The impact of role models on nascent entrepreneurs

Last registered on October 16, 2019
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
The impact of role models on nascent entrepreneurs
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0004862
Initial registration date
October 15, 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
October 16, 2019, 10:24 AM 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
Massachusetts

Primary Investigator

Name
Daniel Fehder
Affiliation
University of Southern California
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Fiona Murray
PI Affiliation
MIT
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2019-10-15
End date
2020-09-30
Keywords
Education
Additional Keywords
entrepreneurship
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Abstract
We explore the impact of role models on nascent entrepreneurs in the context of university students and their participation in entrepreneurship training and support program. Our field experiment is embedded in the recruiting emails for an internal entrepreneurship program at a major research university which provides funding, mentorship and expert advice to nascent entrepreneurs to help them build their ideas into companies. We explore whether the provision of role models and characteristics of the role model like gender impact the likelihood of a student engaging with the entrepreneurship program.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Fehder, Daniel and Fiona Murray. 2019. "The impact of role models on nascent entrepreneurs." AEA RCT Registry. October 16. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.4862-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We explore whether the provision of role models and characteristics of the role model like gender impact the likelihood of a student engaging with the entrepreneurship program. To do so, we vary the recruitment email to either include or not include a short biographical vignette on a successful entrepreneur.
Intervention Start Date
2019-10-15
Intervention End Date
2019-10-17

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
First, we will measure entrepreneurial action by observing which students move through the pipeline of the entrepreneurship program. The steps of the pipeline are: attending and information session, applying for the program, admission to the program, starting a company. For all subjects in the study, we will additionally measure whether they have started a company by checking their names against the business registration data in the home state of the university.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We explore whether the provision of role models and characteristics of the role model like gender impact the likelihood of a student engaging with the entrepreneurship program. To do so, we vary the recruitment email to either include or not include a short biographical vignette on a successful entrepreneur.
Experimental Design Details
We explore whether the provision of role models and characteristics of the role model like gender impact the likelihood of a student engaging with the entrepreneurship program. To do so, we vary the recruitment email to either include or not include a short biographical vignette on a successful entrepreneur. For those provided a biographical vignette, students are randomized to receive one of four biographies drawn from two startups with mixed gender co-founder pairs (i.e. one male and one female co-founder) so that the role models vary in two dimensions: gender and startup characteristics. Our treatment group is balanced across gender, undergraduate/graduate status, and department.
Randomization Method
Randomization is done in the office using stata
Randomization Unit
Individuals are randomized to one of five treatment groups: no role model, male role model A, male role model B, female role model A, female role model B. Randomizations is stratified by gender, graduate/undergraduate student, and department
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
11,313 students (we are randomizing at the individual level)
Sample size: planned number of observations
11,313 students
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
2,262 (and 2,263 for some of the arms)
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
MIT COUHES
IRB Approval Date
2019-09-17
IRB Approval Number
E-1640
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