Helping Australians Navigate the Bankruptcy Process

Last registered on March 09, 2021

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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

Helping Australians Navigate the Bankruptcy Process

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0007302

Initial registration date

March 09, 2021

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

March 09, 2021, 6:23 AM EST

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

Locations

Country

Australia

Region

Primary Investigator

Name

BETA Team Registration

Affiliation

Behavioural Economics Team of the Australian Government

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Hanne Watkins

PI Affiliation

Behavioural Economics Team of the Australian Government

Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status

On going

Start date

2021-02-17

End date

2021-09-30

Keywords

Finance & Microfinance, Governance

Additional Keywords

bankruptcy, communication

JEL code(s)

Secondary IDs

Abstract

The Australian Financial Security Authority (AFSA) manages the personal bankruptcy application process in Australia. Declaring bankruptcy is a significant and at times stressful decision for most people. BETA and AFSA are working together to ensure people understand the consequences of applying for bankruptcy, and should they decide to proceed, the process is as straightforward as possible.

External Link(s)

BETA webpage providing details of project

Registration Citation

Citation

Team Registration, BETA and Hanne Watkins. 2021. "Helping Australians Navigate the Bankruptcy Process." AEA RCT Registry. March 09. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.7302-1.0

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

Details of the intervention will be made public after completion of the trial.

Intervention Start Date

2021-02-17

Intervention End Date

2021-03-09

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

Details of the outcome measures will be made public after completion of the trial.

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Details of the outcome measures will be made public after completion of the trial.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Details of the secondary outcome measures will be made public after completion of the trial.

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Details of the secondary outcome measures will be made public after completion of the trial.

Experimental Design

Details about the experimental design will be made public once the trial is over.

Experimental Design Details

The trial will be a 7-arm between-subject online experiment. The 7 arms (interventions) are briefly described above. After completing the intervention, participants complete the primary outcome measure. The primary outcome measure is comprehension of the consequences of bankruptcy. We will assess comprehension using a 13-question multiple choice quiz administered after the intervention. Each question has four response options, including “I don’t know”. Only one of the response options is correct. Participants will receive a score out of 100 (percent correct) by summing the number of correct responses, dividing by 13 and multiplying by 100. This comprehension score will be our primary outcome measure.

Randomization Method

Participants are recruited online, and are randomly assigned to an intervention by the survey software. The randomization is stratified, such that participants using a desktop computer (as determined using meta-data) will be assigned to one of 7 interventions, whereas those using a mobile device will be assigned to one of 6 interventions (the 7th one doesn't work well on mobile devices).

Randomization Unit

The randomization unit is individual participants (one level)

Was the treatment clustered?

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

6,600 individuals (not clustered)

Sample size: planned number of observations

6,600 individuals

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

We are aiming for an equal number - at least 940 individuals - in each treatment arm. But, because individuals completing the survey on a mobile device cannot be randomised to one of the treatment arms, that treatment arm will have a smaller sample size. We do not yet know how much smaller it will be.

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

Our outcome measure (details hidden until trial is complete) can take values from 0 to 13 inclusive. In a pilot study, it had a standard deviation of approximately 3. Given our planned comparisons between the treatment arms, and an alpha of .05, we will have 90% power to detect an effect of Cohen's d = 0.14.

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB