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Information and accountability elected leaders and firms related to extractive industries
Last registered on July 28, 2016
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information
General Information
Title
Information and accountability elected leaders and firms related to extractive industries
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0001198
Initial registration date
April 29, 2016
Last updated
July 28, 2016 9:50 PM EDT
Location(s)
Country
Peru
Region
Primary Investigator
Name
Renard Sexton
Affiliation
New York University
Contact Primary Investigator
Other Primary Investigator(s)
Additional Trial Information
Status
On going
Start date
2016-03-21
End date
2016-09-26
Keywords
Governance
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Abstract
Extractive industries represent a major part of the local economy in many rural parts of Peru. Royalties and tax revenues from extractive industries are, by law, in part returned by the central government to the local areas where the mines are located under a program called the Mining/Oil Canon. Many low-capacity rural municipalities are not able to spend all the funds they are due, and the funds they do receive are often distributed through patronage and graft. Although information regarding mining/oil funds is publicly available, there is a general perception among civil society actors in Peru that the public is not well informed about accountability issues.
Given that a major barrier to accountability appears to be access of information, as part of this research study an information treatment will be implemented to test its impact on attitudes towards political incumbents and extractive firms as well as citizens’ participation in accountability processes such as public meetings of accountability (roughly translated as “asambleas de rendición de cuentas”) and mayoral recalls.
Through informative workshops implemented in 40 communities across 9 districts in the administrative department of Piura, the objective of this study is to answer two questions: 1) How does access to information about the distribution of mining royalties affect attitudes and accountability towards political incumbents, mining/petrol firms and the central government, and 2) how to does this information affect participation in district meetings regarding budgeting and execution of mining/oil canon spending?
External Link(s)
Registration Citation
Citation
Sexton, Renard. 2016. "Information and accountability elected leaders and firms related to extractive industries." AEA RCT Registry. July 28. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.1198-4.0.
Former Citation
Sexton, Renard. 2016. "Information and accountability elected leaders and firms related to extractive industries." AEA RCT Registry. July 28. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/1198/history/9815.
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Experimental Details
Interventions
Intervention(s)
In partnership with a local NGO with experience in the field, information to community members will be delivered through an informative workshop in 40 communities, randomly selected, in the administrative department of Piura. One workshop will be implemented in each treatment community. The workshop will cover information that is publicly available but often difficult to access by communities due to a lack of Internet connection or knowledge of how to locate and read highly technical reports. The topics covered in the workshops include basic concepts of mining and petrol canon, its distribution, the scheme of participatory budgeting, democratic practices and accountability mechanisms such as the recall process and public accountability assemblies.
Intervention Start Date
2016-05-02
Intervention End Date
2016-08-15
Primary Outcomes
Primary Outcomes (end points)
-Perceptions, attitudes and accountability of community members towards political incumbents, mining/oil firms and the central government
-Participation in meetings regarding participatory budgeting and public accountability meetings
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Secondary Outcomes
Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
Experimental Design
Experimental Design
The intervention consists of an information treatment that will be given to treatment communities. Communities across 9 districts in Piura will be randomized into the treatment and control group. The treatment communities will receive the informative workshop that will cover topics related to the functioning of their local government, oil canon transfers, the scheme of participatory budgeting and other accountability mechanisms and democratic practices.
To standardize the treatment, a video containing information on all topics, will be screened in the treatment communities.
Also, there will be an endline survey that will cover 7 people in each community. The survey contains questions regarding self-reported participation in community meetings and participatory budgeting scheme as well as community members' perceptions about their local leaders, petrol firms and central government. Whenever possible, administrative data collected by municipalities on participation in community meetings will be gathered.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer
Randomization Unit
Communities within districts
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes
Experiment Characteristics
Sample size: planned number of clusters
80 communities
Sample size: planned number of observations
560 people (7 people per community)
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
40 communities workshop (treatment) and 40 communities control
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB
INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARDS (IRBs)
IRB Name
Human Subjects Committee for Innovations for Poverty Action IRB-USA
IRB Approval Date
2016-02-26
IRB Approval Number
13696
Analysis Plan
Analysis Plan Documents
Pre-Analysis Plan for Accountability and Transparency in the Extractive Industries of Peru

MD5: c8c3062ce83f1d6606964daea215622a

SHA1: a8a5791f4b810d5ee5b904f931dba66e724d6d88

Uploaded At: July 28, 2016

Post-Trial
Post Trial Information
Study Withdrawal
Intervention
Is the intervention completed?
No
Is data collection complete?
Data Publication
Data Publication
Is public data available?
No
Program Files
Program Files
Reports and Papers
Preliminary Reports
Relevant Papers