AEA RCT Registry currently lists 3752 studies with locations in 151 countries.
Measuring program impacts on child mortality requires large sample sizes. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on water treatment are therefore typically designed and powered only to detect effects on the more common intermediate outcome of caregiver reported diarrhea, which may or may not be a good proxy for water-related mortality. In this paper, we increase statistical power for examining the child survival effect of improved water quality by conducting a meta-analysis. To address the possibility that researchers are more likely to report child survival findings if estimates are positive, we systematically contact the authors of all RCTs on water interventions in the developing world to find studies with data on mortality outcomes.
We investigate whether free provision of drinking water treatment solution through an approach designed to incorporate insights from behavioral economics can cost effectively improve child survival. While few households in low-income countries purchase water treatment solution, Kremer et al. (2011) find that approximately half of households use a free point-of-collection water treatment dispenser designed to be convenient, salient, and public. However, Ashraf et al (2009) argue that free provision may lead to waste; Schmidt and Cairncross (2009) argue that positive impacts of water treatment on caregiver reports of child diarrhea may be subject to reporting bias and call for data on objective outcomes; and recent studies yield little evidence of child development outcomes (Stewart et al...
Since the Syrian civil war broke out in 2011, the international community has struggled to respond to the resulting refugee crisis in a way that provides for refugees’ and host communities’ long-term needs. As a result, many non-profits and intergovernmental organizations have begun implementing programs that support both the refugees and host communities. As part of a larger study on Syrian refugee livelihoods in Jordan, our team is conducting a randomized control trial (RCT) that evaluates the effectiveness of one such program. The Norwegian Refugee Council’s Urban Shelter Program subsidizes housing for Syrian refugees through the renovation of Jordanian-owned properties in exchange for lower rents for refugees. Our study will use a broad range of outcomes to discern the mechanisms...
Aversion to “stigma” may contribute to low utilization of social programs, but empirical evidence of its importance is scarce. We use three randomized experiments focused on delivering labor market support to young people to test whether stigma can affect real life decisions. The first experiment recruits to a job training program using street-level marketing. The second experiment recruits unemployed youth to the same program via Facebook advertising.The third recruits for a job fair using door-to-door outreach. We randomize the recruitment message used and consider the information's effect on application and attendance rates, as well as selection on those who apply/attend.
Substantial literature on survey response rates focuses on framing and the appeal to altruism as a motivation for participating, with methods like pre-survey post-cards and letters to incentivize cooperation, with evidence coming primarily from the U.S. and Europe. More recently, there has been interest in mobile phone surveys in low and middle income countries, where the efficacy of methods for improving response rates is not as well known. This study randomizes the use of pre-survey text messages, whether to send them and which type of appeal to make. The study also randomizes the messaging used in the consent script, appealing alternatively to “researcher” or “government” as the motivating authority. The experiment is conducted in random-digit dial (RDD) surveys in up to 12 countries...
A randomized field experiment in which parents of early elementary students received personalized information about the academic content their child missed when absent. Following an absence, school staff sent postcards to parents detailing how many days of school their child had missed alongside a handwritten note from their teacher summarizing the academic material covered during the absence. We randomized the intervention across schools and classrooms in two urban school districts. The sample consisted of over 5,500 students in preschool through second grade. Overall, the treatment reduced absences.
This study aims to shed light on how people response to COVID-19 antibody testing. In collaboration with Contra Costa County Health Services (CCHS), we will field two nearly identical online surveys designed to capture both individual beliefs about COVID-19 and behavior taken to mitigate the spread of the disease. The surveys will be fielded to asymptomatic people who show up to a phlebotomy clinic for routine clinician-ordered lab tests and are not explicitly coming for COVID-19 testing. By (randomly) offering some people coming in for lab work a free blood antibody test at the same time, we will be able to study not only how testing affects beliefs about exposure as well as preventive behavior. We can also characterize who takes up the offer of the antibody test.
COVID-19 related school closures in Pakistan put girls’ enrollment at risk due to three main exclusion mechanisms: (1) income shocks may interact with gender bias in household investment in girl’s education, (2) shift in intra-household roles which, if become permanent, may prompt girls’ dropouts, and (3) perceptions of heightened risk of attending school which have been shown to be biased against girls. This RCT will evaluate interventions that target these three different mechanisms by running text messaging and a social mobilization campaign in the form three different treatments: (1) campaign to promote girls participation in distance education and to return to school when schools reopen, (2) campaign to promote enrollment in the girls’ stipend program in place in 16 districts in P...
There is an ongoing debate in the literature about whether imperfect information affects consumers' investment efficiency. We experimentally evaluate the role of imperfect information or limited attention about energy costs in households' choices of home appliances and light bulbs. Using in-home visits, we collect detailed information on the energy efficiency of the participants' current energy-consuming household durables. Our intervention exploits these unique data to provide treated households with customized information about the potential of monetary savings from the adoption of new, comparable and efficient, durables. We find a substantial information treatment effect on both the energy efficiency of the newly purchased durables and the intensity of utilization of current home ap...
Today, individuals commonly disclose personal data to enjoy the benefits of data-driven services, such as personalized user interfaces and targeted content recommendations. Next to these personal benefits, data from individuals can also create great societal returns in the public interest. In this spirit, several countries have introduced mobile tracking apps in response to the COVID 19-pandemic, to facilitate contact tracing based on the continuous collection of users’ contact data with others. However, such tracking apps can only represent effective building blocks for a nation’s public health strategy if individuals are willing to voluntarily donate their data by installing and using these apps. Despite the potential societal benefits, empirical research on data donations is still sc...