Social and economic integration of refugees in Jordanian communities

Last registered on June 15, 2026
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Social and economic integration of refugees in Jordanian communities
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0016239
Initial registration date
June 03, 2026

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 15, 2026, 5:38 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
Eliana La Ferrara
Affiliation
Harvard Kennedy School
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Pedro Rosa Dias
PI Affiliation
Imperial College London
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Angelica Bozzi
PI Affiliation
Imperial College London
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PI Name
Marcus Holmlund
PI Affiliation
World Bank
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Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2022-10-03
End date
2028-12-31
Keywords
Gender, Labor, Other
Additional Keywords
Social Cohesion, Wellbeing
JEL code(s)
J15, J61, C93, O15, J16, I31
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Syrian refugees constitute a significant share of Jordan's population, creating both tensions and opportunities for social and economic integration. We embed a randomized controlled trial within cash-for-work programs implemented by the Jordanian Ministry of Local Administration, UNESCO, and the KFW Development Bank. Among cash-for-work participants, we randomize assignment to mixed- versus single-nationality teams and cross-randomize an information intervention designed to debunk stereotypes about the outgroup. This allows us to study whether intergroup contact in an economically meaningful workplace affects stereotyping, trust, social cohesion, and team productivity, and whether information provision changes these effects. We also exploit the randomized allocation of cash-for-work opportunities to examine whether temporary employment affects subsequent labor-market outcomes and psychosocial well-being, and whether these effects differ by gender and nationality. This may be especially relevant for women in Jordan, given the country’s low female labor force participation. The study contributes evidence on how workplace contact, information, and temporary employment shape refugee-host community integration in Jordan.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Bozzi, Angelica et al. 2026. "Social and economic integration of refugees in Jordanian communities." AEA RCT Registry. June 15. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.16239-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
This project is embedded in cash-for-work programs implemented by three partners: the Jordanian Ministry of Local Administration (providing municipal services and implementing resilience projects with World Bank support), UNESCO (implementing heritage conservation programs), and the KFW Development Bank (implementing forestation and agricultural projects). These programs operate in areas with large Syrian refugee populations and aim to provide temporary employment to unemployed or underemployed Jordanians and Syrians through activities such as landscaping parks and marketplaces, planting trees, repairing roads, and cleaning heritage sites.

Our intervention consists of two components. First, we experimentally vary the composition of work teams by assigning different proportions of Syrian and Jordanian workers to test whether intergroup contact reduces prejudice and affects cooperation and productivity. Second, we implement an information intervention consisting of short narrative videos debunking common stereotypes held by both groups. These videos were developed based on qualitative research and focus groups and are disseminated via text message to participants who may or may not experience direct intergroup contact. This design allows us to assess the separate and combined effects of workplace contact and stereotype-debunking information on social cohesion and economic outcomes. Furthermore, the fact that the cash-for-work jobs are assigned by lottery allows us to test whether assignment to temporary employment affects broader labor-market outcomes and well-being, especially for women (who have otherwise very low labor force participation).
Intervention Start Date
2022-10-03
Intervention End Date
2026-06-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Individual-level outcomes: Social cohesion indicators: trust, stereotypes, attitudes towards the other group( including adjective-based evaluations), selection of co-workers, implicit bias (IATs), behavioral games.

Team-level outcomes (collected only for T1, T2): Productivity.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Individual-level outcomes: employment status, labor supply and earnings, job search and business-starting efforts, reservation wages, perceived local job opportunities, economic aspirations, mental health and well-being, gender norms related to women's work, attitudes towards redistribution and inclusion, and migration plans.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Eligible unskilled workers applying to cash-for-work programs were randomly assigned to one of several experimental arms within their municipality and project. The design includes:

T1 (~800 workers): Assigned to single-nationality teams.
- T1A: Jordanian-only or Syrian-only teams without additional information.
- T1B: Jordanian-only or Syrian-only teams with stereotype-debunking information.

T2 (~800 workers): Assigned to mixed-nationality teams (approximately 50% Jordanians, 50% Syrians).
- T2A: Mixed teams without additional information.
- T2B: Mixed teams with stereotype-debunking information.

T3 (~500 workers): Not assigned to work teams but receiving stereotype-debunking information.

Control (~500 persons): Not assigned to work teams and not receiving stereotype-debunking information.

Randomization occurred in two stages. First, eligible applicants entered public lotteries to allocate participation slots while meeting project quotas (e.g., 70% Jordanians and 30% Syrians in MMSRP and UNESCO projects; 50% each in KFW projects, with gender and disability quotas). Second, participants were randomly assigned to experimental arms within the programs. Only the KFW project included Syrian-only teams.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Public lottery to enter the cash-for-work programs; randomization done by computer to allocate participants to mixed or single-nationality teams and to the information treatment.
Randomization Unit
individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
2600 individuals.
Sample size: planned number of observations
2600 individuals
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
T1: 800 workers (single nationality teams); T2: 800 workers (mixed teams); T3: 500 persons; Control: 500 persons.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Using the planned sample sizes (800 in T1, 800 in T2, 500 in T3, and 500 in Control), an average team size of 5, ICC = 0.20, two-sided alpha = 0.05, and power = 0.80, the minimum detectable effects are 0.188 SD for T2 vs T1, 0.214 SD for T1 vs Control, 0.238 SD for T3 vs Control, 0.376 SD for (T2B - T2A) - (T1B - T1A), and 0.313 SD for the team-level productivity comparison T2 vs T1. Where we pool T1 and T2, the corresponding minimum detectable effect is 0.152 SD when comparing workers assigned to cash-for-work to the pooled non-cash-for-work group (T3 + Control).
Supporting Documents and Materials

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IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Harvard Research Protection Program
IRB Approval Date
2022-12-20
IRB Approval Number
IRB00000109
Analysis Plan

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