Do Exclusionary Policies Reduce Cognitive Bandwidth and Harm Economic Outcomes of Marginalized Groups?

Last registered on December 21, 2023
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Do Exclusionary Policies Reduce Cognitive Bandwidth and Harm Economic Outcomes of Marginalized Groups?
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0012509
Initial registration date
December 19, 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
December 21, 2023, 8:02 AM EST

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

Locations

Country
India
Region
West Bengal

Primary Investigator

Name
Amma Panin
Affiliation
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Joseph Gomes
PI Affiliation
UCLouvain
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Ritwik Banerjee
PI Affiliation
IIMB
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Emmy Lindstam
PI Affiliation
IE University
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2023-12-20
End date
2024-03-31
Keywords
Behavior, Electoral
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Economic decisions and productivity suffer when cognitive resources are limited. Recent papers have shown, for example, that productivity is reduced when poverty consumes mental resources (Kaur et al. 2023). We test whether political constraints impact economic outcomes through similar channels. In particular, we experimentally examine whether a minority’s uncertainty about their status within a nation generates psychological effects comparable to those generated by financial concerns. We test this with a labour market experiment in West Bengal. Workers complete data-processing tasks and we randomize incidental exposure to two types of exclusionary policies—policies that pose a direct, material threat and policies that pose a more symbolic threat. We test whether exposure to both types of policy affects productivity and cognitive outcomes.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Banerjee, Ritwik et al. 2023. "Do Exclusionary Policies Reduce Cognitive Bandwidth and Harm Economic Outcomes of Marginalized Groups?." AEA RCT Registry. December 21. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.12509-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2023-12-20
Intervention End Date
2024-02-29

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
1. Productivity: the number of tweets correctly transcribed in the transcription task
2. Mistakes: choosing the bonus contract when piece-rate is optimal OR choosing piece rate when the bonus contract
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
We will score transcriptions with a fuzzy matching algorithm that ignores small errors like misplaced punctuation or the incorrect case.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We invite workers in West Bengal to complete data-processing tasks. We randomize whether they are incidentally exposed to one of two types of exclusionary policies—policies that pose a direct, material threat and policies that pose a more symbolic threat. The control group is only exposed to anodyne policies—for example, new regulations about registering pet dogs. We test whether exposure to both types of policy affects productivity and cognitive outcomes.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization is done within Qualtrics. It is at the individual level and we stratify according to religion.
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
1
Sample size: planned number of observations
750 Muslim individuals and 750 Hindu individuals
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
375 individuals will see the symbolic policies; 375 will see the mixed (material + symbolic) policies and 750 will see the control policies.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
In the most pessimistic scenario, we estimate that we will need at least 300 Muslims per treatment group to estimate a treatment effect of 0.23 standard deviations in terms of productivity. We would need about at least 180 Muslims per treatment group to detect a shift in the error rate from 1/4 per session to 1/3 per session. These calculations have been done with a significance level of 0.025 to account for multiple hypothesis testing.
Supporting Documents and Materials

Documents

Document Name
Pre-registered hypotheses
Document Type
other
Document Description
Description of main hypotheses, manipulation checks, and outcomes used to test mechanisms.
File
Pre-registered hypotheses

MD5: d3977540dfa37b7a0c853d791e5f0770

SHA1: d505294e140e5f27dfd4b0fde1db6d0d134e585e

Uploaded At: December 06, 2023

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IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Comité d’éthique ISPOLE (Université catholique de Louvain)
IRB Approval Date
2022-01-29
IRB Approval Number
N/A
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