The potential of Islam to support environmental protection in Indonesia?

Last registered on July 23, 2019
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
The potential of Islam to support environmental protection in Indonesia?
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0003936
Initial registration date
February 21, 2019

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
February 24, 2019, 7:43 PM EST

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

Last updated
July 23, 2019, 12:00 PM EDT

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

Locations

Country
Indonesia
Region
Java Barat, DI Yogyakarta

Primary Investigator

Name
Nathalie Luck
Affiliation
University of Passau
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Michael Grimm
PI Affiliation
University of Passau
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2019-03-08
End date
2019-12-31
Keywords
Environment & Energy
Additional Keywords
Religion
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Abstract
This study aims to explore the potential of Islam to aid environmental protection in Indonesia. Indonesia faces severe environmental threats and more pro-environmental policies are needed to address them. However, awareness for environmental threats and public support for pro-environmental policies is low in Indonesia. Endorsement by Islamic leaders may increase support for pro-environmental policies, in particular in a country where religion plays such an important role in everyday life. This study therefore tests whether endorsement by Islamic leaders increases support for pro-environmental policies in Indonesia using a randomized survey experiment. The study is conducted in two provinces in Java, Indonesia enrolling a sample of 1,159 Muslim respondents. Respondents in the treatment group are asked whether they support a pro-environmental policy proposed by Islamic leaders. Respondents in the control group are asked about their support for same pro-environmental policy but without reference to Islamic leaders. Within each village, treatment is randomized at the individual level. The study aims to provide religious institutions and policy makers with evidence on the potential of Islam for environmental protection in Indonesia.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Grimm, Michael and Nathalie Luck . 2019. "The potential of Islam to support environmental protection in Indonesia?." AEA RCT Registry. July 23. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.3936-2.0
Former Citation
Grimm, Michael and Nathalie Luck . 2019. "The potential of Islam to support environmental protection in Indonesia?." AEA RCT Registry. July 23. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/3936/history/50511
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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The study comprises two groups, the treatment (580 respondents) and the control group (579 respondents). The treatment consists of an in-survey endorsement experiment. The aim is to explore whether endorsement by Islamic leaders increases the support for a pro-environmental policy. Specifically, we randomize whether Islamic leaders are reported to initiate the pro-environmental policy. The proposed pro-environmental policy is a ban on the sale of single use plastic water cups, which form large parts of the plastic waste in Indonesia.
Intervention Start Date
2019-03-08
Intervention End Date
2019-05-02

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Level of support for pro-environmental policy
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Heterogeneous effects of the endorsement treatment
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
We will test for heterogeneous effects of the endorsement treatment for the following:
• Piety of respondent
• Environmental attitude of respondent
• Awareness regarding agricultural environmental pollution (measured at baseline)
• Education of respondent
• Location

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The data used for the present study is a subsample of a dataset used to explore the potential of organic farming in Indonesia. The full baseline sample comprises 1,200 respondents. The present study uses a subsample of the follow up data that contains only those respondents who reported to be Muslim at baseline (1,159).

To select the 1,200 respondents at baseline, we applied a three stage random sampling design. In the first stage we sampled villages and in the second stage we sampled farmer groups from the selected villages. In each village in which farmer groups were sampled an NGO held a two hours information session on organic farming to which all members of the respective farmer groups were invited. In the third stage, we sampled participants from all members who attended the information session. Hence, these information sessions served two purposes (1) allow for self-selection based on a basic interest in organic farming and the willingness to participate in farmer group events (2) collect contact details on prospective respondents.

Within each village, the endorsement treatment is randomized at the individual level with half of the respondents in the treatment group and half of the respondents in the control group.

To assess the effect of the endorsement treatment we will then compare respondents’ level of support for the pro-environmental policy in the treatment group versus the control group. Given the randomization of the intervention, this should yield an unbiased treatment effect.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Stratified randomization. Randomization was done by a computer.
Randomization Unit
The endorsement treatment was randomized at the individual level. We stratified the sample according to the location (60 villages). Within each village, we randomly allocated half of the Muslim respondents to the control group and half of the Muslim respondents to the treatment group.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
1,159
Sample size: planned number of observations
1,159
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
- 579 respondents in the control group
- 580 respondents in the religion treatment group
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
Yes
Intervention Completion Date
April 26, 2019, 12:00 +00:00
Data Collection Complete
Yes
Data Collection Completion Date
April 26, 2019, 12:00 +00:00
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)
1,110 Muslim farmers (stratified randomization by village)
Was attrition correlated with treatment status?
No
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations
1,110 Muslim farmers
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms
554 farmers in control group, 556 farmers in treatment group
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials