Competition for Ecosystem Services

Last registered on December 10, 2025
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Competition for Ecosystem Services
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0017395
Initial registration date
December 05, 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
December 09, 2025, 7:54 AM EST

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

Last updated
December 10, 2025, 8:25 PM EST

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Name
Ryo Takahashi
Affiliation
Waseda University
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Keisaku Higashida
PI Affiliation
Kwansei Gakuin University
PI Name
Yuki Higuchi
PI Affiliation
Sophia University
PI Name
Mohammad Mosharraf Hossain
PI Affiliation
University of Chittagong
PI Name
Md. Emranul Islam
PI Affiliation
Arannayk Foundation
PI Name
Md. Farhadur Rahman
PI Affiliation
Gazipur Agricultural University

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2025-12-08
End date
2028-03-31
Keywords
Environment & Energy
Additional Keywords
payment for ecosystem services, PES, competition mechanism, drone-based forest carbon measurement, RCT
JEL code(s)
Q15, Q23
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
This study evaluates a new approach to community-based forest management, “Competition for Ecosystem Services” (CES), which introduces competitive incentives into a traditional Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) framework. CES creates an internal competitive structure among participating communities, rewarding those that demonstrate relatively greater conservation achievements. We implement a randomized controlled experiment with 60 Village Common Forests (VCFs) in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh, randomly assigned to CES, PES, or a control group. Forest carbon stocks are measured before and after the intervention using drone-based multispectral imagery, calibrated with ground-plot biomass data. Carbon conservation serves as the primary outcome and is estimated at the 30 m × 30 m cell level using an ANCOVA specification. Secondary outcomes—including labor contributions to forest management and in-group/out-group social preferences measured through behavioral games—are analyzed with individual-level. The study focuses on two core questions: whether competitive incentives lead to greater conservation gains than PES and how such incentives shape social relationships within communities.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Higashida, Keisaku et al. 2025. "Competition for Ecosystem Services." AEA RCT Registry. December 10. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.17395-1.1
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2026-02-01
Intervention End Date
2028-02-28

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
The primary outcome is forest carbon stock per hectare (tC/ha), measured using drone-based multispectral imagery and Structure-from-Motion photogrammetry. Carbon stock is estimated at the 30m × 30m cell level before and after the intervention.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary outcomes include:
(a) labor contributions to forest management, measured as total labor days and activity-specific labor days reported by forest management committee members;
(b) social preferences toward in-group and out-group members, measured through trust games and dictator games.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We conduct a randomized controlled trial with 60 communities managing Village Common Forests (VCFs) in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. Communities are randomly assigned to one of three groups: (i) Competition for Ecosystem Services (CES), (ii) Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES), or (iii) Control. The CES scheme provides higher payments to communities that achieve stronger conservation performance relative to other participating communities. Forest carbon is measured pre- and post-intervention using drone imagery, and surveys collect behavioral and labor outcomes from committee members and randomly selected community members.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer.
Randomization Unit
Village Common Forest (VCF) / community (cluster-level randomization).
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
60 VCFs (communities).
Sample size: planned number of observations
Approximately: – Forest carbon data: ~10,000–20,000 grid cells (30m × 30m) across 60 VCFs. – Survey data: 1200 individuals per survey round (all committee members + 10 randomly sampled non-members per community).
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
– 20 VCFs assigned to CES
– 20 VCFs assigned to PES
– 20 VCFs assigned to Control
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Ethics Review Committee on Research with Human Subjects of Waseda University
IRB Approval Date
2025-09-09
IRB Approval Number
2025-338
Analysis Plan

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