Testing incentives to encourage asbestos removal

Last registered on October 07, 2024

View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

Testing incentives to encourage asbestos removal

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0014411

Initial registration date

September 23, 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

October 07, 2024, 6:48 PM EDT

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

Locations

Country

Australia

Region

Primary Investigator

Name

BETA Team Registration

Affiliation

Behavioural Economics Team of the Australian Government

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status

In development

Start date

2024-09-05

End date

2024-12-20

Keywords

Behavior, Environment & Energy, Governance, Health

Additional Keywords

public health, sustainability

JEL code(s)

Secondary IDs

Prior work

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

Abstract

As part of the Phase 3: Asbestos National Strategic Plan 2024-2030 (ANSP), the Asbestos and Silica Safety and Eradication Agency (ASSEA) aims to encourage the safe removal of asbestos from Australian residences.

For residential buildings, the cost of asbestos removal, disposal and replacement is the main impediment to removal (Ipsos 2018). Hypothetical government initiatives that reduced this cost for homeowners (e.g. subsidised removal or disposal, low or no interest loans, and tax concessions) have been associated with higher reported willingness to remove asbestos (Ipsos 2018).

Trial aims
Estimate the impact that information about the increasing risk of asbestos (due to its increasing age) can have on the amount participants are willing to pay to remove asbestos (Randomised Controlled Trial).

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Team Registration, BETA. 2024. "Testing incentives to encourage asbestos removal." AEA RCT Registry. October 07. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.14411-1.0

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

The intervention is a short paragraph describing the increasing risk of asbestos in Australian homes. The treatment/intervention group receive this information before being asked to complete the outcome measure. The control group receive the same information only at the end of the study (after completing the outcome measure).

Intervention (Hidden)

Intervention Start Date

2024-09-05

Intervention End Date

2024-09-26

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

the primary outcome measure is the price (in $) participants say they could afford to pay if they had to remove asbestos. At the individual level this is asked as a single question, and participants enter a dollar value in response. At a group level this will be the mean dollar value in each group.

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

If a participant skips this question, their response will be coded as ‘missing’.
If they enter $0, this will count as a legitimate response.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

In the RCT, participants are randomised into two groups to assess how timing of receiving risk information affects their responses regarding how much money they can afford for asbestos. Group A receives risk information about asbestos hazards before they are asked how much money they could realistically afford to pay for asbestos removal, while group B receives this information afterwards.
The timing of receiving risk information is the independent variable, the outcome variable is the amount of money participants are able to pay for asbestos removal.

Experimental Design Details

Randomization Method

The RCT component of this trial is an individually randomised online experiment. Participants will be randomised to 1 of 2 arms (no additional risk information vs additional risk information). Randomisation will be done by Qualtrics (the survey software), by giving each participant a 1/2 probability of being assigned to each trial arm.

Randomization Unit

Randomisation will occur at the individual level

Was the treatment clustered?

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

no clusters

Sample size: planned number of observations

Our sample is fixed at around 4,500 individuals, which will provide 2,000 individuals per group (conservatively, after exclusions).

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

Our sample is fixed at around 4,500 individuals, which will provide 2,000 individuals per group (conservatively, after exclusions).

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

For this study, alpha is set to 0.05, and hypothesis tests will be two-sided. Our pilot study revealed a much larger SD in the outcome variable than initially assumed (SD = $28,599). With this variability incorporated, we calculated the design has 80% power to detect an effect size of $1740 (Cohen’s d = 0.061).

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB