Outcome- and Input-Based Incentives: Evidence from the Municipal Incentive Program in Peru

Last registered on February 15, 2024

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Outcome- and Input-Based Incentives: Evidence from the Municipal Incentive Program in Peru
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0012869
Initial registration date
February 12, 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
February 15, 2024, 10:09 PM EST

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

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Affiliation
Teachers College at Columbia University

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2024-03-01
End date
2025-06-30
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Designing successful incentive schemes is challenging in the developing world. What can be done to motivate public providers to deliver quality services? Deciding whether to contract based on inputs or outcomes, or where to allocate the incentive across the hierarchy of an organization is not trivial. I will implement a large field experiment to test whether the efforts of the top-layer and lower-tier agents change in response to their type of incentive contract (input- or outcome-based). I will also test for complementarities among different levels of the organization hierarchy and the effect of incentive allocation and type of incentive contract on the desirable outcomes. I will study this in the context of Peru, where 60% of children aged six months are anemic, and where the local governments are incentivized to conduct home visits to educate families on how to prevent and reduce anemia.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Oré Quispe, Sarita Patricia. 2024. "Outcome- and Input-Based Incentives: Evidence from the Municipal Incentive Program in Peru." AEA RCT Registry. February 15. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.12869-1.0
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2024-04-15
Intervention End Date
2024-06-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Local governments' managerial practices
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Health outcomes of children
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Local governments are assigned to four groups: 1) incentive contract based on inputs and training, 2) incentive contract based on inputs and no training, 3) incentive contract based on outcomes and training, and 4) incentive contract based on outcomes and no training.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer.
Randomization Unit
Unit of randomization is a local government. I use an indicator for high vs low rurality and an indicator for high vs low GBV anemia prevalence at baseline as randomization strata.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
784 local governments
Sample size: planned number of observations
784 local governments
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
There will be four treatment arms:
1. Input-based incentives + workshop on managerial practices: 135 local governments
2. Input-based incentives + without workshop on managerial practices: 135 local governments
3. Outcome-based incentives + workshop on managerial practices: 258 local governments
4. Outcome-based incentives + without workshop on managerial practices: 256 local governments
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
0.027
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Institutional Review Board at Teachers College, Columbia University
IRB Approval Date
2024-02-12
IRB Approval Number
24-196