Impacts of Noise on Worker Productivity and Decision-making

Last registered on January 11, 2018
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Impacts of Noise on Worker Productivity and Decision-making
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0001500
Initial registration date
September 16, 2016

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 16, 2016, 3:26 AM EDT

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

Last updated
January 11, 2018, 2:01 PM EST

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Country
Kenya
Region
Nairobi

Primary Investigator

Name
Joshua Dean
Affiliation
University of Chicago
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2016-09-19
End date
2017-12-31
Keywords
Labor
Additional Keywords
Development, behavioral, worker productivity
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Abstract
This experiment is an attempt to understand how urban noise experienced by people in the developing world affects worker productivity, cognitive function, and decision-making. Participants will be recruited to attend a short training course at the Technology Development Centre (TDC) of the Kenyan National Industrial Training Authority. During each of the training sessions, participants will be randomly assigned to produce a practice good in one of two rooms. Then one of the rooms will have noise added using equipment on-site at the TDC. Worker productivity and cognitive performance will be measured during each session, and workers will engage in real-stakes decisions at the end of selected days. Finally, at the end of the training period, participants' willingness to pay for quiet will be elicited.

An additional second experiment was conducted following the design of the first, but using only cognitive assessments and an effort task as the outcomes of interest.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Dean, Joshua. 2018. "Impacts of Noise on Worker Productivity and Decision-making ." AEA RCT Registry. January 11. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.1500-3.0
Former Citation
Dean, Joshua. 2018. "Impacts of Noise on Worker Productivity and Decision-making ." AEA RCT Registry. January 11. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/1500/history/24859
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Participants will be randomly assigned to work in either a quiet room or a noisy room while producing a practice good during training sessions at the TDC in the first experiment.

In the second experiment, participants will be randomly assigned to work in either a quiet room or a noisy room while taking a battery of cognitive assessments.
Intervention Start Date
2016-09-19
Intervention End Date
2016-12-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Productivity in producing the practice good, performance on cognitive tests, decisions made in three real stakes decision tasks, and willingness to pay for quiet.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Productivity will be constructed by measuring the total number of the practice good made in each session, and the number of the produced goods that meet a necessary quality criteria developed with the TDC.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Approximately 130 participants will be recruited to participate in two-week training courses at the TDC over 4 rounds. During each of the training sessions, workers will be randomly assigned to either practice in noise or in quiet. Noise will be generated using equipment at the TDC. The participants' productivity in producing the practice good and cognitive performance will be measured during each session. At the end of several days, participants will be presented with real stakes decisions. Finally, at the end of the training period, participants' willingness to pay to practice in the quiet room will be elicited.

In the second experiment, approximately 220 participants were recruited to participate in a two-day evaluation in rooms near the TDC. During each session workers were randomly assigned to take the assessments in either noise or quiet. Noise was generated with the same type of engine as in the first experiment. Workers had the opportunity to pay for quiet working conditions on the second day.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Participants will be randomized on the computer to one of several permuted block training schedules, and then for each session the room which is to be noisy will be randomly selected.
Randomization Unit
Individuals will be randomized into either the noisy or quiet room, but the noise will ultimately randomly vary at the room level.
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
144 room-sessions (2 rooms observed over 72 sessions) in the first experiment

88 room-sessions (2 rooms observed over 44 sessions) in the second experiment
Sample size: planned number of observations
Approximately 130 individuals observed over 18 training sessions in the first experiment. Approximately 220 individuals observed over 4 sessions in the second experiment.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
130 individuals observed approximately 9 sessions in treatment and 9 sessions in control each for the first experiment, and 220 individuals observed approximately 2 sessions in treatment and 2 sessions in control each for the second experiment.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
MIT Committee on the Use of Humans as Experimental Subjects
IRB Approval Date
2016-07-21
IRB Approval Number
1606621783
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
Yes
Intervention Completion Date
July 31, 2017, 12:00 +00:00
Data Collection Complete
Yes
Data Collection Completion Date
July 31, 2017, 12:00 +00:00
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)
144 room-sessions in the first experiment and 88 room-sessions in the second experiment.
Was attrition correlated with treatment status?
No
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations
128 individuals in 144 room-sessions in the first experiment and 220 individuals in 88 room-sessions in the second experiment.
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms
72 room-sessions in the first experiment per treatment arm and 44 room-sessions in the second experiment per treatment arm.
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials