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Field
Abstract
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Before
How should assistance for refugees be allocated to aid refugees and gain the support of host communities? Host populations often believe they are negatively affected by refugees, yet the scope for assistance to facilitate positive relations and mitigate tension is largely unknown. We conduct a randomized controlled trial to investigate three programs for Ugandan microentrepreneurs that we saliently link to the refugee presence and Uganda's existing aid-sharing policy: canvassing, canvassing accompanied by a cash grant, and mentorship by an experienced refugee. We measure social outcomes, including support for hosting additional refugees and allowing them to work, and economic outcomes, such as business survival and profits, to test whether effective development aid associated with refugees can induce support for inclusive hosting.
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After
Many public policies create (perceived) winners and losers, but there is little evidence on whether redistribution can support new political economy equilibria that raise aggregate welfare. We study a Ugandan policy that redistributes 30% of foreign aid for refugees to Ugandans while allowing refugees to work and move freely. We randomly distribute cash grants labeled as aid shared from the refugee response and find that they substantially increase support for policies facilitating refugees' integration. Sharing information about public goods funded by the refugee response has smaller, though still significant, effects. Impacts persist for at least two years and appear to work through changing beliefs about the economic effects of refugees. We find minimal impacts of intergroup contact, implemented as business mentorship by an experienced refugee. Overall, our results suggest that economic interventions can shape policy views when the connection between the policy and the compensation is salient.
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Trial End Date
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June 30, 2023
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June 30, 2024
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JEL Code(s)
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D74, D83, I38, O12
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Last Published
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December 19, 2022 08:16 AM
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After
June 28, 2023 10:28 AM
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Study Withdrawn
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No
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Intervention Completion Date
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May 31, 2021
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Data Collection Complete
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Yes
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Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)
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1406 entrepreneurs.
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Was attrition correlated with treatment status?
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Yes
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Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations
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1406 entrepreneurs.
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Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms
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265 control, 237 grant, 287 info, 280 labeled grant, 169 refugee mentor, and 168 Ugandan mentor.
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Is there a restricted access data set available on request?
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No
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Program Files
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No
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Is data available for public use?
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No
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Intervention (Public)
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Before
Grant only: Receive a grant of about $140, at least half of which must be used for an in-kind purchase.
Information only: A staff member at YARID conveys information about the existing aid-sharing policy in Uganda, the activities of the NGO, and experiences of refugees in Uganda.
Grant + information: Combination of the above two interventions. The grant is branded as directly associated with our refugee-led NGO partner YARID.
Refugee mentor: Assigned to mentorship by an experienced refugee business owner in the same sector. Mentorship meetings will be facilitated and coordinated by a YARID staff member who will also serve as translator if necessary. topics of conversation included skills and training that the mentee wanted, customer service and retention strategies, finance and management. A facilitator will be provided for 6 meetings (though attrition is expected) and then we will encourage them to keep meeting on their own if they desire.
Ugandan mentor: Same as above, but the mentor is a Ugandan business owner.
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After
Grant only: Receive a grant of about $140, at least half of which must be used for an in-kind purchase.
Information only: A staff member at YARID conveys information about the existing aid-sharing policy in Uganda, the activities of the NGO, and experiences of refugees in Uganda.
Labeled Grant: Combination of the above two interventions. The grant is branded as directly associated with our refugee-led NGO partner YARID.
Refugee mentor: Assigned to mentorship by an experienced refugee business owner in the same sector. Mentorship meetings will be facilitated and coordinated by a YARID staff member who will also serve as translator if necessary. topics of conversation included skills and training that the mentee wanted, customer service and retention strategies, finance and management. A facilitator will be provided for 6 meetings (though attrition is expected) and then we will encourage them to keep meeting on their own if they desire.
Ugandan mentor: Same as above, but the mentor is a Ugandan business owner.
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Primary Outcomes (End Points)
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Support for inclusive refugee hosting, business profits
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Support for refugee integration policies, business profits
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Planned Number of Clusters
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About 1500 entrepreneurs.
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1406 entrepreneurs.
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Planned Number of Observations
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About 1500 entrepreneurs.
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1406 entrepreneurs.
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Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
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About 285 control, 249 grant, 282 info, 249 grant+info, 226 refugee mentor, and 267 Ugandan mentor.
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After
265 control, 237 grant, 287 info, 280 labeled grant, 169 refugee mentor, and 168 Ugandan mentor.
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Additional Keyword(s)
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Refugees, Aid-Sharing, Out-group attitudes
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Refugees, Immigration, Political Economy of Aid, Post-Conflict, Welfare
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Secondary Outcomes (End Points)
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Before
Our secondary outcomes are, in general, refinements of the primary outcomes. We will measure business outcomes, support for inclusive refugee hosting policies, and perceptions about refugees. See pre-analysis plan for details.
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After
Economic beliefs about refugees, cultural attitudes toward refugees. See pre-analysis plan for additional details and outcomes.
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