Comparing cash assistance and multifaceted programs in urban Madagascar

Last registered on July 04, 2024
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Comparing cash assistance and multifaceted programs in urban Madagascar
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0013762
Initial registration date
June 04, 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
June 24, 2024, 9:37 AM EDT

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

Last updated
July 04, 2024, 4:30 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
Quentin Stoeffler
Affiliation
University of Bordeaux
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Nicolas Hérault
PI Affiliation
University of Bordeaux
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PI Name
Robin Audy
PI Affiliation
The World Bank
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PI Name
Inès Touré
PI Affiliation
University of Poitiers
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2023-09-01
End date
2025-12-31
Keywords
Finance & Microfinance, Firms & Productivity, Welfare
Additional Keywords
Multifaceted programs; CSLAs
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
This research studies a government multifaceted program implemented in urban Madagascar. It compares a simple cash transfer program (Transferts monétaires urbains, TMU) to the multifaceted version of the program. The multifaceted TMU adds a productive cash grant component to the regular cash transfers provided by the classic TMU program. The multifaceted TMU also provides additional support to Community Saving and Loan Associations (CSLA) aimed at promoting beneficiary income-generating activities. The multifaceted version of the program was randomly provided to a subset of the TMU neighborhoods (fokontany) by the government. This selection process generates a randomized control trial (RCT) design. We will measure the short term impact of the productive package provided by the multifaceted TMU program (compared to the classic TMU program) on household productive activities and wellbeing.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Audy, Robin et al. 2024. "Comparing cash assistance and multifaceted programs in urban Madagascar." AEA RCT Registry. July 04. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.13762-1.1
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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The study compares two version of the Urban Cash Transfer (Tranferts monétaires urbains or TMU) program. The classic TMU intervention is a regular cash transfer program, with monthly training sessions on topics related to health, education and other topics. The multifaced TMU intervention adds a productive cash grant, and encourages the creation of CSLA (Community Savings and Loans Association). The main objective of the multifaceted TMU program is to encourage beneficiaries to create new income-generating activities (or invest in existing activities).
Intervention Start Date
2023-09-01
Intervention End Date
2024-09-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
- number, type and profits of income-generating activities
- saving and credit amounts (in CSLAs and outside of CLSAs)
- household assets (productive and household assets)
- household per capita consumption
- food security (food consumption score)

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
- children schooling
- migrations
- livestock owning
- housing conditions
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The design is a clustered randomized control trial. Among neighborhoods (fokontany) selected for the classic TMU program, the government has randomly selected 23 neighborhoods that received the multifaceted TMU program.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization was conducted on computer by the government team (FID) with technical assistance from the World Bank.
Randomization Unit
The randomization unit is the Fokontany, which is a traditional, small urban neighborhood in Madagascar. All individuals in a given Fokontany received the same version of the program (classic TMU or multifaceted TMU). Since our unit of analysis is the household, this generates a clustered RCT.
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
23 Fokontany (urban neighborhoods) in the treatment group (multifaceted TMU) and 197 Fokontany in the comparison group (classic TMU).
Sample size: planned number of observations
4000 households
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
2000 households in the treatment group (multifaceted TMU), 2000 households in the comparison group (classic TMU).
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials

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IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
HML IRB
IRB Approval Date
2024-06-11
IRB Approval Number
2604
Analysis Plan

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