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Incentivizing School Attendance in Bangladesh: A Loss Aversion Conditional Cash Transfer Design

Last registered on December 29, 2020
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Incentivizing School Attendance in Bangladesh: A Loss Aversion Conditional Cash Transfer Design
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0002373
Initial registration date
September 02, 2017

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 06, 2017, 1:46 PM EDT

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

Last updated
December 29, 2020, 8:26 PM EST

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Country
Bangladesh
Region
Gaibanda

Primary Investigator

Name
Tomoki Fujii
Affiliation
Singapore Management University
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Christine Ho
PI Affiliation
Singapore Management University
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Abu Shonchoy
PI Affiliation
Institute of Developing Economies (IDE-JETRO) and New York University
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Rohan Ray
PI Affiliation
Singapore Management University
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2017-01-15
End date
2021-06-30
Keywords
Education
Additional Keywords
Conditional cash transfer, loss aversion
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Abstract
This study aims at incentivizing secondary school attendance in Bangladesh. We conduct a randomized control trial (RCT) that would entail giving conditional cash transfers (CCT) using a loss aversion design. The design seeks to exploit the widely observed psychological trait that people tend to more strongly avert losses than the reduction of the same amount of gains. The main research question is whether CCT may have a larger impact on school attendance when combined with a loss aversion design. Given the high costs involved in CCT programs, a higher impact design may help further promote the policy goal of encouraging school attendance while keeping costs contained.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Fujii, Tomoki et al. 2020. "Incentivizing School Attendance in Bangladesh: A Loss Aversion Conditional Cash Transfer Design." AEA RCT Registry. December 29. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.2373-3.4
Former Citation
Fujii, Tomoki et al. 2020. "Incentivizing School Attendance in Bangladesh: A Loss Aversion Conditional Cash Transfer Design." AEA RCT Registry. December 29. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/2373/history/195727
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We implement a conditional cash transfer program in northwestern part of Bangladesh in which the households of the students receive cash when the students attend school. We will see how it affects various outcomes of the students and their households through surveys and experiments. We will also explore different designs of conditional cash transfer programs.
Intervention (Hidden)
Intervention Start Date
2017-03-23
Intervention End Date
2018-12-22

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
school attendance, educational outcomes, attitudinal measures, and various socioeconomic outcomes of the household.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
400 grade 6 and 7 student participants were recruited from 3 secular secondary schools in Gaibanda district in Northern Bangladesh. From late 2017, additional 400 new grade 6 to 9 student participants (50% male and 50% female) will be recruited from the 3 secondary schools. They will be randomly assigned to one of the 4 treatment arms described below. During the last three months of intervention (from around March 2018), participants in CCT treatment arms will be randomized into two subgroups each. One of the subgroup within each treatment arm will receive compensation of 30 taka per school day attended while the other subgroup will still receive 10 taka per school day attended.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer.
Randomization Unit
Individuals
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
N/A
Sample size: planned number of observations
400 observations from the beginning of the study and 400 additional observations from late 2017.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
1/4 of total number of observations in each of the following treatment arms.
A) Standard CCT
B) Loss-aversion CCT
C) SMS only
D) Control

In the last three months of treatment, students in treatment arms A) and B) will be subdivided into two groups to vary the transfer amount.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Singapore Management University Institutional Review Board
IRB Approval Date
2017-08-11
IRB Approval Number
IRB-16-082-A092-M2(817)
IRB Name
Singapore Management University Institutional Review Board
IRB Approval Date
2016-10-17
IRB Approval Number
IRB-16-082-A092-M1(1016)
IRB Name
Singapore Management University Institutional Review Board
IRB Approval Date
2016-09-28
IRB Approval Number
IRB-16-082-A092(916)
IRB Name
Singapore Management University Institutional Review Board
IRB Approval Date
2020-11-20
IRB Approval Number
IRB-16-082-A092-C3(1120)
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
Yes
Intervention Completion Date
December 31, 2018, 12:00 +00:00
Data Collection Complete
No
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
No
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Abstract
Low school attendance remains an important challenge in resource-poor settings with cash and information constraints. We compare conditional cash transfer (CCT) treatments with framing variations (gain and loss) against attendance information treatment as interventions to address these constraints in a unified framework.
Our randomized evaluation shows that CCT treatments increase attendance by 11 percentage points, about half of which is attributable to attendance information. These treatments improve girls’ academic aspirations and reduce early marriage. Daily CCT set at a quarter of local child wage maximizes attendance impact. We highlight the importance of low-cost information technology to boost attendance sustainably and cost-effectively.
Citation
FUJII, Tomoki; HO, Christine; RAY, Rohan; and SHONCHOY, Abu S.. School attendance information or conditional cash transfer? Evidence from a randomized field experiment in rural Bangladesh. (2023). 1-78. Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soe_research/2666
URL
https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soe_research/2666

Reports & Other Materials