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Enfranchising Your Own? Experimental Evidence on Bureaucrat Diversity and Election Bias in India

Last registered on March 06, 2017
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Enfranchising Your Own? Experimental Evidence on Bureaucrat Diversity and Election Bias in India
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0000716
Initial registration date
May 20, 2015

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
May 20, 2015, 4:37 PM EDT

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

Last updated
March 06, 2017, 8:27 PM EST

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

Locations

Country
India
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Yusuf Neggers
Affiliation
University of Michigan
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2014-04-10
End date
2015-10-31
Keywords
Electoral, Governance
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Abstract
In 2014, the state of Bihar randomly assigned individuals to the teams of election officers who manage polling stations on election day. This study represents an effort to understand how the composition of the teams of polling station officials may impact voting outcomes as well as behaviors and perceptions of voters and election officers.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Neggers, Yusuf. 2017. "Enfranchising Your Own? Experimental Evidence on Bureaucrat Diversity and Election Bias in India." AEA RCT Registry. March 06. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.716-5.0
Former Citation
Neggers, Yusuf. 2017. "Enfranchising Your Own? Experimental Evidence on Bureaucrat Diversity and Election Bias in India." AEA RCT Registry. March 06. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/716/history/14749
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Aprroximately 59,807 polling stations were used during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections in Bihar. Individuals were randomly assigned to polling officer positions at polling stations by district. We have officer assignment details for 2 districts, covering approximately 5,561 polling stations.

Treatment: 1,799 polling stations for which at least one team member is inferred as belonging to certain politically salient religious/caste minority groups (Muslim or Yadav)

Control: 3,762 polling stations for which no team members are in inferred as belonging to certain politically salient religious/caste minority groups (Muslim or Yadav)
Intervention Start Date
2014-04-10
Intervention End Date
2015-10-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Party vote shares, vote totals, perceptions of fairness, trust in government, election day procedures
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Polling station teams are composed of multiple officers. Individuals within a district are randomly assigned to positions with polling station teams, giving random variation in whether a given polling station team is of mixed composition in terms of Muslim/Yadav officer presence. Each position within a polling station team is drawn from a distinct pool of government employees. This allows researchers to gauge the impacts of politically salient dimensions of officer identity on voting outcomes and the behavior and experiences of voters and officers on election day.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization conducted using ELECON software program.
Randomization Unit
Polling station
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
5,561 polling stations for voting outcomes; 1,064 polling stations for officer surveys; 360 polling stations for voter surveys
Sample size: planned number of observations
Voting outcomes: 5,561 polling stations; Officer surveys: 1,596 officers; Voter surveys: 4,320 voters
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Voting outcomes:
Treatment = 1,799 polling stations
Control = 3,762 polling stations

Officer survey:
Treatment = 1,064 officers
Control = 532 officers

Voter survey:
Treatment = 2,160 voters
Control = 2,160 voters
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Harvard University
IRB Approval Date
2014-11-24
IRB Approval Number
IRB14-4178
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Yes
Data Collection Completion Date
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)
Was attrition correlated with treatment status?
No
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials