Intervention(s)
The intervention that we have designed targets construction workers in the state of Odisha, India. The Odisha Buildings & Other Construction Workers Welfare (OB & OCWW) Board issues “labor cards” to construction workers, which enable them to access several public welfare programs targeted specifically to them by occupation. In the status quo, workers face significant barriers to enrolling in these cards, including transaction costs and information constraints with respect to the processes involved. As a result, while awareness of these cards is high, enrollment rates are low. In this proposed project, we want to implement two interventions, designed to tackle both the transaction costs and information constraints.
The first intervention involves top down enrollment, where the focus is on reducing the transaction costs of applying for labor cards. As part of this intervention, government officials will conduct an on site registration drive to enrol workers for the cards. This will remove the travel costs, the opportunity cost of the workers’ time and any side payments that workers would have had to make to formal or informal intermediaries. The second intervention removes the information barriers faced by the applicant. We will share a flyer containing specific information about the application process, with directions for the workers that can be acted upon for them to independently enrol.
We will conduct two rounds of surveys with workers. First, we will conduct an in-person baseline with these workers prior to allocating them to one of the two interventions or a control arm. The intervention will be conducted approximately one week following the baseline. The second round will be an endline phone survey conducted 1 month after the baseline, and 2-3 weeks after the intervention. Lastly, we will also get administrative data on labor card registrations and access to benefits from the Labor Department.