Impact Evaluation of Secured Transaction Reform in Fiji

Last registered on March 13, 2023

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Impact Evaluation of Secured Transaction Reform in Fiji
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0011005
Initial registration date
March 12, 2023

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 13, 2023, 3:33 PM EDT

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

Locations

Region

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
University of Sydney

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
World Bank

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2023-03-13
End date
2025-06-30
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
A key challenge for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to access finance in many countries is that financial services laws make it costly and inefficient for financial institutions to accept anything other land and buildings as collateral for loans. This particularly excludes SMEs from accessing finance because they are less likely to hold secure title to such assets. A "secured transaction reform" (STR) can create a new legal framewok that removes these barriers to financing for SMEs, expanding the ist of acceptable collateral to include movable collateral such as vehicles, inventory, equipment, and receivables. We evaluate the impacts of an STR in Fiji using a randomized encouragement design. The evaluation will measure immediate outcomes of the reform such as the number of businesses getting access to credit, and the amount of credit that businesses access. It will also measure ‘downstream’ outcomes such as investment in assets and labor, revenue, profitability, and creation of new businesses. The findings will assist governments around the world in designing similar reforms to improve SMEs’ access to credit and support private sector development.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Hoy, Christopher and Russell Toth. 2023. "Impact Evaluation of Secured Transaction Reform in Fiji." AEA RCT Registry. March 13. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.11005-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
An intervention to maximize the take-up of enterprise loans following the secured transaction reform.
Intervention Start Date
2023-07-15
Intervention End Date
2024-02-15

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
We aim to analyze impacts on access to finance (including substitution and additionality) as a first-stage outcome, and then to evaluate impacts on enterprise outcomes such as investment in assets and labor, revenue, profitability, and expansion and creation of new enterprises, along with impacts on owners/senior management such as their future business expectations.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
To be included in PAP.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
To be included in PAP.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
To be included in PAP.

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
A randomized encouragement design.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
The randomization will be done digitally.
Randomization Unit
Firm level.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
N/A
Sample size: planned number of observations
2,400 enterprises.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Half will be the treatment group, and half will serve as the control group.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
To be included in PAP.
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Innovations for Poverty Action
IRB Approval Date
2023-01-15
IRB Approval Number
15524