Direct and Indirect Incentives on Health Technology Investment

Last registered on July 01, 2024

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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

Direct and Indirect Incentives on Health Technology Investment

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0013898

Initial registration date

June 26, 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

July 01, 2024, 12:07 PM EDT

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

Locations

Country

Bangladesh

Region

Narsingdi District

Primary Investigator

Name

Yiqian Wang

Affiliation

Michigan State University

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Prabhat Barnwal

PI Affiliation

Michigan State University

Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status

On going

Start date

2024-06-15

End date

2024-07-30

Keywords

Behavior, Environment & Energy, Health

Additional Keywords

JEL code(s)

Secondary IDs

Prior work

This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.

Abstract

Through a randomized controlled trial, we investigate efficient strategies for encouraging household investment in preventive health technologies. In the first phase, we address information asymmetry and liquidity constraints to motivate investment in deeper wells less contaminated by arsenic. In the second phase, we adjust the participants' opportunity for strategic reporting to assess the impact of experimenter demand on investment decisions. Both intervention stages are highly relevant for policy. The initial phase tests two methods that could boost a one-time investment, yielding significant long-term economic benefits. The subsequent phase examines how a controlled trial's unique experimental features might affect the findings' external validity.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Barnwal, Prabhat and Yiqian Wang. 2024. "Direct and Indirect Incentives on Health Technology Investment." AEA RCT Registry. July 01. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.13898-1.0

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

The intervention aims to increase rural Bangladeshi households' investments in deeper wells in regions where deeper wells are associated with less arsenic contamination.

Notations:
1. D1: the pre-intervention negotiated depth, the depth of the well that the household negotiated with the driller before the intervention
2. D2: the post-intervention depth (or renegotiated depth), the depth of the well that the household renegotiated with the driller after the intervention
3. Dr: the realized depth, the eventual depth of the well that the household installed

Intervention (Hidden)

Intervention Start Date

2024-06-20

Intervention End Date

2024-07-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

The extended depth

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

The extended depth, which is equal to the eventual depth minus the pre-intervention negotiated depth

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

The extended depth, which is the

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Design:
We intervene in the households using a randomized-controlled trial that is implemented at the household level. There are five treatment arms:

1. Control (60 HHs): no intervention, will call for basic questions

2. Information (125 HHs): provides information to the household about the safe depth of the village.
2a. No prior knowledge (Info+NP) (62 HHs): The enumerator does not know and will not ask about the pre-intervention depth, D1, that the household negotiated with the driller. The enumerator only records the post-intervention negotiated depth D2, and realized depth Dr.
2b. Prior knowledge (Info+P) (63 HHs): The enumerator will ask about the pre-intervention depth, D1, that the household negotiated with the driller. The enumerator records D1, D2, and realized depth Dr.

3.Subsidy (125 HHs): This provides a 5000 BDT subsidy and information to the household about the village's safe depth.
3c. No prior knowledge (Sub+NP) (62 HHs): The enumerator does not know and will not ask about the pre-intervention depth, D1, that the household negotiated with the driller. The enumerator only records the post-intervention negotiated depth D2, and realized depth Dr.
3d. Prior knowledge (Sub+P) (63 HHs): The enumerator will ask about the pre-intervention depth, D1, that the household negotiated with the driller. The enumerator records D1, D2, and realized depth Dr.

Experimental Design Details

Randomization Method

Randomization is done in the office by a computer

Randomization Unit

Household

Was the treatment clustered?

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

310 households

Sample size: planned number of observations

310 households

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

Control: 60 households

T1a (Information without prior knowledge): 62 households
T1b (Information with prior knowledge): 63 households

T2a (Subsidy without prior knowledge): 62 households
T2b (Subsidy with prior knowledge): 63 households

Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)

At power = 0.8 and significance level = 0.05, when comparing within each group (T1a vs. T1b or T2a vs. T2b or each against the control), the minimum detectable effect size is about 1/3 of the standard deviation (approx. 25 feet) of the depth of the well found in the data collected from another project.

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB