Livestock financing through micro-equity

Last registered on January 02, 2025

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Livestock financing through micro-equity
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0015104
Initial registration date
December 31, 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
January 02, 2025, 7:46 AM EST

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

Locations

Region

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
International Food Policy Research Institute

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
International Food Policy Research Institute
PI Affiliation
International Food Policy Research Institute
PI Affiliation
International Food Policy Research Institute

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2023-02-01
End date
2024-12-20
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
This study presents a randomized controlled trial that tests an asset-based micro-equity livestock financing model in northern Bangladesh. The approach uses a profit-sharing mechanism to purchase and fatten cows, distributing risks and rewards between the financier and smallholder farmers. Another treatment arm offers a standard loan with a fixed repayment structure. We randomly assign 105 villages into control, profit-sharing, and loan-based groups, along with a within-household randomization of whether the offer is made to the husband or wife. The baseline covers 1,517 households, followed by phone midline and in-person endline surveys to track livestock ownership, time allocation, household consumption, borrowing, and women’s empowerment. We propose to employ an ANCOVA framework with strata fixed effects, estimating the Intent-to-Treat Effects, and adjust for multiple comparisons across outcome families. By comparing profit-sharing to the standard loan product, this trial aims to determine whether risk-sharing contracts can enhance household well-being and women’s decision-making relative to traditional debt-based financing.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Ambler, Kate et al. 2025. "Livestock financing through micro-equity." AEA RCT Registry. January 02. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.15104-1.0
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We implemented two treatments targeting smallholder farmers interested in cattle fattening. First, in the “profit-sharing” arm, a partner organization purchased young cattle on behalf of eligible households, who then fattened and sold them collaboratively; the net proceeds were shared between the partner and the household. Second, in the “standard loan” arm, households received a fixed-repayment loan to purchase cattle. Both treatments featured within-household randomization, whereby either the husband or the wife was the designated contract holder.



Intervention (Hidden)
Intervention Start Date
2023-06-03
Intervention End Date
2024-10-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Take-up of livestock financing (e.g., number of cows obtained through the program)
Livestock assets (e.g., number and value of cows currently owned)
Women’s empowerment (e.g., decision-making indices, mobility indices)
Time allocation to livestock-related activities
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Livestock financing take-up: We will use administrative data and household survey responses to determine whether a household took up the profit-sharing or loan contract (binary indicators), the number of cows acquired, and overall engagement with the financing product.

Livestock assets: We will measure the number of cattle owned, the total value of cattle owned, and the share of cattle registered under female ownership.

Women’s empowerment: We will construct indices from survey questions on household decision-making, mobility, and voice in economic decisions. Each index will aggregate multiple questions into a standardized measure.

Time allocation: We will collect data on average daily hours devoted to livestock rearing, crop cultivation, other income-generating work, and household chores, disaggregated by gender.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We are randomly assigning 105 villages into three groups: (i) Control, which receives no offer of livestock financing; (ii) Treatment 1, which is offered a profit-sharing contract; and (iii) Treatment 2, which is offered a standard loan contract with fixed repayment. Within each treatment village, households who meet eligibility criteria are further randomized at the household level so that either the husband or the wife is designated as the contract holder. Baseline data collection was followed by a phone-based midline and an in-person endline.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Village-level randomization was done in an office setting using computer-generated random numbers. Within-household randomization (husband vs. wife) was done via a random number generator embedded in the electronic survey instrument, also at the time of baseline data collection.

Randomization Unit
We cluster at two levels: (1) Villages are the primary unit of randomization into Control, Treatment 1, or Treatment 2. (2) Within each treatment village, households are randomized to have the husband or wife be the contract holder.

Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
105 villages

Sample size: planned number of observations
1,517 households (all located in these 105 villages)
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
45 villages assigned to Treatment 1 (profit-sharing)
45 villages assigned to Control
15 villages assigned to Treatment 2 (standard loan)
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
International Food Policy Research Institute IRB
IRB Approval Date
2022-12-18
IRB Approval Number
MTID-22-1269

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials