Stanford H-2A project

Last registered on October 30, 2023
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Stanford H-2A project
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0011705
Initial registration date
August 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
August 16, 2023, 10:17 AM EDT

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

Last updated
October 30, 2023, 12:07 PM EDT

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

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Name
Melanie Morten
Affiliation
Stanford University
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Beatriz Magaloni
PI Affiliation
Stanford University
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2023-08-14
End date
2027-01-01
Keywords
Agriculture, Environment & Energy, Labor
Additional Keywords
Migration, H-2A
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial is based on or builds upon one or more prior RCTs.
Abstract
The RCT will randomize temporary H-2A visas to Mexican migrants. Recruits will receive work contracts of between 2-6 months to work in agricultural farms in the US. We will follow laborers who did and didn't receive the visa, alongside their households in Mexico, to understand the impact of migrating on their livelihoods and income. By following those who did and did not receive visas, we will measure whether providing short-term legal migration deters irregular migration and quantify whether income from seasonal migration is being used or can be invested in origin communities to alleviate poverty, improve livelihoods, and enhance educational opportunities. We also will understand the impact of migrating on political and civic attitudes; community cohesiveness, norms of social reciprocity; and experiences of violence and exploitation.

Data from a previously conducted pilot (n=100, run over 2022/2023) was used only to compute power tests for the current project.
External Link(s)
Guestworker Migration Lab page

Registration Citation

Citation
Magaloni, Beatriz and Melanie Morten. 2023. "Stanford H-2A project." AEA RCT Registry. October 30. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.11705-2.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Individual-level stratified randomization of H-2A recruits. Recruits will be randomized into treatment and control, and randomly ordered within each list. The randomly-ordered list will be given to the recruitment partner.
Intervention Start Date
2023-08-26
Intervention End Date
2025-12-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Household income
Household food security
Household investment in housing and business
Household experience with violence
Social networks
Physical and mental health
Working conditions
Recruit opinions over trust, masculinity
Unauthorized migration
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Individual-level randomization of recruits who attend a recruitment event hosted by the recruitment partner. Randomization will be stratified by geography, migration exposure of the municipality, and violence of the municipality.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Individual-level stratified randomization done on computer by research team.
Randomization Unit
Individual-level randomization.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
800 recruits
Sample size: planned number of observations
800 recruits
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Randomization will be assigned 60% to treatment, 40% to control.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
See uploaded preanalysis plan.
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Stanford University
IRB Approval Date
2023-06-15
IRB Approval Number
59508
Analysis Plan

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