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Field
Trial Status
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Before
in_development
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After
on_going
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Field
Last Published
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Before
January 20, 2017 08:36 AM
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After
September 03, 2018 05:14 PM
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Field
Intervention (Public)
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Before
We will offer transfers of electricity credit to prepaid electricity customers. Specifically, we will offer households choices among bundles of free electricity transfers that vary the size and timing of the transfers. Piloting will determine the exact tradeoffs that we will vary across the choice sets, which will be designed to identify preferences over frequency, transfer size, and commitment, independent from potential liquidity constraints or differential (unobserved) transaction costs.
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After
We will offer transfers of electricity credit to prepaid electricity customers in conjunction with two rounds of surveying. Specifically, a first survey will be accompanied by surprise transfers of either cash or electricity. The total value of the transfers will be the same but some households will receive the transfer in cash, some in a single prepaid electricity token and some in two prepaid electricity token (one of which will be provided at the time of the survey and one delivered by text message after the survey). A first control group will receive the survey but no transfer. A second control group will receive neither surveys nor a transfer.
In a second survey round, with the same households, participants will be randomly assigned to choose between two of the three transfer options offered in the first survey round. These choices will be administered using multiple price lists to measure preferences across different transfer types.
See the pre-analysis plan for further detail on the design.
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Intervention Start Date
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Before
August 01, 2017
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After
August 01, 2018
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Intervention End Date
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Before
July 31, 2018
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After
December 31, 2018
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Primary Outcomes (End Points)
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Before
Our analysis will include three main outcomes: transfer choices, electricity purchases and electricity consumption. Analyzing impacts on the latter two (purchases and consumption) relies on the first as an instrument.
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After
Our analysis will include three main outcomes:
1) purchase quantity and timing, constructed from the prepaid vending data
2) consumption, collected from meter readings during the two survey rounds
3) choices among transfer options in survey round 2
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Primary Outcomes (Explanation)
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Before
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After
See pre-analysis plan for further detail on outcome variable construction.
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Experimental Design (Public)
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Before
Our variation will come from sets of choices over free electricity transfers, which will vary across customers. Variations in the choice sets, combined with the choices customers make, will reveal customer preferences. The randomized choice sets will also instrument for variation in the actual transfers received. Piloting is underway to finalize the design of the choice sets.
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After
Round 1 treatment – along with the first survey round, households will be randomly assigned to one of the following four groups.
1) 100 Rand in cash handed over at the end of the survey.
2) One electricity token with the same value as the cash transfer. The token will be uploaded on to the household meter by the subject, with assistance from the survey enumerator.
3) Two electricity tokens with the same total value as the cash transfer. One of these tokens will be provided to the household at the time of the survey and uploaded by the subject onto the household meter with assistance by the survey enumerator. The second token will be sent by text message approximately three days later.
4) Survey-only control.
All tokens are sent to the subject directly by text message. All households in the first survey will receive R20 of electricity as compensation for participating in the survey. This amount will also be uploaded onto the household meter by the subject in the presence of the survey enumerator. Thus, survey-only households also upload a token with the surveyor.
Round 2 choices – Households will be partially randomly assigned (see below) to receive two of the following choice sets as part of the second survey.
a) Cash versus one electricity token
b) Cash versus two electricity tokens (with one token sent 3 days later)
c) One versus two electricity tokens (with one token sent 3 days later)
Round 2 choice sets will be presented as multiple price lists. Respondents are asked to make a series of choices between two possible options in each choice set. The highest possible value that can be obtained remains constant, while the value of the other option increases or decreases. We randomized both the order within each choice (left or right choice on the screen) and the order from first to last within each choice set. One choice within one of the choice sets is drawn for implementation. The choice sets are depicted in the Appendix.
In addition, a pure control group will be followed in the administrative data throughout the study. The pure control consists of all eligible households according to the first stage sampling rules (excluding eligibility criteria for the survey respondent), who were never selected for surveying (anyone selected for surveying, regardless if the survey took place or not, is excluded from the pure control).
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Randomization Unit
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Before
Households
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After
Randomization will be stratified by survey team and geographic area. Surveys will be collected using handheld devices. Surveyors are not aware of a household’s treatment at the start of the survey and will not be able to manipulate treatment assignment.
In the second round, treatments will be based on round 1 treatment assignment. Specifically, households will be assigned to two out of the four possible round 2 choice conditions. Following the numbering above, assignment will be as follows:
- Round 1 treatment 1 will receive round 2 choices c and randomly drawn a or b
- Round 1 treatment 2 will receive round 2 choices b and randomly drawn a or c
- Round 1 treatment 3 will receive round 2 choices a and randomly drawn b or c
- Round 1 control (4) will receive a random set of two choices
In other words, respondents who received a round 1 treatment will always see the choice set involving the two transfers that they did not experience in round 1, plus one of the two choice sets involving the transfer they did experience in round 1. The sample of households will be assigned evenly across the four round 1 groups.
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Planned Number of Observations
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Before
Up to 1250 households
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After
Target is 800 households for round 1 survey
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Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
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Before
250 households control , up to 1000 treatment households
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After
200 per round 1 arm (plus pure control)
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Field
Did you obtain IRB approval for this study?
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Before
No
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After
Yes
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