AEA RCT Registry currently lists 11788 studies with locations in 170 countries.
This project examines how individuals in low- and middle-income countries perceive and respond to the rapid diffusion of generative artificial intelligence across economic, social, and governance domains. While generative AI offers substantial potential productivity gains, uncertainty about its implications for employment, privacy, fairness, and global power dynamics may change adoption patterns. The uncertainty and risks associated with its adoption also raises concerns about data governance, unequal global distribution of AI capabilities, and appropriate roles of governments in regulating or promoting AI. To identify the mechanisms shaping adoption, beliefs, and governance preferences, we conduct a randomized survey experiment with participants across diverse demographic and occupat...
Prevailing gender norms may discourage women from entering higher-paying, male-dominated sectors by imposing social stigma and family pressure. This study implements a lab-in-the-field experiment in Mozambique to measure these social constraints and to test whether exposure to motivational narratives can influence vocational preferences. The sample consists of married women eligible for a forthcoming vocational training program. In the first stage, participants complete a structured hypothetical choice exercise in which they choose between female-dominated and male-dominated job options that differ only in income. The wage differential increases stepwise, allowing identification of a switching point that captures the implicit “social tax” associated with entering male-dominated activ...
Lead exposure from drinking water remains a critical public health concern in the U.S., primarily driven by lead service lines (LSLs)—lead pipes connecting water mains to buildings. Because LSL inventories offer only a proxy for household-level exposure, as tap water lead levels vary with pipe condition and corrosion control, we are motivated to investigate the following three questions. (1) How does receiving public information that serves as a proxy for pollution exposure affect individuals’ beliefs about personal exposure and confidence in those beliefs? (2) How does it affect willingness to pay (WTP) for mitigation measures? (3) How does it affect WTP for individualized exposure assessments? Leveraging the newly released LSL inventories, we conduct a survey experiment to study how...
This study investigates the effect of providing information and making costs associated with car use more salient. Specifically, we will study the impact of informing drivers about road toll prices over time on driving behavior and attitudes.
Research shows that U.S. employers still exhibit racial biases against Black job seekers, and Black employees in predominantly white workplaces often experience higher turnover rates and fewer promotions than their counterparts. However, limited research has examined whether and how the racial identity of business leaders may disrupt discriminatory practices and behavior. Evidence suggests that diverse leadership among high-ranking individuals in a company can lead to increased managerial and staff diversity. Our proposed study examines how Black leadership in the talent management process impacts the screening of diverse job candidates. To investigate this, in a field experiment, we will post an authentic job opening and recruit freelance hiring professionals to assist us in the init...
Bangladesh’s ~7,000 brick kilns contribute substantially to air pollution, responsible for 11% of the country’s particulate matter, 22% of black carbon, and 17% of total annual CO2 emissions . In our earlier work, we developed an intervention, Zigzag 2.0 (ZZK2.0), an intervention offering kiln owners and operators low-cost training and technical support in kiln management and insulation. In a randomized controlled trial with 276 kilns in Khulna Division (2022–2023), 65% adopted the two most important components. Adoption led to 24% less coal use per 100,000 bricks, with 21% reductions in both CO₂ and PM2.5 emissions. At the request of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, icddr,b scaled the intervention across 1000 kilns in 2023-25. Yet, brick kiln workers represen...
This study investigates the primary motivations for stablecoin adoption among households in Japan, particularly in the context of a rapidly evolving regulatory landscape. Despite the increasing prevalence of dollar-linked digital assets, empirical evidence remains limited regarding whether consumers view these assets as speculative investments or as functional alternatives to traditional banking for payments and remittances. Building on the recent implementation of the GENIUS Act of 2025, which established a federal framework for stablecoin reserves, this research utilizes a comprehensive survey to analyze household behavior. We examine key drivers such as transaction cost reduction, 24/7 settlement speeds, and the role of stablecoins in the "gig economy" for income receipt. Furthermore...
In this study we investigate the interaction of firms’ price and wage setting behaviour and their inflation expectations. This wave is conducted to provide increase general validity of our previous RCT and control for additional aspects (e.g. cost expectations). In particular, we study how inflation expectations are passed through into prices and wages. While theoretically there is a broad consensus about the relevance of the price setting of firms for inflation as well as economic activity, we know relatively little about how and to what extent firms build their inflation expectations into their prices and wages. We analyse these questions using a new firm-level survey with an RCT design that we conduct in Switzerland. Switzerland provides an ideal setting as it has a history of low a...
This study uses a cluster-randomized design to evaluate the impact of an educational workshop on attitudes toward pollution taxation among university students. Seven workshop sites were randomized into two conditions: (i) a Test-Before-Workshop group, in which participants completed the survey instrument before attending the workshop; and (ii) a Test-After-Workshop group, in which participants completed the same survey instrument immediately after the workshop. To provide a true untreated comparison, a third group of students from similar campuses who did not attend any workshop completed the same survey during the same period. The primary outcome is variation in attitudes toward pollution taxation across these three groups, enabling estimation of both workshop effects and baseline diff...
Social protection programs in Sierra Leone aim at supporting poor households, but current targeting tools often leave out food insecure households. Partnering with the government of Sierra Leone, we test various tools for better including food insecure households. Specifically, we test proxy-means testing and CBT instruments designed at selecting food insecure households, and compare these with the traditional PMT used by the government.