Understanding constraints on firms in providing safe workplace for women

Last registered on September 04, 2023
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Understanding constraints on firms in providing safe workplace for women
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0011991
Initial registration date
August 29, 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
September 04, 2023, 6:45 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country
India
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
karmini sharma
Affiliation
Stanford University
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Anisha Sharma
PI Affiliation
Ashoka University
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PI Name
Lori Beaman
PI Affiliation
Northwestern University
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Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2023-05-01
End date
2023-12-31
Keywords
Crime, Violence, & Conflict, Firms & Productivity, Gender, Labor
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Female labor force participation in India is among the lowest in the world and has been falling over the past three decades. Safer workplaces may help encourage more women to apply for work (Jayachandran (2020)) especially in countries like India where female labor force participation is low and where stigma related to sexual harassment is high (Borker (2017), Sharma (2022)). Sexual harassment of Women at Workplace Act 2013 (SHWA) was implemented in India to promote the provision of safety amenities at work for women. The institutional mechanisms mandated by the law could improve the perceived and actual safety of working women and their consequent labor market outcomes. In this study, we aim to understand the challenges faced by Indian firms in creating a safe workplace for women. We randomly provide two information interventions to HR managers at corporate firms on i) legal compliance guidelines of SHWA 2013 and ii) job-seeker preferences on amenities at the workplace. We then aim to analyze changes in hiring managers' beliefs on job-seeker preferences, prevalence of sexual harassment and willingness to invest in workplace safety. One key outcome of this study will be firm's (represented by the hiring manager's) willingness to sign up and attend a workplace safety webinar organized by our partnering NGO.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Beaman, Lori , Anisha Sharma and karmini sharma. 2023. "Understanding constraints on firms in providing safe workplace for women ." AEA RCT Registry. September 04. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.11991-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

Intervention Start Date
2023-07-01
Intervention End Date
2023-12-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Take-up of safety webinar, attitudes and beliefs of HR managers about job seekers' exposure to sexual harassment, awareness about sexual harassment, changes in beliefs about job seekers' preferences for safety amenities at work.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We conduct surveys with HR managers of firms in India. There will be two information interventions. The first is information regarding their knowledge and awareness of SHWA 2013 compliance requirements through a quiz and discussion of the results with the managers. The second treatment is informing them of the (mis)match of their beliefs with actual preferences of female job seekers’ regarding workplace safety amenities. The information regarding job-seeker preferences is from a separate survey conducted with 500 Indian jobseekers who are either enrolled in college or have completed college .
Experimental Design Details
The sample of firms drawn from are those registered with our partner registry of firms. The interventions above are delivered via the phone through phone surveyors.
T1 :The first is information regarding their knowledge and awareness of POSH compliance requirements and the importance of compliance in hiring and retaining women at the workplace through a short quiz and discussion of the results. We provide them with information on which questions they got right or wrong.
T2:The second treatment is informing them of the (mis-)match of their beliefs about preferences versus actual preferences of female job-regarding overall and safety specific workplace amenities. We also provide them with information on women's willingness to pay for different safety amenities.
Control: The control firms answer a simple survey asking them about the safety amenities they have in place, and same outcomes as for T1 and T2 firms.
Randomization Method
Randomization done automatically via survey software
Randomization Unit
Firms registered with our partner registrar of firms in India
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
0
Sample size: planned number of observations
400 firms
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
160 (control), 120 (treatment 1), 120 (treatment 2),
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
STANFORD UNIVERSITY
IRB Approval Date
2023-04-21
IRB Approval Number
N/A
IRB Name
Ashoka University
IRB Approval Date
2022-12-05
IRB Approval Number
22-E-10019-Sharma
IRB Name
Northwestern University
IRB Approval Date
2023-04-06
IRB Approval Number
N/A
Analysis Plan

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