Evaluating the Impact of Subsidies and Auto-Debit Payment on the Retention of Informal Workers in the National Employment Social Security Programs

Last registered on June 13, 2025
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Evaluating the Impact of Subsidies and Auto-Debit Payment on the Retention of Informal Workers in the National Employment Social Security Programs
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0015911
Initial registration date
June 06, 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
June 13, 2025, 6:47 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
Benjamin Olken
Affiliation
MIT
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Teguh Dartanto
PI Affiliation
University of Indonesia
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PI Name
Rema Hanna
PI Affiliation
Harvard
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PI Name
Pedro Sant'Anna
PI Affiliation
MIT
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2025-06-05
End date
2030-05-31
Keywords
Behavior, Finance & Microfinance, Labor, Welfare
Additional Keywords
digital payments, person-to government (P2G) payments, insurance, informal workers
JEL code(s)
D14, G22, G41, G52, G53, H53, H55, I38, J32, O12, O17
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Including informal workers in social security programs is an important challenge in the developing world. Countries such as Indonesia have designed workplace accident and death insurance programs targeted at this group, which require monthly payment of subsidies, but retention in these programs is low. In partnership with the Government of Indonesia (GoI), we conduct a randomized evaluation testing the effect of different interventions on the retention of informal workers in voluntary insurance programs. Specifically, we test two types of interventions: subsidies and offers to set up automatic person-to-government (P2G) payments ("auto-debit"). Automatic P2G payments are a promising strategy to increase retention in voluntary insurance programs, as they may promote financial inclusion by strengthening informally employed households' ties to banking systems and make payment of subsidies member’s default behavior. The proposed randomized controlled trial tests how to incentivize the adoption of auto-debit, its effects on program retention, and its effects on households' use of other financial services and responses to negative income shocks.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Dartanto, Teguh et al. 2025. "Evaluating the Impact of Subsidies and Auto-Debit Payment on the Retention of Informal Workers in the National Employment Social Security Programs." AEA RCT Registry. June 13. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.15911-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Offering time-limited premium subsidies tied or not with a requirement to enroll in auto-debit for future premium payments.
Intervention Start Date
2025-06-05
Intervention End Date
2026-11-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Auto-debit take-up, continued enrollment in BPJS TK insurance after the subsidy period
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
From BPJS TK administrative data

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Household financial behaviors, consumption patterns in the event of covered or non-covered shocks, perceptions of BPJS TK programs and premium payment methods
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
From an endline survey

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The Government of Indonesia (GoI) aims to include more informal workers in national employment social security (Jamsosnaker) programs, which are managed by an independent body called BPJS Ketenagakerjaan (BPJS TK). The basic package for informal workers consists of JKK (Workplace Accident Insurance) and JKM (Life Insurance). We will partner with BPJS TK staff to embed individually randomized offers into their regular enrollment procedures for ~7,500 new or inactive BPJS TK members, using an online baseline survey that will display the randomized offer for each participant. All participants will be offered three months of basic premium subsidy with no requirement to enroll in auto-debit. Four treatment groups will be offered a more generous subsidy, with or without the requirement to enroll in auto-debit. The five study arms are as follows:
• Control: Participants will receive only the basic offer of 3 months of premium subsidy with no requirement to enroll in auto-debit.
• Treatment 1: Participants will be offered an additional 3 months of subsidy (6 months total), with no requirement to enroll in auto-debit.
• Treatment 2: Participants will be offered an additional 3 months of subsidy (6 months total) if they enroll in auto-debit.
• Treatment 3: Participants will be offered an additional 6 months of subsidy (9 months total), with no requirement to enroll in auto-debit.
• Treatment 4: Participants will be offered an additional 6 months of subsidy (9 months total) if they enroll in auto-debit.

Participants will receive occasional messages via SMS or WhatsApp, e.g., confirming their enrollment, reminding them to begin paying their premiums after their subsidy period ends, and reminding them to look out for an endline survey.

Outcome data will come from BPJS TK administrative records during and after the subsidy period, as well as an endline phone survey ~11-12 months after subsidies begin.

Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer. Randomized offers will be linked to the unique participant codes and survey QR codes distributed during attendance to ensure that participants cannot re-take the survey to try to receive a different offer.
Randomization Unit
Individual. Individual offers will be stratified to ensure a balance of randomized offers made at each socialization event.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
N/A Individual randomization.
Sample size: planned number of observations
7,500
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
- 1,500 Control individuals: Participants will receive only the basic offer of 3 months of premium subsidy with no requirement to enroll in auto-debit.
- 1,500 Treatment 1 individuals: Participants will be offered an additional 3 months of subsidy (6 months total), with no requirement to enroll in auto-debit.
- 1,500 Treatment 2 individuals: Participants will be offered an additional 3 months of subsidy (6 months total) if they enroll in auto-debit.
- 1,500 Treatment 3 individuals: Participants will be offered an additional 6 months of subsidy (9 months total), with no requirement to enroll in auto-debit.
- 1,500 Treatment 4 individuals: Participants will be offered an additional 6 months of subsidy (9 months total) if they enroll in auto-debit.
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 COUHES
IRB Approval Date
2025-05-30
IRB Approval Number
2501001537
Analysis Plan