Helping customers understand the capital-intensive nature of public water infrastructure: effects on perceptions of fair prices and bill payment.

Last registered on May 21, 2025
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Helping customers understand the capital-intensive nature of public water infrastructure: effects on perceptions of fair prices and bill payment.
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0016040
Initial registration date
May 18, 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
May 21, 2025, 3:41 PM EDT

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

Locations

Country
Ghana
Region
Africa

Primary Investigator

Name
Anthony Amoah
Affiliation
University of Environment and Sustainable Development
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Joe Cook
PI Affiliation
Washington State University
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PI Name
David Fuente
PI Affiliation
University of South Carolina
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PI Name
Rexford Asiama
PI Affiliation
University of Environment and Sustainable Development
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PI Name
Kwame Adjei-Mantey
PI Affiliation
University of Ghana
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PI Name
Millicent Awuku
PI Affiliation
Ashesi University
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Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2025-05-18
End date
2025-11-30
Keywords
Behavior, Finance & Microfinance, Other
Additional Keywords
Water, Prices, Payment, Residential
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Water infrastructure is capital-intensive, but the infrastructure is largely hidden from view because it consists of far-off treatment facilities and buried pipes. In many developing countries, low water prices and nonpayment of water bills has led to irregular water supply, threatening the sustainability of utilities like the Ghana Water Limited (GWL). Financial insecurity caused by irregular payments hampers GWL's ability to deliver consistent services and invest in infrastructure. This study explores whether helping customers understand the capital-intensive nature of water infrastructure via a short video increases what they consider to be a “fair” monthly bill and increases their likelihood of paying their water bills. We plan to survey 1500 residential customers in the Accra East region of GWL’s service area and follow their bill payment behavior using billing data, in partnership with GWL. The findings aim to provide GWL with insights on their customers’ perceptions of fair monthly bills and on ways to improve revenue collection.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Adjei-Mantey, Kwame et al. 2025. "Helping customers understand the capital-intensive nature of public water infrastructure: effects on perceptions of fair prices and bill payment.." AEA RCT Registry. May 21. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.16040-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

Sponsors

Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention (Hidden)
Intervention Start Date
2025-05-18
Intervention End Date
2025-08-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
1. The respondent’s estimation of a “fair” monthly water bill from GWL compared to their current average monthly bill.
2. The number of non-zero payments made in the six months after the survey
3. The change in total arrears from the month prior to the survey through six months after the survey was conducted.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We measure “fair” bills through a survey-based measure and measure bill payment behavior using GWL billing data. We have two treatment groups, which differ in the information provided. The first group receives information on how much their water service is currently subsidized and the financial cost of procuring non-network water. The second group receives this information and watches a short video that highlights the hidden nature of water infrastructure. The control group for the first outcome measure (perceptions of fair bills) is surveyed households who received neither information treatment. The control group for the bill payment behaviors (the second and third outcome measures) is other residential (non-commercial) customers within the same meter reading route (the “CCA” route at GWL) who were not randomly selected to be interviewed.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Customers within the same meter reading route (the “CCA” route at GWL) were not randomly selected to be interviewed.
Randomization Unit
GWL Customers
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
Not Applicable
Sample size: planned number of observations
1500
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
500 customers control (households who received neither information treatment), 500 customers in treatment 1 (households receive information on how much their water service is currently subsidized and the financial cost of procuring non-network water) and another 500 customers in treatment 2 (households receive Treatment 1 and in addition, watches a short video that highlights)
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
University Ethics Committee, University of Environment and Sustainable Development
IRB Approval Date
2024-06-10
IRB Approval Number
UESD/UEC/ECC/24/0002
IRB Name
Institutional Review Board for Human Research, University of South Carolina
IRB Approval Date
2025-02-11
IRB Approval Number
Pro00142865
Analysis Plan

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