New financial product introduction and pro-social attitudes

Last registered on November 30, 2022
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
New financial product introduction and pro-social attitudes
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0010468
Initial registration date
November 23, 2022

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
November 30, 2022, 3:24 PM EST

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

Locations

Country
Rwanda
Region
Kigali, Kiziba refugee camp

Primary Investigator

Name
Mikael Paaso
Affiliation
Erasmus University
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Deniz Okat
PI Affiliation
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Vesa Pursiainen
PI Affiliation
University of St. Gallen
Contact Investigator
PI Name
George Mugabe
PI Affiliation
Kepler
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2022-11-25
End date
2023-12-01
Keywords
Finance & Microfinance
Additional Keywords
mobile banking, fintech
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial is based on or builds upon one or more prior RCTs.
Abstract
In this project, we study the impact of the introduction of a new financial product, mobile banking (savings), on attitudes towards sharing money with others. Our study is motivated by previous findings that formal financial products allow people to "hide" savings from social pressure (Carranza et al., 2022 and Riley, 2022 among others) as well as the literature showing that exposure to financial products and financial markets can affect attitudes towards sharing money with a spouse (Riley, 2022), political views (Kaustia et al. 2016, Jha, 2015), attitudes towards risk (Lu et al. 2022), attitudes towards meritocracy and personal responsibility (Margalit and Shayo, 2021) as well as attitudes towards peace and interethnic conflict (Jha and Shayo, 2019). Our project sits at the interaction of these two literatures. Our goal is to study whether being introduced to mobile banking affects attitudes towards sharing and whether this is driven by a wealth/savings effect.

To do this, we conduct an RCT in which people are given cash grants either in the form of cash, a transfer to a mobile bank account or a transfer to a mobile bank account with an incentive to save. We track people's attitudes towards sharing with others using repeated surveys over a 6-8 month horizon in which we measure attitudes (along with a range of other outcomes - we are using the same infrastructure as in another RCT).
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Mugabe, George et al. 2022. "New financial product introduction and pro-social attitudes." AEA RCT Registry. November 30. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.10468-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We will give money grants to all subjects, with some people receiving the grant in cash and others in the form of a transfer to a mobile bank account. The mobile banking arm will further be randomized into an "incentivized usage" arm in which participants are offered cash incentives to provide evidence of saving in the bank account.
Intervention Start Date
2022-11-25
Intervention End Date
2023-01-25

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Various measures of willingness to share resources with others
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
The variables will be collected using surveys.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We will randomise subjects into three treatment arms.
Experimental Design Details
We randomly give people money in one of three different forms: (i) cash, (ii) a transfer to a mobile bank account, or (iii) a transfer to a mobile bank account with an incentive to save.

We then track these people's attitudes towards sharing with others using repeated surveys in which we measure attitudes (along with a range of other outcomes - we are using the same infrastructure as in another RCT, AEARCTR-0010032).
Randomization Method
Cluster randomisation will be done in office by a computer
Randomization Unit
Randomisation will be done at individual level
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
There will be 3 clusters. First cluster will be distributed cash. Second cluster will be given mobile money. Third cluster will be given mobile money with savings incentive.
Sample size: planned number of observations
Total number of participants in two campuses (Kigali and Kiziba campuses of Kepler in Rwanda) is estimated to be around 600.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Participants will be evenly distributed among 3 clusters.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
IRB Approval Date
2020-06-24
IRB Approval Number
535
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