Increasing citizens' climate efforts through public leadership: an incentivized survey experiment

Last registered on March 26, 2025
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Increasing citizens' climate efforts through public leadership: an incentivized survey experiment
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0015635
Initial registration date
March 24, 2025

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
March 26, 2025, 9:54 AM EDT

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

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Name
Maite Laméris
Affiliation
University of Groningen
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Harry Garretsen
PI Affiliation
University of Groningen
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PI Name
Janka Stoker
PI Affiliation
University of Groningen
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2025-03-31
End date
2026-05-01
Keywords
Behavior, Environment & Energy
Additional Keywords
Leadership, Beliefs/Norms, Public Governance
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
We study the effect of public leadership on willingness to act against climate change using an online survey experiment conducted in a large municipality in the Netherlands. We consider leadership in the form of actions by the municipality and in the form of individual leadership of the municipality.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Garretsen, Harry, Maite Laméris and Janka Stoker. 2025. "Increasing citizens' climate efforts through public leadership: an incentivized survey experiment." AEA RCT Registry. March 26. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.15635-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2025-03-31
Intervention End Date
2025-04-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Allocation decision (self vs. climate mitigation charity); incentivized
Empirical belief about the allocation decision of others; incentivized
Normative belief about the allocation decision of others; incentivized
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Willingness to contribute 1% of household income to fight climate change
Empirical belief about others’ willingness to contribute 1% of household income to fight climate change; incentivized
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We conduct an online survey experiment among citizens of a large municipality in the Netherlands, in which we study the effect of public leadership on willingness to act against climate change. We study leadership in the form of actions by the municipality and in the form of individual leadership of the municipality using two treatments. A third treatment combines the two leadership treatments. There is also a control condition.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
The randomization is done by computer.
Randomization Unit
The unit of randomization is the individual.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
2800 individual respondents.
Sample size: planned number of observations
2800 individual respondents.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
700 individuals in Treatment A, 700 participants in Treatment B, 700 individuals in Treatment A+B, 700 individuals in control condition.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Based on a power analysis conducted with Optimal Design with alpha at 5% and beta at 80% and assuming a standardized effect size of 0.15, we need approximately 700 respondents in each treatment condition. With 4 conditions, this results in a final sample of 2800 respondents.
Supporting Documents and Materials

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IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
The Institutional Review Board of the Faculty of Economics and Business at the University of Groningen
IRB Approval Date
2024-11-28
IRB Approval Number
FEB-20241105-15358
Analysis Plan

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