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Field
Experimental Design (Public)
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Before
Individuals must self-register for Novissi using a mobile phone. When an individual registers, they provide a valid voter ID and phone number. In the Novissi expansion that we study, eligibility is restricted to individuals who have registered to vote in one of the 100 poorest cantons in Togo. In addition, individuals must have a predicted daily consumption of less than $1.29, where the prediction is calculated by applying machine learning to mobile phone data. We define the ``eligible" population as those individuals who successfully register for Novissi between November 1st 2020 and January 31 2021, and who meet both of the above criteria. There are an estimated 50,000 such eligible individuals. In addition, about 43,000 individuals signed up using a newly purchased SIM card.
Eligible individuals are then randomly assigned to one of two conditions: The `Treated' group begin to receive Novissi benefits immediately after registration. Cash is transferred every 30 days for 5 months, starting on the day of registration. The `Control' group receive delayed payments, end of May 2021. 56% of eligible individuals (with an old-SIM card) assigned to Treatment; the remainder to Control. In addition, 16% of new SIM cards are assigned to Treatment.
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After
Individuals must self-register for Novissi using a mobile phone. When an individual registers, they provide a valid voter ID and phone number. In the Novissi expansion that we study, eligibility is restricted to individuals who have registered to vote in one of the 100 poorest cantons in Togo. In addition, individuals must have a predicted daily consumption of less than $1.29, where the prediction is calculated by applying machine learning to mobile phone data. We define the ``eligible" population as those individuals who successfully register for Novissi between November 1st 2020 and January 31 2021, and who meet both of the above criteria. There are an estimated 50,000 such eligible individuals. In addition, about 43,000 individuals signed up using a newly purchased SIM card.
Eligible individuals are then randomly assigned to one of two conditions: The `Treated' group begin to receive Novissi benefits immediately after registration. Cash is transferred every 30 days for 5 months, starting on the day of registration. All `Control' individuals who registered with an existing SIM card will receive delayed payments, end of May 2021. A random fraction of `Control' individuals who registered with a newly purchased SIM card will receive those delayed payments. 56% of eligible individuals (with an old-SIM card) assigned to Treatment; the remainder to Control. In addition, 16% of new SIM cards are assigned to Treatment.
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