Wildfire Risk and Self-Protective Investment in Eugene-Springfield, Oregon

Last registered on July 16, 2024

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Wildfire Risk and Self-Protective Investment in Eugene-Springfield, Oregon
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0014003
Initial registration date
July 10, 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 16, 2024, 3:29 PM EDT

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
University of California San Diego

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
University of British Columbia
PI Affiliation
Western Fire Chiefs Association

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2024-07-11
End date
2025-07-01
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Like other weather-related disasters, the occurrence of severe wildfires is growing throughout North America. This escalating risk can be mitigated through efforts by property owners to manage vegetation and other flammable material near homes. Despite the cost-effectiveness
of these investments, take-up is low. There are several economic and psychological theories for why beneficial self-protective investments in wildfire readiness could have low take-up despite their likely cost-effectiveness: these could include lack of information, complexity and psychological frictions, credit/cash constraints, and spatial externalities across neighboring properties. We propose to conduct a study to identify interventions to address these barriers. We will randomize households in areas with high wildfire risk to receive (1) information about existing resources to support defensible space (e.g., a home assessment from the local fire department) and (2) information about existing
resources and a financial incentive. We will also have a pure control group that will not receive any outreach. .
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Baylis, Patrick, Judson Boomhower and Bob Horton. 2024. "Wildfire Risk and Self-Protective Investment in Eugene-Springfield, Oregon." AEA RCT Registry. July 16. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.14003-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We will randomize households in areas with high wildfire risk to receive (1) information about existing resources to support defensible space (e.g., a home assessment from the local fire department) and (2) information about existing resources and a financial incentive. We will also have a pure control group that will not receive any outreach.
Intervention Start Date
2024-07-11
Intervention End Date
2024-11-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
The main variables of interest are 1) a measure of takeup, which is defined as an indicator for whether a homeowner gets in touch with Eugene Springfield Fire during the study period to request assistance from the district, and 2) (if staff resources permit at Eugene Springfield Fire), curbside assessments of the encouraged behaviors by Eugene Springfield Fire personnel (e.g., roofs and gutters cleared of combustible materials).
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We will randomize households in areas with high wildfire risk to receive (1) information about
existing resources to support defensible space (e.g., a home assessment from the local fire
department) and (2) information about existing resources and a financial incentive. We will
also have a pure control group that will not receive any outreach.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization of homes by researchers using a computer.
Randomization Unit
Street level. Each cluster is a set of at most 10 homes located on the same street. If a street
contains more than 10 homes, we divide it up, clustering homes together in sets of 10 by
their address number. In other words, if William Street has houses numbered from 1, 2, …,
18, we would create two clusters: the first group would have the homes from 1-10 William
Street, while the second cluster would have homes from 11-18 William Street.
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
There are 400 clusters. Each cluster contains between 1 and 10 homes on the same street, as described above.
Sample size: planned number of observations
There are 2,582 homes in the sample.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
The target number of observations by treatment arm is:
400 outreach homes
250 subsidy 100
250 subsidy 200
1682 control

We won't hit these exactly due to the randomization occurring by cluster, and clusters having varied numbers of homes.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
UBC Behavioural Ethics Research Board
IRB Approval Date
2023-04-26
IRB Approval Number
H23-01069.
Analysis Plan

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