Prize-linked savings initiatives for promoting better health and economic outcomes in Kenya (the Akiba Study)

Last registered on August 09, 2018

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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

Prize-linked savings initiatives for promoting better health and economic outcomes in Kenya (the Akiba Study)

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0003224

Initial registration date

August 08, 2018

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 09, 2018, 1:37 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country

Kenya

Region

Siaya County

Primary Investigator

Name

Ellen Moscoe

Affiliation

World Bank Group

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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Kawango Agot

PI Affiliation

Impact Research and Development Organization

Contact Investigator

PI Name

Harsha Thirumurthy

PI Affiliation

University of Pennsylvania

Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status

In development

Start date

2018-08-22

End date

2018-12-31

Keywords

Finance & Microfinance, Health

Additional Keywords

Prize-linked savings

JEL code(s)

Secondary IDs

Abstract

The project will assess the acceptability, feasibility, and potential impact of a novel prize-linked savings intervention designed to shift men’s income away from risky health behaviors and towards saving for the future in a community with continued high HIV incidence in Kenya. Prize-linked savings accounts have been in existence for many years in some countries and they offer savers a random, lottery-like payout proportional to the amount participants save, instead of traditional interest income. The project will enroll men who live in communities with high HIV risk, randomize them to the savings intervention, and assess changes in key economic and self-reported health outcomes over a 3-6 month period with baseline and follow-up surveys.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Agot, Kawango, Ellen Moscoe and Harsha Thirumurthy. 2018. "Prize-linked savings initiatives for promoting better health and economic outcomes in Kenya (the Akiba Study)." AEA RCT Registry. August 09. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.3224-1.0

Former Citation

Sponsors & Partners

Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

Intervention Start Date

2018-08-22

Intervention End Date

2018-12-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

1. Increase in savings balance: This is a binary variable equal to 1 if the respondent’s savings balance increased over the study period, and zero otherwise.
2. Change in savings balance over full study period: Similar to outcome 1, but a continuous measure of the net increase or decrease in savings balance over the study period.
3. Expenditures on alcohol
4. Participation in transactional sex
5. Expenditures on transactional sex

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

1. Savings: Net increase in both the savings balance and in self-reported total savings from all sources, in each lottery period and over the entire study period.
2. Expenditures on food items
3. Expenditures on non-food items

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Participants will be assigned to either a treatment group (prize linked savings) or control group (standard interest savings account) using individual-level random assignment.

Experimental Design Details

Randomization Method

Randomization done in office by a computer

Randomization Unit

Individual

Was the treatment clustered?

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

300 individuals

Sample size: planned number of observations

300 individuals

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

150 individuals

Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)

We aim to recruit a sample size sufficient to detect a 15 percentage point increase in probability of increasing the savings balance (binary outcome), with 80% power and alpha=0.05. The necessary sample size will be 200 participants if we assume that 10% of participants in the control groups will have an increase in savings between baseline and endline. With a sample size of 300 participants and 50% of participants in the control group having an increase in savings, we will by 80% power to detect a difference of ≥16 percentage points in the probability that savings increases due to the intervention.

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB