Validating measurement approaches for sensitive topics with administrative tax data in Uganda

Last registered on February 09, 2025

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Validating measurement approaches for sensitive topics with administrative tax data in Uganda
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0012298
Initial registration date
October 28, 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
November 01, 2023, 4:10 PM EDT

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

Last updated
February 09, 2025, 2:29 PM EST

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

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Affiliation
United Nations University

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
UNU-MERIT / Maastricht University
PI Affiliation
ETH Zurich

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2023-09-15
End date
2025-03-31
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Our study will conduct a number of survey experiments to investigate the accuracy of different approaches widely used to estimate the prevalence of sensitive behavior in the social sciences.The context of the study is tax compliance in a sample of small- to mid-sized enterprises in Kampala, Uganda. By combining survey data with administrative tax records for the same firms, we assess the performance of different measurement approaches, benchmarked against the administrative data, within the same survey. This allows us to quantify measurement error in different self-reported measures of tax compliance and make recommendations for policy and research based on our findings.

Based on the findings of the first survey data collection, we are running a second survey round to replicate the findings and study key mechanisms behind our results.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Dietrich, Stephan, Yannick Markhof and Rose Camille Vincent. 2025. "Validating measurement approaches for sensitive topics with administrative tax data in Uganda." AEA RCT Registry. February 09. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.12298-2.0
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We conduct a number of survey experiments to collect self reported data on tax compliance among the firms in our sample. We then conduct a second survey to understand mechanisms behind respondents' reporting behavior.
Intervention Start Date
2023-09-15
Intervention End Date
2024-12-11

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
tax compliance
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
We will measure compliance with national business tax filing requirements as well as with municipal trade license requirements as our primary outcomes of interest.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We conduct a number of survey experiments to collect self reported data on tax compliance among the firms in our sample.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Random assignment coded into survey tool through a random number generator.
Randomization Unit
Firm level randomization (unit of observation)
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
First survey: 1500 firms
Second survey: 2000 firms
Sample size: planned number of observations
First survey: 1500 firms Second survey: 2000 firms
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Even split for each survey experiment and tax level. Expected sample sizes per experiment:

** Survey 1 **
Experiment 1: List experiment
750 (URA), 750 (KCCA)

Experiment 2: Randomized Response
750 (URA), 750 (KCCA)

Experiment 3: Bayesian Truth Serum
750 (BTS), 750 (Control / Direct Questioning)


** Survey 2 **
Respondents were randomized into the following treatment arms
1) Municipal tax (trade license) compliance: 1000
2) National business tax compliance: 1000

For the question phrasing experiment, respondents in each treatment arm were randomized into
1) Original (negated) question format: 1800 (90%)
2) Non-negated question format: 200 (10%)
we conducted this randomization stratified by the abovementioned two treatment arms.

Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials

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IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
ETH Zurich
IRB Approval Date
2023-08-07
IRB Approval Number
EK 2023-N-187
IRB Name
Makerere University
IRB Approval Date
2023-05-05
IRB Approval Number
CoBAMS-REC-2023-10
IRB Name
Ethics Review Committee Inner City Faculties (ERCIC), Maastricht University
IRB Approval Date
2024-07-15
IRB Approval Number
ERCIC_587_10_06_2024_Dietrich
Analysis Plan

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