The demand for digital identification amongst small enterprise owners in Uganda

Last registered on March 15, 2024

View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

The demand for digital identification amongst small enterprise owners in Uganda

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0010919

Initial registration date

March 05, 2024

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

March 15, 2024, 3:12 PM EDT

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

Locations

Country

Uganda

Region

- Select one -

Primary Investigator

Name

Isabelle Cohen

Affiliation

Evans School, University of Washington

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Emma Riley

PI Affiliation

University of Michigan

Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status

In development

Start date

2024-04-01

End date

2024-12-31

Keywords

Finance & Microfinance, Firms & Productivity, Governance, Other

Additional Keywords

Digital identification, technology

JEL code(s)

O17, O33, C9

Secondary IDs

Prior work

This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.

Abstract

Informality hinders firm profitability and growth in a variety of ways, including limiting firms to suppliers in their social networks due to issues of trust and fraud. Digital IDs offer potential paths to increasing formality, such as by allowing the verification of identities and the authentication of signed contracts, thus helping businesses to sign contracts with new suppliers with lower prices or a better selection of goods. However, there is no research to date examining the demand for a digital ID and verified authentication services among business owners. We would plug this evidence gap by asking 1) what is the willingness of micro, small and medium enterprises in Kampala to pay for the new UGPass digital ID and how does this depend on whether contracting is highlighted as a benefit and sign-up assistance provided; and 2) does the provision of UGPass lead businesses to be more likely to write contracts?

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Cohen, Isabelle and Emma Riley. 2024. "The demand for digital identification amongst small enterprise owners in Uganda." AEA RCT Registry. March 15. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.10919-1.0

Sponsors & Partners

Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

Intervention (Hidden)

Intervention Start Date

2024-04-01

Intervention End Date

2024-05-20

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

1. Supplier network index
2. Business profit (self-reported value of business profits earned in the last 30 days)

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

The supplier network index will be constructed from the following components:
a. Whether the business has explored finding alternate suppliers
b. Number of suppliers
c. Number of new suppliers in last three months
d. Share of suppliers located non-locally (not within the respondent’s neighbourhood)
e. Share of suppliers who are not friends or family
f. Whether purchases from suppliers are made on credit
g. Value of outstanding payments owed to suppliers

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Our secondary outcomes will include six outcome families:
1. UGPass uptake and usage
2. Business contracting outcomes
3. Business other network outcomes
4. Business management outcomes
5. Business growth outcomes
6. Business formalization outcomes (conditional on access to administrative data)

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Our experiment will involve a combination of:
1) Randomly varying the purchase price of the UGPass digital ID in the context of a willingness to pay experiment, including some respondents who will receive the product for free, and
2) Randomizing information on the benefits of UGPass for contracting.

Experimental Design Details

Randomization Method

Randomization done in office by a computer

Randomization Unit

Individual

Was the treatment clustered?

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

2,500 individuals

Sample size: planned number of observations

2,500 individuals

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

Cross-randomization between contracting information and zero price for UGPass, balanced 50-50 (meaning 1,250 in treatment and control for each treatment)

Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB