Public or Private? Job Preferences Among Students in Côte d’Ivoire

Last registered on June 06, 2026
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Public or Private? Job Preferences Among Students in Côte d’Ivoire
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0018236
Initial registration date
March 28, 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, 9:09 AM EDT

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

Last updated
June 06, 2026, 11:25 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country
Côte d'Ivoire
Region
Abidjan

Primary Investigator

Name
Anderson Edoh
Affiliation
ENSEA
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Aboya Remi
PI Affiliation
ENSEA
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Meango Romuald
PI Affiliation
University of Oxford
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Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2026-03-03
End date
2026-03-31
Keywords
Education, Labor
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial is based on or builds upon one or more prior RCTs.
Abstract
In Côte d’Ivoire, as in many developing countries, young graduates from elite schools face a choice between joining the public sector, perceived as a source of stability and social prestige, and turning to the private sector, which is associated with economic dynamism but often with greater insecurity. This study aims to analyze the preferences of high-achieving Ivorian students between public- and private-sector job offers by assessing the value they place on job attributes. We also tested these students’ beliefs by randomly assigning, through an RCT, the results of a similar study conducted in 2024. The questionnaire was administered to students at ENSEA, INPHB, and ESATIC in lecture halls where students had been specifically gathered for the occasion.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Edoh, Anderson, Aboya Remi and Meango Romuald. 2026. "Public or Private? Job Preferences Among Students in Côte d’Ivoire." AEA RCT Registry. June 06. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.18236-2.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Treatment group (video = 1): participants watched a short informational video (~3 min) presenting factual statistics on salary levels, working hours, layoff risk, and promotion prospects in the public and private sectors in Côte d'Ivoire, drawn from Méango & Girsberger (2025).

Control group (video = 0): participants did not watch the video. After completing modules 1–3 (demographics, academic performance, stated employment preferences), they proceeded directly to the labor market beliefs and choice scenario modules.

Both groups completed identical questionnaire modules; the only difference is exposure to the video.
Intervention (Hidden)
Intervention Start Date
2026-03-03
Intervention End Date
2026-03-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
- Stated sector preference
- Sensitivity to attributes
risk, and promotion probability.
- Willingness to accept (WTA)
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
- Stated sector preference: probability of choosing the public sector in choice
scenarios, transformed into log-odds.
- Sensitivity to attributes: coefficients for salary, working hours, dismissal
risk, and promotion probability.
- Willingness to accept (WTA): wage compensation required to accept a
deterioration in a non-wage attribute,

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
- Stated ranking of sector preferences.
- Belief updating after the information treatment.
- Preference heterogeneity by gender and education level.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
This study uses two independent levels of randomization.

(1) Video treatment (between-subjects): at the moment of connection to the online questionnaire (KoBoToolbox, March 2026), each participant was automatically assigned to the treatment group (video = 1, n = 168) or control group (video = 0, n = 151) via an independent Bernoulli draw (p = 0.5). The video was placed between module 3 (stated employment preferences) and module 4 (labor market beliefs), ensuring that all pre-treatment variables are exogenous.

(2) Scenario attributes (within-subjects): each participant was presented with 5 pairs of hypothetical public vs. private job offers. Scenario 1 is a fixed symmetric reference (identical attributes in both sectors). For scenarios 2–5, the six attributes of each offer (monthly salary, weekly hours, annual layoff risk, promotion probability, and employer type) were drawn uniformly and independently at random from 3–4 pre-specified discrete levels, independently for the public and private offers. This within-individual variation is the source of identification for the fixed-effects preference models (WTA, TMS).
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization was performed automatically by the KoBoToolbox platform upon each participant's connection to the survey. Each individual was assigned independently via a Bernoulli draw (p = 0.5) to the treatment or control group, with no possibility of self-selection or re-assignment. Scenario attributes (levels 2–5) were drawn uniformly at random by the platform for each participant × scenario pair, independently of the video assignment.
Randomization Unit
Individual student. Randomization was conducted at the individual level — each student was independently randomized regardless of institution (ENSEA or INPHB). The treatment was NOT clustered at the school level. Both treatment and control students were recruited simultaneously from both institutions
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
3
Sample size: planned number of observations
At least 300
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Half of students will receive the treatment
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Economics (Econ) DREC
IRB Approval Date
2026-03-13
IRB Approval Number
Economics (Econ) DREC - 2966029
Analysis Plan

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Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
Yes
Intervention Completion Date
March 31, 2026, 12:00 AM +00:00
Data Collection Complete
Yes
Data Collection Completion Date
March 31, 2026, 12:00 AM +00:00
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)
Was attrition correlated with treatment status?
No
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations
319 students (econometric panel: 319 × 5 scenarios = 1,595 observations). Note: 330 students completed the survey; 11 were excluded due to incomplete scenario data.
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms
Control group (video = 0): 151 students Treatment group (video = 1): 168 students Total: 319 students
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
No
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials