Unleashed: An experiment on releasing untapped labor market potential of women in Indonesia

Last registered on April 13, 2023

View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

Unleashed: An experiment on releasing untapped labor market potential of women in Indonesia

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0011006

Initial registration date

April 13, 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

April 13, 2023, 4:47 PM EDT

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

Locations

Country

Indonesia

Region

Primary Investigator

Name

Firman Witoelar

Affiliation

Australian National University

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Nurina Merdikawati

PI Affiliation

J-PAL SEA

Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status

In development

Start date

2023-04-01

End date

2024-02-29

Keywords

Gender, Labor

Additional Keywords

JEL code(s)

Secondary IDs

Prior work

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

Abstract

Women continue to struggle to have strong job market attachment in many countries in the developing world due to challenges in managing the transitions related to major events in their life cycle. Women are more likely than men to exit the labor market due to their domestic and caregiving responsibilities.

We postulate that the most persistent barriers preventing women to re-enter the workforce after being away for a period of time are in the forms of: 1) skills mismatch, 2) information and search frictions, and 3) childcare duties.

The proposed pilot interventions include a treatment arm providing face-to-face motivational session coupled with job search training using online job portal and provision of online training vouchers, which are expected to enhance women’s labor potential and work readiness. In our second treatment arm, we bundle the intervention with information on cost of childcare options in the surrounding neighborhood, for the women to make informed decisions on the cost associated with their decision to return to the workforce.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Merdikawati, Nurina and Firman Witoelar. 2023. "Unleashed: An experiment on releasing untapped labor market potential of women in Indonesia." AEA RCT Registry. April 13. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.11006-1.0

Sponsors & Partners

Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

Intervention Start Date

2023-07-01

Intervention End Date

2023-10-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

This entry applies to the pilot stage of the experiment only.

We will measure take-up of invitation to the overall offline training, extent of usage of the training vouchers, extent of usage in our job portal partner, labor market outcomes, and possible changes in their knowledge and beliefs about labor market opportunities, and job search process.

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

The pilot study will be conducted in 10 randomly selected villages (kelurahan) in DKI Jakarta, Indonesia. Out of 10 villages, 4 will be the control villages, whereas 3 villages will receive the first treatment, and another 3 will receive the second treatment.

Our target respondents are urban married women aged 25 - 40 years old with at least one child and are either not working or working part-time (less than 35 hours/week). We further restrict the eligibility to those with senior high school qualifications as we find that these women have a relatively low labor force participation rate.

The interventions that will be given to the treatment group are as follows:
The first treatment group will receive a voucher to access various online training courses of their choosing on the selected digital platform. They will also receive face-to-face motivational session and a job search training. A few weeks after the training sessions, they will receive job search assistance to help them with any job application difficulties.

The second treatment group will receive the same intervention set as the first treatment group. On top of that, they will also receive information on childcare providers in their area to expand their childcare arrangement options if they want to work. The information will include the available pre-schools, daycare, and the cost of hiring local babysitters near them.

The control group will not receive any intervention/program.

Experimental Design Details

Randomization Method

By computer

Randomization Unit

Village (kelurahan)

Was the treatment clustered?

Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

10 villages, with 20 respondents in each village

Sample size: planned number of observations

200 individuals

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

- 60 individuals within 3 villages will receive the first treatment
- 60 individuals within 3 villages will receive the second treatment
- 80 individuals within 4 villages will act as control

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

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB