Public views on vaccine pricing

Last registered on June 02, 2021

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Public views on vaccine pricing
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0007522
Initial registration date
April 14, 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
April 15, 2021, 6:19 AM EDT

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

Last updated
June 02, 2021, 2:49 AM EDT

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

Locations

Region

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
Monash University

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
Monash University
PI Affiliation
Monash University

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2021-04-17
End date
2021-05-31
Secondary IDs
Abstract
Global pricing of vaccines against infectious diseases is an important determinant of global public health outcomes as it affects the production and distribution of vaccines across countries. Pricing of vaccines remains a contentious issue because there is a dilemma: ensuring vaccines are affordable to poorer countries which have a relatively high burden of disease compared to richer countries, while also providing pharmaceutical firms with sufficient incentives for the research, development and innovation of vaccines. As a result, there have been calls for equity-based pricing, where prices are based on a country’s ability to pay. Using an online randomised controlled survey experiment, we will analyse the relative effects of providing different types of information on public support for equity-based pricing of vaccines.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Chan, Yee Wah Lisa, Birendra Rai and Liang Choon Wang. 2021. "Public views on vaccine pricing." AEA RCT Registry. June 02. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.7522-2.0
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2021-04-17
Intervention End Date
2021-05-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
1) A binary variable that is equal to 1 if the participant chooses prices consistent with equity-based pricing, and 0 otherwise.

2) A binary variable that is equal to 1 if the participant responds "Yes" to the question "Should the firm make some overall profit from its pricing across different countries?", and 0 otherwise.

There are a number of different scenarios and stages. Therefore, outcome variables are defined at the scenario level and stage level.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The study will involve a randomised controlled choice experiment where we will try to infer the extent of public support for equity-based pricing of vaccines across different countries. The experiment will involve multiple treatment arms. Each arm will contain several stages, but the main difference will be whether and what type of information is provided to participants before they make their pricing decisions.

Experimental Design Details
We will first elicit participants' beliefs about facts on low-income countries and lower middle-income countries that are relevant to global vaccine pricing. In a between-group design, we then randomise the type of information provided to participants. Participants will be allocated to one of the following four groups: (1) control group (2) facts only group (3) considerations only group (4) facts plus considerations group. Participants in the control group will not receive any information. Participants in the facts only group will be provided facts relevant to global vaccine pricing. Participants in the considerations only group will be informed about the competing considerations relevant to global vaccine pricing. Participants in the facts plus considerations group will be provided with both facts and competing considerations.
Randomization Method
Randomizer in Qualtrics with the option "evenly present elements".
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
720 individuals
Sample size: planned number of observations
1440 observations (720 individuals x 2 stages)
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
90 individuals per treatment arm
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Monash University Human Research Ethics Committee
IRB Approval Date
2020-12-21
IRB Approval Number
27264
Analysis Plan

Analysis Plan Documents

Vaccine_Pricing_PAP_April_2021.pdf

MD5: 647a5696241d91a5c2032c66aadc6084

SHA1: bad07afefbb1de100d545a856a873c55bea5b962

Uploaded At: April 14, 2021

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
Yes
Intervention Completion Date
May 21, 2021, 12:00 +00:00
Data Collection Complete
Yes
Data Collection Completion Date
May 21, 2021, 12:00 +00:00
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)
803 individuals
Was attrition correlated with treatment status?
No
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations
1606 observations (803 individuals x 2 stages)
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms
202 individuals control, 201 individuals facts treatment, 198 individuals considerations treatment, 202 individuals both treatment.
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials