Civic Action for Clean Air

Last registered on September 21, 2026
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Civic Action for Clean Air
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0019603
Initial registration date
September 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
September 21, 2026, 7:30 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
Patrick Baylis
Affiliation
University of British Columbia
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Teevrat Garg
PI Affiliation
University of California, San Diego
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PI Name
Lucy Page
PI Affiliation
University of Pittsburgh
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PI Name
Shweta Bhogale
PI Affiliation
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2026-09-07
End date
2027-09-13
Keywords
Environment & Energy, Governance
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Despite severe and widely recognized air pollution in large developing cities, citizen demand for government action remains limited. This project studies why private concern and protective behavior often fail to translate into political pressure for pollution-reducing policy. We focus on potential constraints faced by citizens: misperceptions about pollution severity and health damages, pessimism about the effectiveness of feasible policies, skepticism about political responsiveness to citizen action, and coordination failures in collective action.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Baylis, Patrick et al. 2026. "Civic Action for Clean Air." AEA RCT Registry. September 21. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.19603-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We will provide information treatments relevant to the value of civic action, a treatment designed to shift beliefs others' civic action participation, and a treatment that changes the cost of participating in civic action.
Intervention Start Date
2026-09-07
Intervention End Date
2026-10-19

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Our primary outcome is an indicator variable for whether respondent ultimately sends a message to their MLA via a web form hosted by our research partner after completing the survey.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Our secondary outcomes are:

1) real-money donation from the respondent's participation compensation to an air-quality advocacy organization
2) four standardized belief indices measuring perceived support for seven specific pollution-reduction policies, the health impacts of air pollution, the effectiveness of policy at reducing pollution, and the responsiveness of politicians to civic action.
3) we measure second-order beliefs about how many other Delhi residents, and how many residents of the respondent's own constituency, have contacted government about air pollution in the past year.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We field an in-person survey experiment with Delhi residents recruited face to face in selected neighborhoods, administered by trained enumerators in English and Hindi. The survey elicits demographics, beliefs about air pollution and pollution policy, and prior civic engagement, and includes randomized informational and cost interventions described above.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization within the survey software
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
~4500 respondents
Sample size: planned number of observations
4,500-5,000 respondents
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Video treatments: equal split across control and three videos (1/4 of total sample each)
Second-order belief: equal split across high/low belief treatment (1/2 of sample each)
Cost treatment: split across control, time, and prefilled treatment (2/5, 1/5, 2/5)
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IFMR
IRB Approval Date
2026-01-01
IRB Approval Number
IRB00007107
IRB Name
University of Pittsburg Institutional Review Board
IRB Approval Date
2026-07-01
IRB Approval Number
IRB: STUDY26010064
Analysis Plan

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