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Information Provision and Household Adoption of LPG Heating: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Ulaanbaatar

Last registered on May 06, 2026
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Information Provision and Household Adoption of LPG Heating: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Ulaanbaatar
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0018525
Initial registration date
May 01, 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
May 06, 2026, 10:55 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country
Mongolia
Region
Ulaanbaatar

Primary Investigator

Name
Megan Lang
Affiliation
World Bank Development Research Group
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
A. Patrick Behrer
PI Affiliation
World Bank
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PI Name
Lydia Kim
PI Affiliation
World Bank
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Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2025-12-01
End date
2026-06-30
Keywords
Behavior, Environment & Energy, Health
Additional Keywords
LPG heating, air pollution
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia is among the most air-polluted cities in the world, and the bulk of its wintertime pollution comes from coal combustion for heating. The government of Ulaanbaatar is planning a large-scale transition from coal to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for household heating. We propose a randomized field experiment to test whether information provision can drive increased take-up, and in particular whether information about the air-quality benefits of the transition moves adoption decisions beyond information about cost, safety, and convenience alone. Households who are eligible for the program but who did not enroll during the first winter it was offered will be randomized into (i) a control condition, (ii) a treatment providing information about the cost, safety, and convenience of LPG relative to coal, and (iii) a stacked treatment that additionally provides information about air-quality improvements.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Behrer, A. Patrick, Lydia Kim and Megan Lang. 2026. "Information Provision and Household Adoption of LPG Heating: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Ulaanbaatar." AEA RCT Registry. May 06. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.18525-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention (Hidden)
we will randomize individual households into one of three arms:
Control: households receive no information intervention.
Cost treatment (T1): households receive information on the cost, safety, convenience, and general satisfaction of LPG relative to coal, drawn from survey data on hundreds of pilot households who have already made the transition.
Cost + Air Quality (AQ) treatment (T2): households receive the same information as T1, together with information on the air-quality improvements measured in a subset of pilot and ineligible households equipped with indoor air-quality monitors.
Intervention Start Date
2026-05-02
Intervention End Date
2026-05-15

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Whether the household signs up to be included in the government outreach for the scale up of the LPG heating program.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Beliefs about the cost of using LPG heaters, the air quality benefits, and the safety.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We will randomize households into control and one of two information treatments to determine the effect of different information sets on take-up of LPG heating.
Experimental Design Details
Our sampling frame consists of households in Ulaanbaatar that are eligible for the LPG transition program but have not yet enrolled. Within this frame, we will randomize individual households into control, T1, and T2 at the household level.

The treatment design is intentionally stacked. Comparing T1 to C identifies the effect of generic program information; comparing T2 to T1 identifies the marginal effect of air-quality information; comparing T2 to C identifies the combined effect. Each treatment will be delivered at the household level through in-person visits by trained enumerators using a standardized script and printed materials. The exact content of the messages is being finalized in collaboration with the implementing team.

Immediately before delivering the information treatment, enumerators administer a short belief-elicitation module covering beliefs about (i) the up-front and recurring monetary costs of transitioning to LPG, (ii) its safety and convenience relative to coal, and (iii) the magnitude of air-quality improvement a household would experience upon transitioning. Beliefs are elicited from all households, including those in the control group, so that we can test for treatment-induced belief updating without contamination from the information treatment itself.

The target sample size is 1200 households. We will stratify the randomization on dwelling type (ger versus detached household), as the information treatment may differ between the two dwelling types. We also stratify treatment on whether the household reports any coal use for heating at baseline, as around 150 non-adopter households do not.
Randomization Method
Randomization done in an office by a computer.
Randomization Unit
Household
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
1200 households
Sample size: planned number of observations
1200
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
400 control, 400 T1, 400 T2
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number
Analysis Plan

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Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials