Shared Identity, Corruption, and Trust in Government

Last registered on September 25, 2026
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Shared Identity, Corruption, and Trust in Government
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0019770
Initial registration date
September 19, 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 25, 2026, 10:07 AM 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
Matteo F. Ferroni
Affiliation
University of Turin
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Ray Fisman
PI Affiliation
Boston University
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Miriam Golden
PI Affiliation
UCLA
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Jiarui Wang
PI Affiliation
UC San Diego
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2026-09-21
End date
2027-06-30
Keywords
Behavior, Governance
Additional Keywords
Corruption, Political trust, National identity, Political polarization, Survey experiment
JEL code(s)
C93, D72, D73, D91, H23
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
This study examines whether perceived government corruption and national identity causally affect political trust and related political attitudes among Canadians. We use an experimental design that induces exogenous variation in these two constructs to identify their downstream effects on trust, attitudes toward political institutions, and related policy views.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Ferroni, Matteo F. et al. 2026. "Shared Identity, Corruption, and Trust in Government." AEA RCT Registry. September 25. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.19770-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We randomly assign respondents to one of four conditions in a 2×2 factorial design: a treatment presenting information about government corruption, a treatment presenting a video about national identity, both together, or a control condition receiving neither.
Intervention Start Date
2026-09-21
Intervention End Date
2026-10-10

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
The key outcomes are: i) perceived government corruption; ii) out-party animus; iii) political trust; iv) institutional legitimacy.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Perceived government corruption and institutional legitimacy are each constructed as a z-score index. Out-party animus and political trust are each measured using a single continuous item. The details of how these measures are built are described in the attached pre-analysis plan. The exact question wording is presented in the attached survey questionnaire.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
We also register secondary hypotheses for: i) support for creating an independent federal anticorruption agency; ii) support for anticorruption enforcement policies; iii) the likelihood of naming corruption as one of the country's biggest problems; iv) the likelihood of naming political divisions as one of the country's biggest problems. We additionally explore, without a pre-registered hypothesis, treatment effects on: v) preferred scope of government; vi) preferred social spending.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
Support for anticorruption enforcement policies is constructed as a z-score index. Support for the anticorruption agency, and the two problem-salience measures (naming corruption and naming political divisions), are each a single dummy variable. The exploratory scope-of-government and social-spending measures are each constructed as a z-score index. The details of how these measures are built are described in the attached pre-analysis plan. The exact question wording is presented in the attached survey questionnaire.

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
After completing a pre-treatment block of background questions and passing an initial attention check, respondents are randomly assigned to one of four conditions in a 2×2 factorial design: a corruption treatment, a national-identity treatment, both treatments together, or a control condition receiving neither. All respondents then answer the same set of outcome questions described above.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization done by the survey (designed on Qualtrics)
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
6,000 individuals
Sample size: planned number of observations
6,000 individuals
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
≈750 respondents in control group with block order 1
≈750 respondents in control group with block order 2
≈750 respondents assigned to corruption treatment with block order 1
≈750 respondents assigned to corruption treatment with block order 2
≈750 respondents assigned to national identity treatment with block order 1
≈750 respondents assigned to national identity treatment with block order 2
≈750 respondents assigned to both treatments (order of the two treatments is randomized with equal probability) with block order 1
≈750 respondents assigned to both treatments (order of the two treatments is randomized with equal probability) with block order 2
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
See attachde Pre-Analysis Plan
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
Boston University Charles River Campus Institutional Review Board
IRB Approval Date
2026-02-27
IRB Approval Number
8363X
Analysis Plan

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

Request Information