Community Development Field Experiment

Last registered on September 24, 2021

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Community Development Field Experiment
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0001103
Initial registration date
March 07, 2016

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 07, 2016, 5:40 AM EST

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

Last updated
September 24, 2021, 6:01 AM EDT

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Region

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
Department of Economics and Public Policy, Imperial College London

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
University of Kent
PI Affiliation
University of New South Wales
PI Affiliation
Duke University

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2014-08-01
End date
2018-01-01
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
We are currently running a randomised field experiment involving Local Support Organisations (LSOs) across Pakistan. We have completed the baseline, and the treatment (i.e. the implementation of protocols for reporting and for non-financial rewards) is ongoing. The LSOs have just completed sending the first self-reported data through that treatment, and at the time of registration of this document we have not accessed that data. This pre-analysis plan sets out the main regressions that we intend to run.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Ahmed, Hamna et al. 2021. "Community Development Field Experiment." AEA RCT Registry. September 24. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.1103-3.1
Former Citation
Ahmed, Hamna et al. 2021. "Community Development Field Experiment." AEA RCT Registry. September 24. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/1103/history/100354
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We collected baseline data from 851 Local Support Organisations (‘LSOs’); of these, we are conducting a
randomised experiment with 836.1 This was collected through face-to-face interviews with representatives
of the LSO Executive Bodies (‘EBs’); we also collected data in all areas from an informed person in each
village (either in person or by telephone). In some cases, this was complemented by interviews with local
households.

In addition to the baseline questionnaire, we anticipate obtaining two further sources of data from our
sample:
(i). At four six-monthly intervals over the next two years, treated LSOs will provide self-reports of
progress against key indicators (as Table 1 shows, these reports will either be against indicators for
governance or indicators for service provision); and
(ii). We will conduct two follow-up surveys of all LSOs, approximately one year and two years after the
start of the experiment.
Intervention (Hidden)
Intervention Start Date
2015-05-12
Intervention End Date
2017-07-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
We have a large number of outcomes, relating to LSO inputs, LSO activities, LSO outputs, and LSO reporting. All of these are defined clearly in the attached Pre-Analysis Plan document.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We are assigning Local Support Organisations to different reporting regimes, with a view to providing non-financial incentives to reward strong performers. We will test the effect of this incentive scheme on LSO performance. The details are set out in the submitted Pre-Analysis Plan document.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomisation done in office by a computer.
Randomization Unit
We assigned treatment at the level of what we term a ‘sub-district’. For the purposes of our research, we define a ‘sub-district’ as
being:
(i). A district (where ‘district’ has the meaning commonly used in Pakistan), or
(ii). If a district has more than 10 LSOs, the Tehsil.
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
836 LSOs
Sample size: planned number of observations
836 LSOs
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
119 LSOs in each of four treatment arms; 360 LSOs as control.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials

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IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Department of Economics Research Ethics Committee (DREC)
IRB Approval Date
2014-01-06
IRB Approval Number
ECONCIA13-027
Analysis Plan

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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