Understanding Risk and Liquidity Constraints as Barriers to Internal Migration

Last registered on March 19, 2024
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Understanding Risk and Liquidity Constraints as Barriers to Internal Migration
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0012796
Initial registration date
January 10, 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
January 12, 2024, 3:33 PM EST

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

Last updated
March 19, 2024, 3:22 PM EDT

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

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Name
Gwyneth Miner
Affiliation
UC Berkeley
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2023-11-13
End date
2024-12-31
Keywords
Labor, Other
Additional Keywords
Migration, Unemployment Insurance
JEL code(s)
J61, J64, R12, R23, O15, J65
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Migration from rural to urban areas is a promising mechanism to increase aggregate productivity, contribute to a country’s overall economic growth, and improve the lives of the rural poor in many low-income countries. Despite the potential gains from urban migration, we still see large proportions of the populations in lower-income countries residing in rural areas and mainly engaged in subsistence farming. Through a randomized controlled trial, this project studies how unemployment insurance for informal work in Kenya, conditional on migration to Nairobi, can reduce rural poverty by providing the support migrants need to find urban job matches.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Miner, Gwyneth. 2024. "Understanding Risk and Liquidity Constraints as Barriers to Internal Migration." AEA RCT Registry. March 19. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.12796-1.1
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
This study includes two interventions.

Treatment 1 (Unemployment Benefits for Migrants): Individuals selected for this group are offered enrollment in an unemployment benefits program, should they choose to move to Nairobi.

Treatment 2 (Cash in Village): Individuals in this group are given a sum of money at their village of residence, equivalent to what migrants in T1 are expected to gain (i.e. T1 migrants' expected benefit take-up minus costs of transportation).

Intervention Start Date
2024-01-15
Intervention End Date
2024-06-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Income, migration status, consumption and asset levels, and health and well-being measures.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
This study will take place across 130 villages in Western Kenya. Villages are randomly allocated to treatment 1, treatment 2 or control status.

The research team undertakes a census of each village to determine eligible participants: male, between the ages of 18-30, and not currently enrolled in school. From that census, around 10 individuals are randomly selected to participate in the study from each village.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization is done in office by a computer.
Randomization Unit
Randomization to treatment status is conducted at the village level. Randomization for inclusion in the study is done at an individual level.
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
130 villages: 70 T1, 30 T2, 30 control
Sample size: planned number of observations
1,300 individuals
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
700 T1 individuals; 300 T2 individuals; 300 control individuals.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
UC Berkeley Committee for Protection of Human Subjects
IRB Approval Date
2023-06-06
IRB Approval Number
2022-11-15856
IRB Name
Strathmore University Insitutional Scientific and Ethical Review Committee
IRB Approval Date
2023-04-20
IRB Approval Number
SU-ISERC1691/23.
Analysis Plan

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