Ultra-Poor Graduation Pilot in Honduras

Last registered on September 25, 2013
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Ultra-Poor Graduation Pilot in Honduras
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0000058
First published
September 25, 2013, 3:35 PM EDT

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

Locations

Country
Honduras
Region
Latin America

Primary Investigator

Name
Dean Karlan
Affiliation
Northwestern University
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Bram Thuysbaert
PI Affiliation
Yale University, Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA)
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2008-10-01
End date
2013-05-31
Keywords
Finance & Microfinance
Additional Keywords
asset transfer, credit, livelihood, savings, ultra-poor
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Abstract
The Ultra Poor Graduation Pilot in Honduras is a part of the CGAP/Ford Foundation global initiative, currently being implemented in eight countries, that combines safety net programs with entrepreneurial activities to develop a graduation model for the poorest households. The model incorporates a comprehensive package of services delivered over two years: a productive asset (such as chickens or goats), consumption support, livelihood trainings, healthcare, and financial services. By investing in this multifaceted approach, the program strives to eliminate the need for long-term safety net services. A baseline survey was conducted for 2,400 households in October 2008, followed by the intervention. Two follow-up surveys were conducted in March-May 2012 and March-May 2013.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Karlan, Dean and Bram Thuysbaert. 2013. "Ultra-Poor Graduation Pilot in Honduras." AEA RCT Registry. September 25. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.58-1.0
Former Citation
Karlan, Dean and Bram Thuysbaert. 2013. "Ultra-Poor Graduation Pilot in Honduras." AEA RCT Registry. September 25. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/58/history/411
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The Ultra Poor Graduation Pilot in Honduras provides 800 treatment households in 40 treatment villages with a comprehensive support package. The households receive consumption support, in the form of a family garden, and training in one of two income generating activities: raising livestock (chicken or pigs) and crop (bananas or vegetables) production, or operating a pulperia (small grocery store). Participants are monitored throughout the process. Female heads of households are required to open a savings account at ODEF and are randomly assigned to one of two savings treatments. One savings group is incentivized with savings matching biannually equal to 50 percent of the average account balance while the second group receives monthly direct savings transfers. Both of these treatment groups receive savings incentives valued at 400 Lempiras (about $20 US).
Intervention Start Date
2009-10-01
Intervention End Date
2011-12-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Income, assets, consumption, school attendance of children, health and food security
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
IPA's partner organization for the Ultra Poor Graduation Pilot in Honduras, Plan/ODEF, works in 124 communities in the Lempira department. Out of the 124, eighty communities were selected to be a part of the pilot project. Plan/ODEF carried out participatory wealth rankings (PWR) in all 80 selected communities in order to identify the poorest households in each of the communities. During the PWR, villagers rated the economic status of all members of the community. Those households earning less than 600 Lempiras (approx. $30 US) per month were considered to be Ultra Poor.

The randomization of households into treatment and control consisted of two steps. First, half of the 80 villages were randomly selected to be control villages. None of the households in these control villages received any of the pilot project services. In the 40 treatment villages, we further randomized at the household level. Within each treatment village, half of the eligible households were randomly selected as treatment households. Those eligible households not chosen for treatment comprised the control households. Comparing the control households in the treatment villages with those in the pure comparison villages will allow the study to measure spillover effects.

In the treatment households, the female heads of households were required to open a savings account at ODEF and were randomly assigned to one of two savings treatments. One savings group was incentivized with savings matching biannually equal to 50 percent of the average account balance while the second group received monthly direct savings transfers. Both of these treatment groups received savings incentives valued at 400 Lempiras (about $20 US).
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomizaton was done in the office. We used a rerandomization procedure to ensure balance on a number of village-level (first step) and household-level variables (second step). The first-step randomization was stratified by municipio.
Randomization Unit
villages, then within the treatment villages, control households and treatment households
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
80 villages
Sample size: planned number of observations
2,400 households
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
800 households in control villages
800 control households in treatment villages
800 treatment households in treatment villages
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
IRB Approval Date
2007-04-02
IRB Approval Number
0701002099
IRB Name
Yale University Institutional Review Board
IRB Approval Date
2007-05-11
IRB Approval Number
0705002656
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