Maternity discrimination and support for redistribution

Last registered on March 31, 2026
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Maternity discrimination and support for redistribution
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0018201
Initial registration date
March 24, 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 31, 2026, 9:52 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country
Japan
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Megumi Naoi
Affiliation
University of California, San Diego
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
John Ahlquist
PI Affiliation
University of California, San Diego
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2026-03-25
End date
2026-04-08
Keywords
Gender, Labor, Welfare
Additional Keywords
Discrimination, child care
JEL code(s)
I30, 138, J01, J08, J13, J16, J51, J71, J78
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
We conduct survey experiments to investigate the effect of 2017 legislation to prohibit pregnancy-based harassment and discrimination in workplace on women’s support for various redistributive and welfare policies in Japan.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Ahlquist, John and Megumi Naoi . 2026. "Maternity discrimination and support for redistribution ." AEA RCT Registry. March 31. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.18201-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
In our originally-designed survey experiment, which will be fielded in Japan, we randomly assign an experimental treatment that informs respondents the prevalence of maternity-based discrimination at workplace in the past (specifically, pre-2017 government intervention) and present law and rules to prohibit such discrimination that helped younger women retain their jobs upon pregnancy after the 2017. See our PAP for more details.
Intervention Start Date
2026-03-25
Intervention End Date
2026-03-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Three key outcomes are: perception of discrimination in the past, past (pre-2017) and present (post-2017) belief about meritocracy and why women quit or change labor market status upon pregnancy, and welfare policy preferences between subsidies for outsourcing childcare vs. transfers for households with stay-at-home mothers.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Respondents are randomly assigned to one of three groups: treatment, control, or placebo.
• Treatment group (50%): Reads an explanation that the 2017 reform made maternity harassment prevention mandatory and that the situation has since improved substantially.
• Placebo group (25%): Reads an explanation about desk-work posture and shoulder stiffness, matched to the treatment comic in approximate length and visual complexity.
• Control group (25%): Receives no information prior to the perception question.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Qualtrics's embedded randomization feature
Randomization Unit
Individual respondent
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
Three groups
Sample size: planned number of observations
2,000
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
800 respondents for a treatment group, 400 for a control and 400 for a placebo group.
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 of California, San Diego
IRB Approval Date
2026-02-23
IRB Approval Number
814083
Analysis Plan

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