AEA RCT Registry

Trial Information

General Information

Title

The Social Costs of Being Undocumented

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0006103

Initial registration date

July 16, 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

July 17, 2020, 9:44 AM EDT

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

Last updated

August 28, 2020, 5:01 PM EDT

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Country

United States of America

Region

NY

Primary Investigator

Name

Jorge Guzman

Affiliation

Columbia University

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

PI Affiliation

PI Name

PI Affiliation

Additional Trial Information

Status

In development

Start date

2020-07-06

End date

2021-07-01

Keywords

Gender, Labor, Other

Additional Keywords

discrimination, immigration, women, hispanic

JEL code(s)

Secondary IDs

Abstract

We present a representative sample of the U.S. population the story of one of two Mexican immigrants, a 20-something college student and a 40-something retail worker. After describing the person we randomly state one of three possible scenarios (a) nothing, (b) that the person is a legal U.S. resident from Mexico, and (c) that the person is an undocumented immigrant from Mexico. After presenting these scenarios, we ask survey takers about different social choices they would make, such as inviting them to their house, introducing them to their friends, and others. We estimate changes in the likelihood of doing these social actions across conditions as the 'social costs of being undocumented'.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Charleston, Aileen, Jorge Guzman and Anna Ortega. 2020. "The Social Costs of Being Undocumented." AEA RCT Registry. August 28. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.6103-1.1

Sponsors & Partners

Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

We present a representative sample of the U.S. population the story of one of two Mexican immigrants, a 20-something college student and a 40-something retail worker. After describing the person we randomly state one of three possible scenarios (a) nothing, (b) that the person is a legal U.S. resident from Mexico, and (c) that the person is an undocumented immigrant from Mexico. After presenting these scenarios, we ask survey takers about different social choices they would make, such as inviting them to their house, introducing them to their friends, and others. We estimate changes in the likelihood of doing these social actions across conditions as the 'social costs of being undocumented'.

Intervention Start Date

2020-07-06

Intervention End Date

2021-07-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

Logit models, with the dependent variable equal to 1 for individuals who choose "Likely" to each of the following questions:

How likely are you to consider being her friend?
How likely are you to have a coffee with her in a public space?
How likely are you to help her find a job and help progress her career?
How likely are you to introduce her to your friends?
How likely are you to consider inviting her to a party or a social event?
How likely are you to consider introducing her to your family?

We wil also include an index called "Social Index" as the sum of all questions.

All regressions will include controls for demographics and location.

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

We wil also include an index called "Social Index" as the sum of all questions.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Variation of these outcomes across some demographics such as income levels, age, and gender.

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

We present a representative sample of the U.S. population the story of one of two Mexican immigrants, a 20-something college student and a 40-something retail worker. After describing the person we randomly state one of three possible scenarios (a) nothing, (b) that the person is a legal U.S. resident from Mexico, and (c) that the person is an undocumented immigrant from Mexico. We then ask these survey takers about different social choices they would make, such as inviting them to their house, introducing them to their friends, and others. We estimate changes in the likelihood of doing these social actions across conditions as the 'social costs of being undocumented'.

Experimental Design Details

Randomization Method

Assigned randomly by qualtrics.

Randomization Unit

Individual survey-taker.

Was the treatment clustered?

No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

1000

Sample size: planned number of observations

1600 (assuming 40% can be dropped for failing the attention check, then this drops to 1000)

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

1000

Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)

No known size exists.

Supporting Documents and Materials

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IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name

Columbia University IRB

IRB Approval Date

2020-07-15

IRB Approval Number

AAAT1759

Analysis Plan

The Social Costs of Being Undocumented

Pre-Trial

General Information

Locations

Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Registration Citation

Interventions

Primary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes

Experimental Design

Experiment Characteristics

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

Post-Trial

Study Withdrawal

Intervention

Data Publication

Program Files

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials