Information and Academic-Track Choice in Rural China: A Field Experiment

Last registered on July 23, 2026
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Information and Academic-Track Choice in Rural China: A Field Experiment
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0019231
Initial registration date
July 23, 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 23, 2026, 8:33 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country
China
Region
Fujian

Primary Investigator

Name
Mengying Peng
Affiliation
Hitotsubashi University
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Xin Li
PI Affiliation
East China Normal University
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PI Name
Xiaoyang Ye
PI Affiliation
Yu Soong Lab
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Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2024-11-18
End date
2024-12-31
Keywords
Education
Additional Keywords
information provision, educational choice, subject-portfolio choice, preference revision, New Gaokao, school tracking, rural China
JEL code(s)
D83, I23, I24, I25, J24, O15
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
This study examines whether providing information can help students make more effective subject-portfolio choices under China's New Gaokao reform, which replaces two broad tracks with a larger set of subject combinations tied to college-major eligibility. In a field experiment with high-school students in a rural county in Fujian Province, students were randomly assigned to receive one of several types of information about their subject-portfolio option - covering admission coverage, academic difficulty and major eligibility, or expected wages—or to a status-quo academic-planning condition. The study measures how information affects students' stated subject-portfolio preferences, including whether they revise their choices, which dimensions of the choice they adjust, and the internal consistency of their stated preferences. The setting speaks to a broader question of how resource-constrained education systems can support students in navigating increasingly complex educational choices.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Li, Xin, Mengying Peng and Xiaoyang Ye. 2026. "Information and Academic-Track Choice in Rural China: A Field Experiment." AEA RCT Registry. July 23. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.19231-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Students were randomly assigned to receive one of three types of information about their subject-portfolio options under the New Gaokao, or to a status-quo academic-planning control. The three information arms provided, respectively: (1) admission-seat coverage, showing how many college-major options each portfolio keeps open; (2) academic difficulty and eligibility information; and (3) expected-wage information associated with different portfolios. Information was delivered within a survey instrument. Students' preferred subject portfolios were elicited before and after the information.
Intervention (Hidden)
Intervention Start Date
2024-11-22
Intervention End Date
2024-12-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
The primary outcome is whether a student changed their stated subject-portfolio preference after receiving information (an indicator for any change between the pre- and post-information elicitation). Related primary outcomes include whether the change involved a within-track elective swap versus a track switch.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
The change outcome is constructed by comparing each student's stated preferred subject portfolio before and after the information intervention. "Any change" equals one if the post-information portfolio differs from the pre-information portfolio. Elective swap and track switch decompose this change by whether the primary track (Physics-based or History-based) was retained.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary outcomes include preference formation among initially undecided students (whether a student with no baseline preference articulates one), the internal coherence of stated preferences, and heterogeneity of treatment effects by student academic performance and socioeconomic background.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
Heterogeneity analyses by academic performance and socioeconomic status were exploratory.

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The study is a four-arm survey experiment conducted with high-school students in a rural county in Fujian Province, China. Students' baseline subject-portfolio preferences were elicited, after which they were randomly assigned to one of three information conditions (admission-seat coverage; academic difficulty and eligibility; expected wages) or a status-quo academic-planning control. Post-information preferences were then elicited. The experiment was conducted separately with a Grade 10 cohort (whose portfolio choice remained flexible) and a Grade 11 cohort (whose portfolio had already been declared).
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Assignment performed by the survey platform built-in randomizer.
Randomization Unit
Individual student.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
Not clustered
Sample size: planned number of observations
4,082 students (2,714 Grade 10 and 1,368 Grade 11) in the analytical sample.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Grade 10: 683 control, 687 admission-coverage, 665 difficulty-and-eligibility, 679 wage. Grade 11: 346 control, 350 admission-coverage, 334 difficulty-and-eligibility, 338 wage. Combined: 1,029 control, 1,037 admission-coverage, 999 difficulty-and-eligibility, 1,017 wage (total 4,082).
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
East China Normal University Institutional Review Board
IRB Approval Date
Details not available
IRB Approval Number
HR101212025
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
Yes
Intervention Completion Date
December 31, 2024, 12:00 AM +00:00
Data Collection Complete
Yes
Data Collection Completion Date
December 31, 2024, 12:00 AM +00:00
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)
Was attrition correlated with treatment status?
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
No
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials