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Abstract
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Before
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.
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After
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 first aim to study whether job seekers value anti-sexual harassment amenities at work, ii)whether firms' beliefs or expectations about job seekers' preferences are corrrect and iii) 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 the RCT 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.
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Trial End Date
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Before
May 31, 2025
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After
March 31, 2026
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Last Published
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Before
August 28, 2024 12:19 PM
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After
May 04, 2025 03:49 PM
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Primary Outcomes (End Points)
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Before
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.
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After
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.
From the elicitation of firms' beliefs of job seekers preferences, we aim to compare the two to understand the mismatches.
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Experimental Design (Public)
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Before
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 .
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After
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 approximately 500 Indian jobseekers who are either enrolled in college or have completed college.
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Randomization Unit
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Before
Firms registered with our partner registrar of firms in India
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After
Firms registered with our partner registrar of firms in India.
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Planned Number of Observations
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Before
400 firms
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400 firms, 1000 job seekers for eliciting preferences over workplace amenities
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Intervention (Hidden)
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Before
We are testing two information interventions with hiring managers:
- 1) 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.
- 2)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.
The information regarding job seekers' preferences is from a separate survey conducted with 500 Indian job-seekers who are either enrolled in college or have completed college through an online platform.
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After
We are testing two information interventions with hiring managers:
- 1) 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.
- 2)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.
The information regarding job seekers' preferences is from a separate survey conducted with approximately 500 Indian job-seekers who are either enrolled in college or have completed college through an online platform. We are also now doing these surveys with MBA students in person at a business school in India (approximately 600 students more)
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