Back to History

Fields Changed

Registration

Field Before After
Trial Status in_development completed
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. 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.
Last Published September 16, 2016 03:28 AM January 11, 2018 02:01 PM
Study Withdrawn No
Intervention Completion Date July 31, 2017
Data Collection Complete Yes
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 Collection Completion Date July 31, 2017
Intervention (Public) 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. 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.
Primary Outcomes (End Points) Productivity in producing the practice good, performance on three cognitive tests, decisions made in three real stakes decision tasks, and willingness to pay for quiet. Productivity in producing the practice good, performance on cognitive tests, decisions made in three real stakes decision tasks, and willingness to pay for quiet.
Experimental Design (Public) 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. 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.
Planned Number of Clusters 144 room-sessions (2 rooms observed over 72 sessions) 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
Planned Number of Observations Approximately 130 individuals observed over 18 training sessions. 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. 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.
Back to top