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Evaluating the impact of discount vouchers on the adoption of disease-free shrimp larvae in Bangladesh

Last registered on May 30, 2024
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Evaluating the impact of discount vouchers on the adoption of disease-free shrimp larvae in Bangladesh
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0013688
Initial registration date
May 29, 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, 5:47 AM EDT

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

Last updated
May 30, 2024, 9:49 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country
Bangladesh
Region
Southern region

Primary Investigator

Name
Muhammad Nahian Bin Khaled
Affiliation
Michigan State University
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Sudha Narayanan
PI Affiliation
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
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PI Name
Ben Belton
PI Affiliation
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
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PI Name
Mywish Maredia
PI Affiliation
Michigan State University
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PI Name
Razin Kabir
PI Affiliation
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2024-05-07
End date
2024-11-30
Keywords
Agriculture, Behavior
Additional Keywords
Aquaculture, Technology adoption
JEL code(s)
O33, Q16 Q22, Q55
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Ensuring a disease-free environment is a key challenge in shrimp farming, which has consequences on the levels of shrimp production. For an export-oriented product like Bagda, this may subsequently have an impact on the levels of exports. In this study, we study whether different levels of monetary incentive in the form of a discount voucher can reshape farmers' behavior regarding adoption of a disease-free (Specific Pathogen Free--SPF PL) shrimp post-larvae (PL). We also test whether it can influence the experience of shrimp mortality and disease-related monetary losses, overall mortality rate, total shrimp harvest, and farmers' food security situation. In a randomized controlled trial (RCT), we will distribute discount vouchers among shrimp farmers in southern Bangladesh. In treatment arm 1, with about one-third of the sample, we plan to distribute vouchers worth BDT 250; in treatment arm 2, we plan to distribute vouchers worth BDT 125. The rest of the farmers will be assigned to the control group. All the farmers will be provided with the same level of information on the technology and its source. The randomization is done at the village level. The study will generate research and policy evidence on subsidy and technology adoption in agriculture and aquaculture space.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Belton, Ben et al. 2024. "Evaluating the impact of discount vouchers on the adoption of disease-free shrimp larvae in Bangladesh." AEA RCT Registry. May 30. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.13688-1.2
Sponsors & Partners

Sponsors

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We will introduce discount vouchers for the shrimp farmers as the intervention. These vouchers will be distributed among randomly selected subsets of shrimp farmers so that they can purchase the specific pathogen-free (SPF) post-larvae (PL) to produce shrimp. About one-third of the sample will receive a discount voucher to buy the first specified units of specific pathogen-free (SPF) shrimp post-larvae (PL) at the market price of the normal hatchery PL (the benchmark). We call this group the treatment group A. Another one-third of the sample (treatment group B) will receive a discount equal to half the discount received by treatment group A to buy the first specified units of the SPF-PL. The rest will be a control group. The highest amount to be purchased with the voucher and the exact monetary values of the discount vouchers are being determined based on the data from the previous rounds and discussions with the stakeholders.
Intervention (Hidden)
Intervention Start Date
2024-06-09
Intervention End Date
2024-09-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
We consider the following as the primary outcomes:
i) Intention to treat (TT) analyses:
1) Purchasing SPF-PL (1/0): We will define the purchase of SPF-PL as binary for each individual (1/0), in the stalking period after the distribution of the vouchers
2) Quantity of the SPF-PL purchased: We will use the total amount of purchased SPF-PL in the stalking period after the distribution of the vouchers.
3) Plan to purchase the disease-free PL in the next production cycle: We will define the binary outcome variable as 1 when the farmer plans to purchase the SPF-PL in the next production cycle.
4) Amount of harvested shrimp: defined in terms of the number of shrimps harvested

ii) Local Average Treatment Effect (LATE) analyses:
1) Experienced any mortality due to disease in the stalking period after the distribution of the voucher.
2) Percentage of overall mortality in the pond in the stalking period after the distribution of the voucher.
3) The approximate losses due to disease-related problems in BDT in the stalking period after the distribution of the voucher.
4) FIES (Food Insecurity Experience Scale) score
5) Amount of harvested shrimp: defined in terms of the number of shrimps harvested
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The study will evaluate the impact of discount vouchers at different levels in the context of shrimp farming in the Southern region of Bangladesh. The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Michigan State University, WorldFish, and Alliance Bioversity-CIAT are collaborating on this experiment. This study will use a sample of shrimp farmers to conduct a randomized controlled trial (RCT).

There is an existing sample of 1222 shrimp farmers in the southern region of Bangladesh from a study conducted by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). IFPRI is conducting a second round of surveys from May 2024 to collect information on demographic characteristics, production, and farming practices. This survey is taking place in the comfort of the subject's home or farm.

After this survey, discount vouchers will be distributed among randomly selected subsets of shrimp farmers so that they can purchase the specific pathogen-free (SPF) post-larvae (PL) to produce shrimp. About one-third of the sample will receive a discount voucher to buy the first specified units of specific pathogen-free (SPF) shrimp post-larvae (PL) at the market price of the normal hatchery PL (the benchmark). We call this group the treatment group A. Another one-third of the sample (treatment group B) will receive a discount equal to half the discount received by treatment group A to buy the first specified units of the SPF-PL. The rest will be a control group. The highest amount to be purchased with the voucher and the exact monetary values of the discount vouchers are being determined based on the data from the previous rounds and discussions with the stakeholders.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer
Randomization Unit
Cluster of farmers: in each cluster, we have three types of randomly selected shrimp farmers: (i) farmers who have formed a group based on government-prescribed guidelines under a program since they farm in several contiguous ponds, (ii) farmers who are not farming in contiguous ponds and do not fall under the government program, and (iii) farmers who farm in an adjacent village and do not fall under the government program.
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
68
Sample size: planned number of observations
1222 shrimp farmers
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
24 clusters in control, 22 clusters in treatment group 1, and 22 clusters in treatment group 2
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Michigan State University IRB
IRB Approval Date
2024-04-16
IRB Approval Number
MSU Study ID: STUDY00010661
Analysis Plan

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