Energy Security Project: Randomised Controlled Trial

Last registered on April 13, 2026
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Energy Security Project: Randomised Controlled Trial
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0018191
Initial registration date
April 07, 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
April 13, 2026, 9:15 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
Debayan Pakrashi
Affiliation
Economic Research Unit, Indian Statistical Institute Kolkata
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Chitwan Lalji
PI Affiliation
Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode
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PI Name
Soubhagya Sahoo
PI Affiliation
HSE University
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Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2026-03-27
End date
2030-12-31
Keywords
Behavior, Crime, Violence, & Conflict, Education, Environment & Energy, Health, Welfare
Additional Keywords
energy security, information dissemination, perception, wellbeing
JEL code(s)
Q42, Q48, I3
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
The proposed study uses a small-Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) to test whether providing accurate information about LPG supply and petrol/diesel during the US-Iran conflict increases perception of energy security, reduces household panic, stress, and anxiety, reduces belief in rumours and increases awareness about the true situation during such a period of global price shock. The proposed intervention will be a simple information dissemination activity — delivered by trained enumerators. The study will be conducted with about 800-1,000 households randomly selected from 100 locations of two different districts of Uttar Pradesh, with 50 locations assigned to each of the treatment and control arms.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Lalji, Chitwan, Debayan Pakrashi and Soubhagya Sahoo. 2026. "Energy Security Project: Randomised Controlled Trial." AEA RCT Registry. April 13. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.18191-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Half of the study locations were randomly assigned to one treatment and one control arm. The treatment arm receives a single bundled information dissemination activity consisting of two components only: (1) fact sheet: rumour vs fact pamphlet delivered to households; and (2) enumerator visit: trained enumerator reads and discusses key facts, and responds to any questions (or correcting misinformation) that the individual respondents have.

The control arm receives no such interventions and remains in the usual information environment, being vulnerable to widespread rumours via WhatsApp messages and videos, communication driven by distributors, TV news, and neighbour driven conversations.

Intervention Start Date
2026-03-31
Intervention End Date
2026-04-07

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Three primary outcomes are measured at endline administered to both arms: (1) Reduced stress and panic captured via the use of a Household Energy Insecurity Experiences (HEIE) Scale adapted for a situation such as this in India and other such outcomes; (2) increased awareness captured via the use of a knowledge-based quiz: to capture knowledge about supply sources, subsidy status, and correct price; and (3) rational fuel behaviour: no premature fuel switch, normal cylinder booking and no hoarding or panic driven behaviour.

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Belief in government scheme awareness and effectiveness, misinformation and rumour tracking and other subjective questions to capture fear, stress, and anxiety.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
About 800-1,000 households randomly selected from 100 locations from two different districts of Uttar Pradesh, was randomly assigned to treatment and control arms; with 50 locations assigned to one treatment and one control arm each.

Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer.
Randomization Unit
Locations.
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
100 clusters.
Sample size: planned number of observations
Between 800-1000 observations.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
400-500 in each treatment and control arm.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode
IRB Approval Date
2026-03-30
IRB Approval Number
IRB/341/26032026
Analysis Plan