Can Local Identity Reduce Intergroup Frictions in Pro-social behavior? Evidence from Venezuelan Migration in Colombia

Last registered on July 22, 2026
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Can Local Identity Reduce Intergroup Frictions in Pro-social behavior? Evidence from Venezuelan Migration in Colombia
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0019191
Initial registration date
July 16, 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
July 22, 2026, 8:20 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
Natalia Candelo Londono
Affiliation
CUNY Queens College
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Sherry Li
PI Affiliation
University of Arkansas
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Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2025-08-01
End date
2026-12-31
Keywords
Behavior, Environment & Energy
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
C9, D64, J13, O12
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
We will explore whether strengthening local identity can influence cooperation between host-community members and migrants in a Colombian community that has experienced substantial Venezuelan immigration. Using a lab-in-the-field experiment, participants will engage in incentivized economic games that measure different dimensions of prosocial behavior, including volunteerism, altruism, cooperation, and common-pool resource management. We vary group composition by migration status and expose participants to contextual cues designed to increase or decrease the salience of local identity. We investigate whether these cues affect cooperation and collective action in mixed groups and whether their effects vary with group composition. The project contributes to understanding how local identity shapes social interactions and cooperative behavior in communities undergoing demographic change due to migration. The findings may provide insights into the role of place-based identities in facilitating cooperation across group boundaries.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Candelo Londono, Natalia and Sherry Li. 2026. "Can Local Identity Reduce Intergroup Frictions in Pro-social behavior? Evidence from Venezuelan Migration in Colombia ." AEA RCT Registry. July 22. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.19191-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
It is a lab-in-the-field experiment with a between-subjects design. Participants are exposed to different contextual cues designed to influence the salience of social identities and then participate in incentivized economic games. Group composition is also experimentally varied to study cooperation and collective decision-making in mixed communities.
Intervention Start Date
2026-07-16
Intervention End Date
2026-09-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
1. Volunteerism
• Indicator for volunteering in the Volunteer's Dilemma game.
2. Cooperation
• Individual contribution in the Public Goods Game.
3. Altruism
• Amount transferred in a Dictator Game (or the altruism game used in the study).
4. Common-Pool Resource Management
• Individual extraction/appropriation decision in the water common-pool resource game with and without crisis.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
NA

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Household water consumption measured using administrative utility records
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
Change in water use relative to pre-treatment consumption

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The study uses a randomized lab-in-the-field experiment. Participants are assigned to different identity-related conditions and to groups with varying migration backgrounds before participating in incentivized economic games. The design allows us to examine how social identity and group composition influence cooperation and collective action.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Random booklet selection: Participants choose one booklet from a pool of indistinguishable booklets, each containing one of the experimental treatments.
Randomization Unit
Individual.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
800
Sample size: planned number of observations
800
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
183 in each identity cue, and 34 in small cues added to local identity treatment
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
The planned sample size is 800 participants. Assuming a significance level of 5%, statistical power of 80%, and a standard deviation of 0.49 for the primary prosociality index, the study is powered to detect effects of approximately 0.15 units (0.30 standard deviations) in pairwise treatment comparisons. The calculation does not account for additional power reductions associated with subgroup analyses and interaction effects.
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
CUNY
IRB Approval Date
2024-10-29
IRB Approval Number
7W014-1001
Analysis Plan

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