Beliefs about the State and Engagement with Non-State Actors

Last registered on March 05, 2026
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Beliefs about the State and Engagement with Non-State Actors
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0018022
Initial registration date
March 02, 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
March 05, 2026, 8:55 AM EST

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

Locations

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information

Primary Investigator

Name
Helene Strandt
Affiliation
University of Munich
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2026-03-29
End date
2027-12-31
Keywords
Governance
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Many states lack the capacity to provide essential services to their citizens, and how these states may build this capacity remains poorly understood.
In weak states, informal community-based institutions that are not state-governed provide essential services.
This project examines citizens' willingness to engage critically with and lend legitimacy to a communal non-state institution.
Specifically, this project studies how beliefs about the state drive citizens' engagement and, in turn, shape the capacity of the communal non-state institution to provide an essential service.
The treatment provides information about the state vs a placebo experimenter-demand information treatment.
The study tests whether these interventions change citizens' engagement with the communal institution and willingness to finance the state institution.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Strandt, Helene. 2026. "Beliefs about the State and Engagement with Non-State Actors." AEA RCT Registry. March 05. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.18022-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
There will be one central intervention. The study will ask participants to provide information about a service provided by a state institution. A random subset of participants will be provided with verified information about the state's services, so that subjects' corresponding beliefs about the state can be recalibrated accordingly. All other subjects receive a placebo treatment, which is uninformative about the state institution's service to capture potential experimenter demand effects.
Intervention Start Date
2026-03-29
Intervention End Date
2027-12-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
There are 3 main categories of outcomes of interest: (1) respondents' beliefs regarding state service provision; (2) respondents' willingness to engage critically with the communal non-state institution (including participation, supporting transparency, voicing opposition, and sanctioning improper conduct; all elicited under expectation of disclosure); (3) willingness to finance state service provision.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The study will ask participants to provide information about a service provided by a state institution. A random subset of participants will be provided with verified information about the state's services, so that subjects' corresponding beliefs about the state can be recalibrated accordingly. All other subjects receive a placebo treatment, which is uninformative about the state institution's service to capture potential experimenter demand effects.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization will be carried out using a procedure on the study hosting platform, SurveyCTO.
Randomization Unit
The unit of randomization will be individual study participants.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
1000 individuals.
Sample size: planned number of observations
1000 individuals.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
500 individuals will be assigned to the information treatment group, and 500 individuals will be assigned to the placebo experimenter demand treatment group.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
The study will allow a detectable effect size of approximately 0.2 standard deviations at conventional levels of power and significance.
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Ethics Commission, Department of Economics, University of Munich
IRB Approval Date
2026-01-26
IRB Approval Number
2026-02
Analysis Plan