Are working women penalized in the marriage market in India?

Last registered on June 15, 2020
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Are working women penalized in the marriage market in India?
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0005978
Initial registration date
June 14, 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
June 15, 2020, 11:40 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country
India
Region
National Capital Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Diva Dhar
Affiliation
University of Oxford
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2020-04-09
End date
2020-09-01
Keywords
Gender, Labor
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Abstract
This study aims to use an online experiment on an Indian matrimonial website to assess the prevalence, and extent, of discrimination against working, career and higher-income earning women in the marriage market in India. The experiment will help gauge the impact of women's work, especially their desire to work after marriage and their relative income on potential marriage market outcomes, in terms of the responsiveness and interest from male suitors.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Dhar, Diva. 2020. "Are working women penalized in the marriage market in India?." AEA RCT Registry. June 15. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.5978-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2020-04-09
Intervention End Date
2020-09-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
The main outcome I will look at is interest from male suitors, measured by the response from male suitors in the sample to invites from the female profiles from the treatment.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary outcomes will include response times and the number of messages sent from the eligible suitors. If possible, I will also measure the overall number of profile visits, invites and messages to the profiles from outside of the sample of eligible suitors.

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The study builds on methods used in previous correspondence experiments, and will be run on the matrimonial website Shaadi.com, where multiple profiles of women will be generated for different common castes/sub-castes which will be alike in all ways, except in the work and income categories. The profiles will be varied to specify whether they work or not, how much they earn (high income or low income) and whether they intend to keep working after marriage.

The profiles will be varied as follows:
1) Treatment Group 0 – Non-working woman profile
2) Treatment group 1 – Working woman with the same profile as above, but an income that is greater than the man’s income (Rs 7-10 lakhs), with a stated preference for continuing work after marriage
3) Treatment group 2 – Working woman with the same profile, but an income that is lower than the man’s income (2-4 lakhs), with a stated preference for continuing work after marriage
4) Treatment group 3 – Working woman with the same profile, but an income that is greater than the man’s income (Rs 7-10 lakhs), with a stated preference of leaving work after marriage
5) Treatment group 4 - Working woman with the same profile, but an income that is lower than the man’s income (2-4 lakhs), with a stated preference of leaving work after marriage

3500 eligible male suitors whose reported income is between Rs 4-7 lakhs on the website will randomly be allocated to receive expressions of interest (invites) from one of the female profiles of the same caste. The study will measure how men’s interest differs across treatment arms i.e. by work status, income category and intention to continue working. Based on men’s interest (measured by response rate to invites, messages and other profile visits), the study will identify if there is a penalty for being a career woman or a high-income earner in the Indian marriage market.

Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization on a computer
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
3500 male suitors
Sample size: planned number of observations
3500 male suitors
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
700 per treatment arm
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Blavatnik School of Government’s Departmental Research Ethics Committee
IRB Approval Date
2019-12-03
IRB Approval Number
SSD/CUREC1A/BSG_C1A-20-03
Analysis Plan

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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