How Trade Became Partisan (Again)

Last registered on February 14, 2020
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
How Trade Became Partisan (Again)
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0005454
Initial registration date
February 12, 2020

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
February 14, 2020, 7:05 AM EST

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
Cameron Ballard-Rosa
Affiliation
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Judith Goldstein
PI Affiliation
Stanford University
PI Name
Nita Rudra
PI Affiliation
Georgetown University

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2020-02-14
End date
2020-02-28
Keywords
Electoral
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Abstract
Despite a long-standing expectation that trade politics in the US had become a non-partisan affair, the 2016 presidential election witnessed a collapse of support for free trade among Republican voters. While some current work suggests that this was the result of either simple elite cuing, or of rising "nationalist" populism on the right, we demonstrate that these accounts overlook a crucial value that mediated the effectiveness of Trump's narrative about trade as an assault on the American Dream: meritocracy. Americans who believe that the (domestic) market in the US is fair---particularly those facing economic anxiety themselves---were especially primed to respond to Trump's explanation that recent economic frustration was due to an unfair international playing field.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Ballard-Rosa, Cameron, Judith Goldstein and Nita Rudra. 2020. "How Trade Became Partisan (Again)." AEA RCT Registry. February 14. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.5454-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Respondents in an online survey will be randomly assigned to one of 4 treatment conditions which expose them to information about potential threats to American wellbeing: a "foreign economic policies" framing, a "rising economic inequality" framing, an "automation" framing, and control (no framing information provided).
Intervention Start Date
2020-02-14
Intervention End Date
2020-02-28

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Our primary outcome variable is a measure of respondent preference for trade protection in the US.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Respondents in an online survey will be randomly assigned to one of 4 treatment conditions which expose them to information about potential threats to American wellbeing: a "foreign economic policies" framing, a "rising economic inequality" framing, an "automation" framing, and control (no framing information provided).
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
computer randomization
Randomization Unit
individual survey respondents
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
N/A
Sample size: planned number of observations
500 survey respondents
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
125 respondents
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials

Documents

Document Name
Pre-analysis plan
Document Type
other
Document Description
File
Pre-analysis plan

MD5: 97a3d9e48fcf674be9917e785a624ca4

SHA1: cd26acc2c539c049ab3b1ea2b4dccaf5ec5e37f0

Uploaded At: February 12, 2020

IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Human Subjects Research
IRB Approval Date
2018-05-10
IRB Approval Number
46475
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information

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