Public Preferences for Mississippi River Valley Alluvial Aquifer (MRVA) Groundwater Management

Last registered on August 23, 2018
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Public Preferences for Mississippi River Valley Alluvial Aquifer (MRVA) Groundwater Management
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0003247
Initial registration date
August 21, 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 23, 2018, 7:12 PM EDT

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

Locations

Country
United States of America
Region
Arkansas

Primary Investigator

Name
Grant West
Affiliation
University of Arkansas
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Heather Snell
PI Affiliation
University of Arkansas
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Rodolfo Nayga
PI Affiliation
University of Arkansas
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Kent Kovacs
PI Affiliation
University of Arkansas
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2018-08-27
End date
2020-12-31
Keywords
Agriculture, Environment & Energy, Governance
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Abstract
We will conduct a survey-based choice experiment to estimate discount rates and the public’s willingness to pay (WTP) for groundwater management in the MRVA in Arkansas. We will also estimate marginal WTP for groundwater services (certainty of irrigation supply known as buffer value, groundwater quality, jobs in agriculture, wildlife habitat, and avoidance of subsidence) and for two distinct management policies (surface water infrastructure and a cap and trade program for groundwater trading) relative to the status quo of subsidies for best management practices. Individual respondents (n=2,000) will be randomly assigned to one of ten treatment conditions that vary in terms of the policy payment mechanism (lump sum or annual perpetually), the presence of a one-year delay before payments take effect, the presence of an individualist policy narrative text, and the presence of a textual reference to a recent California groundwater policy that was implemented.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Kovacs, Kent et al. 2018. "Public Preferences for Mississippi River Valley Alluvial Aquifer (MRVA) Groundwater Management." AEA RCT Registry. August 23. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.3247-1.0
Former Citation
Kovacs, Kent et al. 2018. "Public Preferences for Mississippi River Valley Alluvial Aquifer (MRVA) Groundwater Management." AEA RCT Registry. August 23. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/3247/history/33456
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2018-08-27
Intervention End Date
2018-11-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
The key outcome measures are:
1. WTP for MRVA groundwater management
2. Marginal WTP for groundwater services:
-MRVA Buffer
-MRVA Water Quality
-Jobs from Irrigated Agriculture
-Wildlife Diversity and Abundance
-Infrastructure Integrity (subsidence avoidance)
3. Marginal WTP for policy alternatives:
-Surface Water Infrastructure Alternative
-Cap and Trade Alternative
4. Time Preference (jointly estimated with WTP from Random Utility Model (RUM))
5. Time Preference (estimated from Convex Time Budget)
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Outcomes 1, 2, 3, and 4: Respondents will answer a series of five discrete choice questions each involving three policy alternatives (Status Quo, Surface Water Infrastructure Alternative, and Cap and Trade Alternative) characterized by different levels of groundwater services (Buffer, Quality, Jobs from Agriculture, Wildlife, Infrastructure Integrity) and cost. A discounted Random Utility Model (RUM) will be used to jointly estimate time preference and WTP measures from the choice selections made.

Outcome 5: Time preference will also be estimated using a Convex Time Budget approach (Andreoni et al. 2015). Respondents will make a series of choices about how they prefer to allocate an inter-temporal budget constraint between a future payment and discounted present payment. A utility model will be used to estimate quasi-hyperbolic discounting and curvature parameters associated with time preference from the choice selections.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Respondents will be randomly assigned to one of ten treatment groups, which are:
1. Baseline with single lump payment
2. Baseline with single lump payment, delayed
3. Baseline with annual payments perpetually
4. Baseline with annual payments perpetually, delayed
5. Individualist narrative with single lump payment
6. Individualist narrative with annual payments perpetually
7. Individualist narrative with annual payments perpetually, delayed
8. Reference to California Policy with single lump payment
9. Reference to California Policy with annual payments perpetually
10. Reference to California Policy with single lump payment, delayed
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization will be done via Qualtrics survey software.
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
2,000 individuals
Sample size: planned number of observations
2,000 individual adults in Arkansas
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
200 individuals for Baseline with single lump payment
200 individuals for Baseline with single lump payment, delayed
200 individuals for Baseline with annual payments perpetually
200 individuals for Baseline with annual payments perpetually, delayed
200 individuals for Individualist narrative with single lump payment
200 individuals for Individualist narrative with annual payments perpetually
200 individuals for Individualist narrative with annual payments perpetually, delayed
200 individuals for Reference to California Policy with single lump payment
200 individuals for Reference to California Policy with annual payments perpetually
200 individuals for Reference to California Policy with single lump payment, delayed
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
University of Arkansas
IRB Approval Date
2018-02-08
IRB Approval Number
1801092634
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials