Information Frictions, Migration, and Human Capital:: Evidence from Senegal - Immediate Effects

Last registered on September 12, 2024
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Information Frictions, Migration, and Human Capital:: Evidence from Senegal - Immediate Effects
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0014299
Initial registration date
September 03, 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
September 12, 2024, 5:39 PM EDT

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

Locations

Country
Senegal
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Tobias Heidland
Affiliation
Kiel Institute for the World Economy, Kiel University, IZA
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Bernd Beber
PI Affiliation
RWI -- Leibniz Institute for Economic Research
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PI Name
Stefan Leopold
PI Affiliation
Kiel University
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PI Name
Jens Ruhose
PI Affiliation
Kiel University, CESifo, IZA
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PI Name
Yogam Tchokni
PI Affiliation
DIW Berlin -- German Institute for Economic Research
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2024-09-06
End date
2025-05-31
Keywords
Education, Labor, Other
Additional Keywords
migration, skills
JEL code(s)
O15, J24, F22
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
We study the role of information frictions in migration decisions and aspirations as well as the effect that these frictions have on human capital decisions and aspirations. We conduct a large-scale randomized controlled trial (RCT) in rural areas in Senegal with two treatment groups, each receiving different sets of information, and a control group that does not receive any information. The first treatment group receives information on predicted personalized income changes and predicted income gains for having apprenticeship training when moving from rural to urban areas in Senegal. These estimates are based on a survey conducted in urban areas. The second treatment group receives information on legal migration routes to the United States. We aim to determine whether these treatments alter the migration intentions, behaviors, and aspirations of the treated individuals.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Beber, Bernd et al. 2024. "Information Frictions, Migration, and Human Capital:: Evidence from Senegal - Immediate Effects." AEA RCT Registry. September 12. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.14299-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

Sponsors

Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The first treatment group receives information on predicted personalized income changes and predicted income gains for having apprenticeship training when moving from rural to urban areas in Senegal. These estimates are based on a survey conducted in urban areas. The second treatment group receives information on legal migration routes to the United States. We aim to determine whether these treatments alter the migration intentions, behaviors, and aspirations of the treated individuals.
Intervention Start Date
2024-09-06
Intervention End Date
2024-10-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
migration- and education-related aspirations, income-related perceptions, see PAP
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
See page 10 of the PAP for the detailed description of the variables.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The survey sampling is given by the framework implemented for the Senegal Migration Panel (SMP), a representative rural sample of most of Senegal covering 144 villages. We exclude all urban communes and communes in the Dakar region as well as some areas bordering Gambia, Mali, or Guinea for security reasons (specifically, the departments of Bignona, Bounkiling, Medina Yoro Foulah, Saraya, Bakel, Salemata, and the district of Fongolembi), with claims concerning representativeness conditional on these exclusions.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization by computer
Randomization Unit
Individuals: respondents will be randomized into the two treatments and control. In addition, we keep some pure control villages, where nobody will be treated.
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
4097 individuals in 144 villages
Sample size: planned number of observations
4097 individuals in 144 villages
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
We collect data on 4,097 men aged 18-40. We assign 1,366 individuals to treatment 1, 1,366 to treatment 2, and 698 to the control group across 118 villages. Additionally, the study includes 668 individuals in 26 randomly assigned pure control villages.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
For a fully clustered village-level randomization, we calculate an MDE of 0.16 standard deviations compared to the control mean. For individual-level randomization, the MDE is 0.11 standard deviations.
Supporting Documents and Materials

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IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
INNOVATIONS FOR POVERTY ACTION IRB – USA
IRB Approval Date
2024-08-12
IRB Approval Number
16872
Analysis Plan

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