Assessing Constraints to Paired Kidney Exchange in Argentina

Last registered on August 10, 2026

View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

Assessing Constraints to Paired Kidney Exchange in Argentina

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0019226

Initial registration date

August 06, 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

August 10, 2026, 3:26 PM EDT

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

Locations

Country

Argentina

Region

Primary Investigator

Name

Christina Sarah Hauser

Affiliation

Collegio Carlo Alberto

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Beltrán Saravia

PI Affiliation

Universidad Torcuato di Tella

Contact Investigator

PI Name

Julio Elías

PI Affiliation

UCEMA

Contact Investigator

PI Name

Aldo Bunader

PI Affiliation

INCUCAI

Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status

In development

Start date

2026-08-17

End date

2026-09-30

Keywords

Health

Additional Keywords

Kidney exchange, misperceptions

JEL code(s)

Secondary IDs

Prior work

This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.

Abstract

Kidney paired exchange (KPE) programs allow incompatible living donor--recipient pairs to swap donors so that each recipient receives a compatible kidney. These programs have enabled substantial increases in the volume of living-donor transplants in the United States and other high-income countries. Argentina legalized KPE in 2018, yet the pool of registered patient--donor pairs remains small and the mechanism is essentially unused---this research asks why. We will conduct an online survey of approximately 400 transplant
professionals across Argentina to measure knowledge of KPE, identify misperceptions, assess perceived risks and benefits, document professional norms, and map institutional barriers to adoption. An informational experiment embedded within this survey will test whether a belief correction can increase transplant professionals' stated willingness to recommend KPE and demonstrated interest in KPE. A second experiment tests whether transplant professionals respond more to financial incentives which are framed as a loss or a gain. The findings are intended to inform policy design and future research aiming to promote KPE uptake among transplant professionals in Argentina.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Bunader, Aldo et al. 2026. "Assessing Constraints to Paired Kidney Exchange in Argentina." AEA RCT Registry. August 10. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.19226-1.0

Sponsors & Partners

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information

Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

We will run a nation-wide survey experiment among members of the kidney transplant teams of INCUCAI, the national organ transplant institution of Argentina. The main intervention consists in a belief-correction about the efficiency of kidney exchange which will be randomly assigned to half of the participants.

Intervention (Hidden)

The survey contains 2 randomized experiments:

Experiment 1: Contestants are asked to give an estimation on how many pairs do they think a donor-recipient pair pool should have in order to reach a 50-55% probability of finding a match when enrolling a new pair. Half of the respondents are randomly assigned to a intervention which provides information concerning the correct number of pairs needed and by a statement on whether their estimation was under/over the actual number. The control group recieves no feedback.

Experiment 2: Respondents are shown a hypothetical scenario regarding monetary incentives for hospitals to increase living donation, one treatment arm shows a scenario where a bonus is given if the hospital increases its living donor transplants compared to their previous number. A second treatment arm shows a scenario where the hospital is penalized if it fails to increase the number of living donor transplants, and the control arm only mentions that the hospital would like to increase living donor (no incentives mentioned).

Intervention Start Date

2026-08-17

Intervention End Date

2026-09-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

Experiment 1: 1) Self-reported probability of encouraging an incompatible donor-recipient pair to enroll in the national Kidney Exchange Program. 2) Revealed engagement with supplementary information on kidney paired donation — time spent reading (seconds) — measured among respondents who indicated interest in receiving more information

Experiment 2: Stated recommendation for an incompatible patient-donor pair, categorized into four response options ranging from pursuing paired donation exclusively to pursuing a compatible living donor exclusively.

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Experiment 1: 1) stated interest in receiving more information about crossed/paired donation (yes/no); 2) self-reported learning, measured on a three-point scale ("Yes" / "Somewhat" / "No"); 3) objective knowledge check — a multiple-select item asking respondents to identify which countries have implemented kidney exchange, including correct options and incorrect distractors.

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

This study employs a survey-based design administered to kidney transplant professionals. The survey embeds two randomized, between-subjects experiments examining professionals' clinical attitudes and stated behavior regarding kidney paired donation.

Experimental Design Details

The survey follows a fixed sequence: demographics, a knowledge/belief battery on kidney disease burden and transplant outcomes in Argentina, and a social-norms battery, administered to all respondents prior to randomization. Respondents then proceed through Experiment 1 (randomization, outcome measures, revealed-engagement measure — see Intervention for arm-specific content), followed by Experiment 2 (randomization and outcome measure — see Intervention for arm-specific content), and finally a battery on economic considerations in referral and attitudes toward international kidney exchange. Both experiments are administered to the same respondents.

Randomization Method

Randomization done by Qualtrics software

Randomization Unit

Individual

Was the treatment clustered?

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

400 members of transplant teams

Sample size: planned number of observations

400 members of transplant teams

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

Experiment 1: approximately 200 members in treatment arm, 200 members in control arm
Experiment 2: approximately 133 members in treatment 1 (bonus for increasing living donor transplants) arm, 133 members in treatment 2 (penalization for reducing living donor transplants) arm, 134 members in control arm,

Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)

All calculations assume individual-level randomization (no clustering), N=400, significance level α=0.05, and power=0.80. Experiment 1 (Treatment vs. Control, ~200 vs. 200): Outcome 1 (likelihood of encouraging KPD enrollment, 0–1 scale, assuming control mean = 0.50, SD = 0.50): MDE = 0.35 (35 percentage points). Outcome 3 (time spent reading the KPE fact sheet, in seconds, assuming control mean = 30s, SD = 20s): MDE = 13.79 seconds. Experiment 2 (three arms, ~133 per arm): main outcome (binary indicator for recommending KPD without further search, assuming control mean = 0.50, SD = 0.50): MDE = 0.17 (17 percentage points).

Supporting Documents and Materials

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information

IRB