Improving Residential Indoor Air Quality in Mexico City: Effects on Wellbeing and Productivity

Last registered on October 04, 2023
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Improving Residential Indoor Air Quality in Mexico City: Effects on Wellbeing and Productivity
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0012227
Initial registration date
October 03, 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
October 04, 2023, 5:04 PM EDT

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

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Primary Investigator

Name
Ludovica Gazze
Affiliation
University of Warwick
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Bridget Hoffmann
PI Affiliation
IDB
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2023-10-16
End date
2026-12-31
Keywords
Environment & Energy, Health
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Air pollution has significant negative effects on health and economic outcomes in urban centers of Latin America and unequal exposure to air pollution may be exacerbating income and health inequalities. Because individuals spend most of their lives indoors, we will study residential indoor air quality in Mexico City. First, we will measure residential indoor air quality, including levels of particulate matter, and estimate the pass-through from outdoor air quality to indoor air quality. Second, we will use a randomized controlled trial and data from household surveys to address the following two research questions: (1) What barriers do households face in improving indoor air quality and what interventions are cost-effective in improving indoor air quality? (2) What is the effect of improved indoor air quality on households’ time use, economic
outcomes, such as productivity, and self-reported as well as objective measures of health and wellbeing, such as sleep quality?
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Gazze, Ludovica and Bridget Hoffmann. 2023. "Improving Residential Indoor Air Quality in Mexico City: Effects on Wellbeing and Productivity ." AEA RCT Registry. October 04. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.12227-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2023-10-16
Intervention End Date
2024-02-16

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Residential air quality as measured by air quality monitors installed by the study team.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
o Purifier Data: purifier usage, as measured by smart outlets, to monitor whether behavior interferes with the effectiveness of the purifier
o Survey Data: time use (such as, exercising, studying, working, household chores, sleeping etc.), income, hours worked, self-reported physical health and mental health, cognition as measured by cognitive reflection questions/surveys/time diaries, beliefs and expectations about outdoor and indoor air quality and its effects.
o Wearables Data: Sleep quality, heart rate, breathing rate
o Health devices: Blood pressure and spirometers data.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
- Control group: Air quality monitoring only.

- T1: Air quality monitoring + Provision of information + Free air purifier.

- T2: Air quality monitoring + Provision of information + Free purifier set in automatic mode.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization on the spot through Survey CTO.
Randomization Unit
Household.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
56 households for pilot study.
Sample size: planned number of observations
56 households for pilot.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Control: 28 HHs.
T1: 14 HHs.
T2: 14 HHS.
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
2023-07-20
IRB Approval Number
16708
Analysis Plan