Air Pollution and Labor

Last registered on August 13, 2019
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Air Pollution and Labor
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0004578
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 13, 2019, 5:06 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

Primary Investigator

Name
Nikolai Cook
Affiliation
University of Ottawa
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2019-08-14
End date
2019-12-31
Keywords
Environment & Energy, Labor
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Q52
Secondary IDs
Abstract
This experiment will test the effects of air pollution on labor supply. We will measure both the external margin and internal margins.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Cook, Nikolai. 2019. "Air Pollution and Labor." AEA RCT Registry. August 13. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.4578-1.0
Former Citation
Cook, Nikolai. 2019. "Air Pollution and Labor." AEA RCT Registry. August 13. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/4578/history/51648
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Please refer to hidden intervention field.
Intervention Start Date
2019-08-14
Intervention End Date
2019-08-21

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
The primary outcome variable for this experiment is external margin. When treated, are subjects less likely to take the experimenter's up on an employment offer? The second outcome for this experiment is the internal margin. Given that a worker chooses to continue, how well do they complete the task they are assigned. We will measure both attempts and accuracy.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
We will employ text analysis on subject's journals.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Please see the hidden field.
Experimental Design Details
In this study, we begin by taking subject demographics. Then we will expose subjects to 10 images (media) of polluted (treatment) or clean (control) cities. The images are drawn from Lu et al. 2018, "Polluted morality: Air pollution predicts criminal activity and unethical behavior". Subjects are asked to correctly identify the subject and conditions of the images. Subjects are then asked to journalize a hypothetical experience in the pictured city. Subjects then are offered the opportunity for a lucrative real effort task. If subjects decline, they fill an STAI followed by two subjective air pollution questions. Once completed subjects who opted out will be given a code to submit to mechanical turk for payment. However, if subjects accept, they are then made aware of the nature of their assigned RET task. The RET will either be transcription of character strings (routine task) or summations of sums (cognitive task). We record the attempts as well as the score. After completion, they will fill the same STAI and subjective air pollution questions. They will then be given a code to submit to MT for payment.
Randomization Method
Randomization by computer.
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
2000
Sample size: planned number of observations
2000
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
2X2 design. 500 to each.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
GPower. Two Tailed Test. d=0.15, a=0.05, B=0.90. N = 1870.
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
University of Ottawa
IRB Approval Date
2019-08-10
IRB Approval Number
S-06-18-796
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