The session provided information about research on a policy designed to increase tax-compliance. Specifically, the findings were about the effectiveness of tax reminder letters to increase tax compliance.
Intervention Start Date
2016-10-24
Intervention End Date
2016-11-11

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Policy adoption, beliefs about effectiveness
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
A subset of the elected mayors in the 2016 municipal election was randomly invited to attend an information session at a national conference of municipalities. Randomization was stratified on mayor education level, mayor term limit, public employees' average education level, number of inhabitants, Gini coefficient and region of the municipality. Our sample consists of 881 municipalities in the treatment group and 937 municipalities in the control group. The session provided information about research on a policy designed to increase tax-compliance. Specifically, the findings were about the effectiveness of tax reminder letters to increase tax compliance.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
randomization done in office by a computer
Randomization Unit
Municipalities
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
1,818
Sample size: planned number of observations
1,818
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
881 municipalities in the treatment group and 937 municipalities in the control group
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Study has received IRB approval. Details not available.
IRB Approval Date
Details not available
IRB Approval Number
Details not available
Analysis Plan

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