Obstacles to Domestic Retail Investing in Mexico: An Empirical Study

Last registered on March 03, 2020

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Obstacles to Domestic Retail Investing in Mexico: An Empirical Study
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0004801
Initial registration date
September 29, 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
September 30, 2019, 1:29 PM EDT

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

Last updated
March 03, 2020, 11:12 AM EST

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

Locations

Region

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
University at Albany

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2019-09-02
End date
2019-10-31
Secondary IDs
Abstract
Stock market investing seems not to be an attractive choice for many people,. Many financial markets remain underdeveloped, including those in Mexico. This project examines a lack of demand for risky financial assets on the part of Mexican savers, in order to better understand the obstacles that prevent them from investing through their own securities markets.

The project administers a survey and vignettes to 1,000 qualified individuals in the Mexico City area. The survey will consist of Likert scale questions that examine the importance that people place upon various factors in making their decision to invest. These questions then lead to the core of the project - a series of vignettes (short fact patterns presented in a few sentences) which vary key features that might be found in a typical investment account. The vignettes isolate the effects of those features ("factors") to estimate whether changing the nature of that factor is correlated with a change in the probability of investing.


This project contemplates a randomized trial. We establish as a control an account which contains four factors that be viewed as "restrictive" and then vary these factors with less restrictive outcomes. Thus, we have four factors with two outcomes each, for a total of 16 vignettes. The restrictive account will be our control, and the remaining 15 variations will be treatments. In each, respondents will be asked whether the features described in their vignette makes them more or less likely to establish a similar account.

Survey participants will be randomly assigned to one of these 16 vignettes [each vignette will have a sample size of about 65 respondents], and the mean responses as to the likelihood of investing will be compared to the alternatives. In this way, we hope to directly identify those features that potential investors find important and offer guidance to policymakers and others as to how to tailor their products to overcome those obstacles to investing and meet this demand.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Bulko, Kenneth. 2020. "Obstacles to Domestic Retail Investing in Mexico: An Empirical Study." AEA RCT Registry. March 03. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.4801-1.1
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
This project contemplates a randomized trial, consisting of a survey and associated vignettes. The vignettes serve as the main experimental instrument. Each vignette contains four factors that might be included in a typical investment account. We establish as a control an account which contains those four factors that be viewed as "restrictive" and then vary these factors with less restrictive outcomes. Thus, we have four factors with two outcomes each, for a total of 16 vignettes. The restrictive account will be our control, and the remaining 15 variations will be treatments. In each, respondents will be asked whether the features described in their vignette makes them more or less likely to establish a similar account.

Survey participants will be randomly assigned to one of these 16 vignettes [each vignette will have a sample size of about 65 respondents], and the mean responses as to the likelihood of investing will be compared to the alternatives. In this way, we hope to directly identify those features that potential investors find important and offer guidance to policymakers and others as to how to tailor their products to overcome those obstacles to investing and meet this demand.
Intervention Start Date
2019-10-21
Intervention End Date
2019-10-28

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
The increased or decreased probabability of investing in an investment account, as described in the assigned vignette.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
This project contemplates a randomized trial, consisting of a survey and associated vignettes. The vignettes serve as the main experimental instrument. Each vignette contains four factors that might be included in a typical investment account. We establish as a control an account which contains those four factors that be viewed as "restrictive" and then vary these factors with less restrictive outcomes. Thus, we have four factors with two outcomes each, for a total of 16 vignettes. The restrictive account will be our control, and the remaining 15 variations will be treatments. In each, respondents will be asked whether the features described in their vignette makes them more or less likely to establish a similar account.

Survey participants will be randomly assigned to one of these 16 vignettes [each vignette will have a sample size of about 65 respondents], and the mean responses as to the likelihood of investing will be compared to the alternatives. In this way, we hope to directly identify those features that potential investors find important and offer guidance to policymakers and others as to how to tailor their products to overcome those obstacles to investing and meet this demand.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization done by computer, from a pool of qualified potential respondents.
Randomization Unit
Individual.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
Each vignette will be presented to 65 respondents.
Sample size: planned number of observations
1,000
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
15 in the control group (the most restrictive set of factors) and then 65 in each of the 15 groups exposed to the less restrictive factors.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
University at Albany Office of Regulatory and Research Compliance
IRB Approval Date
2019-08-26
IRB Approval Number
IRB Sub. 5714

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
Yes
Intervention Completion Date
October 31, 2019, 12:00 +00:00
Data Collection Complete
Yes
Data Collection Completion Date
October 31, 2019, 12:00 +00:00
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)
16 vignettes
Was attrition correlated with treatment status?
No
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations
1,519
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms
93 respondents randomly assigned by vignette
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials