Flexibility and Session Attendance

Last registered on August 15, 2019
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Flexibility and Session Attendance
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0004498
Initial registration date
August 13, 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
August 14, 2019, 5:30 PM EDT

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

Last updated
August 15, 2019, 7:25 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country
Kenya
Region
Nairobi

Primary Investigator

Name
Samantha Horn
Affiliation
Carnegie Mellon University
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Julie Downs
PI Affiliation
Carnegie Mellon University
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2019-08-14
End date
2019-09-09
Keywords
Firms & Productivity
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Abstract
In this study we will unpack the effects of shocks on attendance at an income earning opportunity - participation in a paid lab study in Nairobi, Kenya. Specifically, we will test the effect of flexibility by increasing the range of dates available to attend to better understand the barriers affecting individuals ability to take part in an income earning opportunity. We will also elicit beliefs about how likely it is that a set of external shocks will affect attendance.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Downs, Julie and Samantha Horn. 2019. "Flexibility and Session Attendance." AEA RCT Registry. August 15. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.4498-2.0
Former Citation
Downs, Julie and Samantha Horn. 2019. "Flexibility and Session Attendance." AEA RCT Registry. August 15. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/4498/history/51769
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention (Hidden)
Our target population will be individuals from the Busara Center for Behavioral Economics’ subject pool who are being recruited for other lab studies at Busara. There were no extra eligibility requirements. In line with the typical procedures at Busara,\, participants will be called and offered the opportunity to attend a session. We will ask for consent from individuals for this current study over the phone.

All participants will receive a show-up fee of 200KSH for attending the lab session for which they are being recruited with the option to earn additional income from incentivized tasks in the study. We will not be paying any additional incentives for attendance. If an individual attends a session but then does not consent for the particular lab study they have been invited to, they will still receive the show-up fee payment of 200KSH.

During the invitation call the date of attendance will be varied by treatment group, and participants will be randomized into one of three conditions with randomisation occuring at the participant level:

Flexible Condition: Participants will be invited to attend a lab session on any afternoon for a 7-day period (excluding weekends) starting three days from the invite call.

Fixed-Time Group: Participants will be invited to attend a lab session on a specific afternoon, randomly selected from the same window of 7 days starting three days from the invite call.

Control Group: Participants will be invited to attend a lab session and asked to choose a day in the same 7 day window starting three days from the invite call that works best for them, and informed that they would only be able to attend on their chosen day.

Baseline
During the invitation call we will elicit information to use for analysis of heterogeneous treatment effects and to check balance, including gender, the number of children the individual has, job type, as well as typical and maximum daily earnings over the last 30 days.

We will also elicit beliefs about the likelihood that a set of common shocks affecting attendance could prevent them from attending the session by asking for likelihoods of certain events occurring (e.g. bad weather preventing attendance, illness preventing attendance) on a scale of 1-5. Participants will be asked if they intend to attend the session to obtain a measure of intent.

Outcome of interest
The outcome of interest will be attendance at the lab session, measured by a simple binary variable with a 1 for whether the participant showed up at the session, and a 0 if the participant did not show up.

Follow-up
We will survey individuals who did not show up to the lab session over the phone to better understand the reasons affecting non-attendance, and also to create an empirical estimate of the likelihood that shocks actually occur which can be compared against elicited beliefs.
Intervention Start Date
2019-08-14
Intervention End Date
2019-09-09

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Attendance at the lab session; occurrence of shocks preventing attendance
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
All participants will receive a show-up fee of 200KSH for attending the lab session for which they are being recruited with the option to earn additional income from incentivized tasks in the study. We will not be paying any additional incentives for attendance. If an individual attends a session but then does not consent for the particular lab study they have been invited to, they will still receive the show-up fee payment of 200KSH.

During the invitation call the date of attendance will be varied by treatment group, and participants will be randomized into one of three conditions with randomisation occuring at the participant level:

Flexible Condition: Participants will be invited to attend a lab session on any afternoon for a 7-day period (excluding weekends) starting three days from the invite call.

Fixed-Time Group: Participants will be invited to attend a lab session on a specific afternoon, randomly selected from the same window of 7 days starting three days from the invite call.

Control Group: Participants will be invited to attend a lab session and asked to choose a day in the same 7 day window starting three days from the invite call that works best for them, and informed that they would only be able to attend on their chosen day.
Experimental Design Details
All participants will receive a show-up fee of 200KSH for attending the lab session for which they are being recruited with the option to earn additional income from incentivized tasks in the study. We will not be paying any additional incentives for attendance. If an individual attends a session but then does not consent for the particular lab study they have been invited to, they will still receive the show-up fee payment of 200KSH.

During the invitation call the date of attendance will be varied by treatment group, and participants will be randomized into one of three conditions with randomisation occuring at the participant level:

Flexible Condition: Participants will be invited to attend a lab session on any afternoon for a 7-day period (excluding weekends) starting three days from the invite call.

Fixed-Time Group: Participants will be invited to attend a lab session on a specific afternoon, randomly selected from the same window of 7 days starting three days from the invite call.

Control Group: Participants will be invited to attend a lab session and asked to choose a day in the same 7 day window starting three days from the invite call that works best for them, and informed that they would only be able to attend on their chosen day.
Randomization Method
Computer in an office
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
NA
Sample size: planned number of observations
600 individuals
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
600 individuals
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Carnegie Mellon University
IRB Approval Date
2019-07-17
IRB Approval Number
STUDY2019_00000244
Analysis Plan

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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