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

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

Request Information

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 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

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
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization done by Qualtrics software
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

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

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Ethics Committee of Collegio Carlo Alberto
IRB Approval Date
2026-04-29
IRB Approval Number
3/2026
Analysis Plan

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

Request Information