Reimagining new development narratives that center on the people and the environment

We conduct an online experiment in which we randomly assign 4,000 participants into six groups. Groups 1 to 5 receive a short story about the economy in text form. Each story appeals to a different value or key message, from social equality to environmental preservation. The last group receives a placebo text.

We recruit research subjects from online survey partners for this study. The online survey partner we are working with is Dynata. Dynata has a database of panel respondents who have registered to their platform. Dynata will send an online survey participation invitation to the prospective research subject's device, and the prospective research subject can decide whether to participate or not.

In the experiment, we administer the following text stimulus in Indonesian.

Treatment 1
What is the point of Indonesia continuing to develop if only a few people get to experience the results? All this time, the benefits of development have not reached all citizens. Those who enjoy it are again those who are already rich and powerful. Those at the bottom are still not prosperous. The government should improve the distribution of development benefits. The government must ensure that the benefits can be enjoyed by all Indonesians. If the government can improve the distribution of development benefits, then all levels of society can progress and improve their standard of living wherever they are.

Treatment 2
What is the point of Indonesia developing but there are so many people victimized? For the sake of development, forests are deforested. For the sake of development, many people lose their homes or livelihoods. This is not progress, but regression. We may be able to get good jobs from factories and mines built by clearing forests. But what good is that if we get sick from pollution? How will our children fare in the future if there are frequent floods or landslides? And if someone else is evicted today, what guarantee that we won't be evicted too? The government should ensure that no one's life or the environment is sacrificed for the sake of progress.

Treatment 3
What is the point of having flyovers and magnificent buildings like the developed countries, if the quality of our human resources is still lagging behind? The quality of human resources improves if the quality of our education improves. Consequently, school graduates are able to solve problems and make innovations, have discipline, and can work with others. Qualified human resources have wider job opportunities. They can also open jobs in many places. Meanwhile, the benefits of flyovers and magnificent buildings are only enjoyed by people in big cities. The government should reduce waste in building physical facilities to increase the budget for education, research, and culture.

Treatment 4
Why do we still doubt the government that has held the people's mandate? The government is the only entity in power because it has been elected by the people. This means that the government has the full authority to lead and make decisions for all the people. The government has the right to set rules, enforce laws, and take actions that are deemed necessary for the benefit of the country, even if it is sometimes against the wishes of some people. People may submit ideas or complaints. However, the final decision remains in the hands of the government.

Treatment 5
They say Indonesia guarantees the welfare of all its citizens, but why is the fate of the rich and poor so different? From the womb, children from poor families are left behind. During pregnancy, mothers do not receive good health and nutrition services. When the children grow up, the family cannot afford to send them to a good school. They also tend to drop out of school. As adults, they cannot get a decent job, so they and their descendants remain poor. In contrast, children from a wealthy family are guaranteed a good life from the womb. Their mothers are healthy, their neighborhoods are clean and safe, and they can go to school until they graduate. As adults, they can get good jobs so that their economic conditions can continue to improve. The government should improve the coverage and quality of health, education, and social services. So that children from rich and poor families can have equal opportunities to live prosperous lives.

Control (Placebo)
Indonesia is the largest archipelago in the world, consisting of about 17,000 islands stretching approximately 5,000 kilometers along the equator. Indonesia has an incredible diversity of cultures, languages, and religions. There are more than 300 ethnic groups and 700 regional languages throughout the country. Major tourist destinations include Yogyakarta, famous for its ancient temples such as Borobudur and Prambanan; and Bali, an island that attracts artists and writers with its beautiful scenery. Indonesia's natural landscape includes white, gold, silver, pink, and black sand beaches, as well as many volcanoes, such as the historic Mount Tambora. Indonesia is also known as the country with the most volcanoes in the world. One of the most famous is Krakatau, located in the Sunda Strait between the islands of Sumatera and Java. When it erupted in 1883, Krakatau's ash circled the earth three times and was recorded as one of the world's deadliest eruptions, claiming more than 36,000 lives. In the 7th century AD, the maritime kingdom of Sriwijaya in Sumatera flourished as a center of trade and the spread of Buddhism. Later, in the 13th century, the Majapahit kingdom in East Java reached its peak, controlling most of the archipelago and leaving behind a rich cultural heritage. Indonesia is also known for its traditional handicrafts, performing arts, and diverse cuisine, reflecting a rich and diverse cultural heritage.

2025-02-17

2025-03-07

Our primary interest is studying how our treatment influences support for progressive policy ideas. We have 13 policy items:

1) Fuel and electricity price hikes accompanied by cash transfers to all, not just the poor
2) A larger government budget for the development of a mass, integrated, and environmentally friendly public transportation system
3) Greater government budget for the development of green technology and renewable energy
4) Residents who are displaced due to infrastructure development projects benefit from the utilization of the infrastructure
5) Subsidies for energy-efficient homes and buildings
6) Greater value of social assistance
7) Broader coverage of social assistance recipients, even for the middle class
8) Higher motor vehicle tax
9) Subsidize industries to switch to green technology and energy
10) The government provides financial assistance for people who have recently lost their jobs
11) Clearing forest land for agriculture or plantations, even for the purpose of producing petroleum substitute fuels (such as biofuels/bioethanol)
12) Clearing forest land for settlement development
13) Clearing forest land for infrastructure development

For each policy item, we ask the respondents to indicate their support level, ranging from 1 (strongly opposes) to 5 (strongly supports).

We might use an alternative format of the outcome variables in an alternative regression specification. Instead of their initial Likert form, we might transform them into a binary dummy if the respondent supports (Likert value 4-5), opposes (Likert value 1-2), or is undecided (Likert value 3).

We explored several other outcomes to understand the channel in which the stimulus affects policy support. They are:
1) Respondents' views on what development goals should be
2) Respondents' views on what the roles of the government should be
3) Respondents' views on several statements about the economy and the government
4) What aspects of the economy the respondents value the most (improvement of material condition, rights of others, environmental preservation, and citizen participation)
5) Respondents' beliefs on their personal obligation and ability

We also document:
1) What is their interpretation of the story -- this is to control for the correct interpretation of the message
2) Their feelings/emotions after reading the text
3) Which sentence in the text resonates the most, and do they agree with the statement?
4) Their parenting values, as a proxy of the degree of conservatism -- we use a standardized module
5) Their degree of social desirability bias, to control for the reliability of their responses -- we also use a standardized module

Since most of our outcomes are about views and beliefs, most of our questions are on a Likert scale. We will analyze secondary outcomes number four through conjoint analysis, asking respondents to evaluate a series (ten to be exact) of choice sets about future economic scenarios. Each set comes with two alternative futures, which vary in some aspects, as we explained above. Each respondent must select the preferred future economic scenario in each choice set.

We will do a heterogeneity analysis. So far, we are interested in learning the heterogeneity by gender, region, education level, and SES status.

We conduct an online experiment in which we randomly assign 4,000 participants into six groups. Groups 1 to 5 receive a short story about the economy in text form. Each story appeals to a different value or key message, from social equality to environmental preservation. The last group receives a placebo text.

We recruit research subjects from online survey partners for this study. The online survey partner we are working with is Dynata. Dynata has a database of panel respondents who have registered to their platform. Dynata will send an online survey participation invitation to the prospective research subject's device, and the prospective research subject can decide whether to participate or not.

In the experiment, we administer the following text stimulus in Indonesian.

Treatment 1
What is the point of Indonesia continuing to develop if only a few people get to experience the results? All this time, the benefits of development have not reached all citizens. Those who enjoy it are again those who are already rich and powerful. Those at the bottom are still not prosperous. The government should improve the distribution of development benefits. The government must ensure that the benefits can be enjoyed by all Indonesians. If the government can improve the distribution of development benefits, then all levels of society can progress and improve their standard of living wherever they are.

Treatment 2
What is the point of Indonesia developing but there are so many people victimized? For the sake of development, forests are deforested. For the sake of development, many people lose their homes or livelihoods. This is not progress, but regression. We may be able to get good jobs from factories and mines built by clearing forests. But what good is that if we get sick from pollution? How will our children fare in the future if there are frequent floods or landslides? And if someone else is evicted today, what guarantee that we won't be evicted too? The government should ensure that no one's life or the environment is sacrificed for the sake of progress.

Treatment 3
What is the point of having flyovers and magnificent buildings like the developed countries, if the quality of our human resources is still lagging behind? The quality of human resources improves if the quality of our education improves. Consequently, school graduates are able to solve problems and make innovations, have discipline, and can work with others. Qualified human resources have wider job opportunities. They can also open jobs in many places. Meanwhile, the benefits of flyovers and magnificent buildings are only enjoyed by people in big cities. The government should reduce waste in building physical facilities to increase the budget for education, research, and culture.

Treatment 4
Why do we still doubt the government that has held the people's mandate? The government is the only entity in power because it has been elected by the people. This means that the government has the full authority to lead and make decisions for all the people. The government has the right to set rules, enforce laws, and take actions that are deemed necessary for the benefit of the country, even if it is sometimes against the wishes of some people. People may submit ideas or complaints. However, the final decision remains in the hands of the government.

Treatment 5
They say Indonesia guarantees the welfare of all its citizens, but why is the fate of the rich and poor so different? From the womb, children from poor families are left behind. During pregnancy, mothers do not receive good health and nutrition services. When the children grow up, the family cannot afford to send them to a good school. They also tend to drop out of school. As adults, they cannot get a decent job, so they and their descendants remain poor. In contrast, children from a wealthy family are guaranteed a good life from the womb. Their mothers are healthy, their neighborhoods are clean and safe, and they can go to school until they graduate. As adults, they can get good jobs so that their economic conditions can continue to improve. The government should improve the coverage and quality of health, education, and social services. So that children from rich and poor families can have equal opportunities to live prosperous lives.

Control (Placebo)
Indonesia is the largest archipelago in the world, consisting of about 17,000 islands stretching approximately 5,000 kilometers along the equator. Indonesia has an incredible diversity of cultures, languages, and religions. There are more than 300 ethnic groups and 700 regional languages throughout the country. Major tourist destinations include Yogyakarta, famous for its ancient temples such as Borobudur and Prambanan; and Bali, an island that attracts artists and writers with its beautiful scenery. Indonesia's natural landscape includes white, gold, silver, pink, and black sand beaches, as well as many volcanoes, such as the historic Mount Tambora. Indonesia is also known as the country with the most volcanoes in the world. One of the most famous is Krakatau, located in the Sunda Strait between the islands of Sumatera and Java. When it erupted in 1883, Krakatau's ash circled the earth three times and was recorded as one of the world's deadliest eruptions, claiming more than 36,000 lives. In the 7th century AD, the maritime kingdom of Sriwijaya in Sumatera flourished as a center of trade and the spread of Buddhism. Later, in the 13th century, the Majapahit kingdom in East Java reached its peak, controlling most of the archipelago and leaving behind a rich cultural heritage. Indonesia is also known for its traditional handicrafts, performing arts, and diverse cuisine, reflecting a rich and diverse cultural heritage.

Our online survey platform partner (Dynata) conducts the randomization via their internal system

Individual

No

4000 individuals

4000 individuals

Group 1-5: 630 individuals per arm
Group 6: 850 individuals

7,5 percentage points in probability