Identifying Welfare-Improving Government Spending Reforms

Last registered on May 30, 2024
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Identifying Welfare-Improving Government Spending Reforms
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0012493
Initial registration date
May 24, 2024

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
May 30, 2024, 3:25 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country
Germany
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Robin Jessen
Affiliation
RWI
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Johannes Koenig
PI Affiliation
DIW Berlin
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Mark A. Andor
PI Affiliation
RWI
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2024-03-25
End date
2024-06-30
Keywords
Welfare
Additional Keywords
Public goods provision, political preferences, survey experiment
JEL code(s)
H4, H5, H11
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
This study uses state-of-the-art contingent valuation methods to identify welfare improving government spending reforms. In particular, it identifies on which areas of government activity spending should be increased or decreased from a welfare economic perspective. To this end, we ask the survey participants binary questions if they would agree to a reform that would increase government spending in a specific area and would raise their personal income tax burden by a specific amount. The size of the tax burden is randomized across individuals. This allows us to estimate the distribution of the willingness to pay for increases in government spending. If aggregate willingness to pay exceeds the cost, than an increase in spending is generally welfare improving.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Andor, Mark A., Robin Jessen and Johannes Koenig. 2024. "Identifying Welfare-Improving Government Spending Reforms." AEA RCT Registry. May 30. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.12493-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2024-03-25
Intervention End Date
2024-06-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Answer to question if individual would vote in favor of a hypothetical reform, which combines an increase in government spending in a specific area by 500 m Euro and an increase in the individual's tax burden by a specific amount.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
"The distribution of the willingness to pay for an increase in government spending". In the analysis plan we describe in detail how we plan to estimate it.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Willingness-to-pay elicitation for public spending.
Experimental Design Details
We use a random sample that is representative for Germany to study willingness to pay for increases in government spending. First, we provide one half of the respondents with a time series of German government spending on various areas in percent of GDP. The other half receives no information treatment. We then ask the respondents whether they would vote in favor of several hypothetical reforms, which combine an increase in government spending in specific areas (such as education or military) with an increase of their personal tax liability by a specific amount. We randomize this amount. Then we ask participants to rank the hypothetical reforms, which they supported in the previous question. Next, we ask, how many of these reforms they would support simultaneously. Finally, we aks four questions about their perception of the government's effectiveness in spending public funds.
The questionnaire will be uploaded.
Randomization Method
By computer
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
6000 individuals
Sample size: planned number of observations
6000 individuals
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
300 individuals
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
Gesellschaft für experimentelle Wirtschaftsforschung e.V. (GfeW)
IRB Approval Date
2024-01-26
IRB Approval Number
ryQaPjF8
Analysis Plan

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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