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Inform the People or Fix the Problem? Which lessons should we draw from the Refugee Crisis?

Last registered on April 27, 2021

View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

Inform the People or Fix the Problem? Which lessons should we draw from the Refugee Crisis?

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0007606

Initial registration date

April 26, 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 27, 2021, 7:10 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country

Region

Primary Investigator

Name

Laurenz Günther

Affiliation

University of Bonn

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status

In development

Start date

2021-04-26

End date

2021-08-31

Keywords

Behavior, Electoral

Additional Keywords

Populism, Immigration, Law-Enforcement

JEL code(s)

C9; D72; F22; K42; Z1

Secondary IDs

Abstract

In this project I want to examine whether subjects respond differently to the presence of asylum seekers (AS) when this presence showcases flaws in the asylum system. Because the asylum system was specifically designed to only host those fleeing war or persecution, I design an information intervention in Germany in which subjects either receive information about the number of AS still in Germany who fled war or persecution, information about the corresponding number of those that came for other reasons, or no information.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Günther, Laurenz. 2021. "Inform the People or Fix the Problem? Which lessons should we draw from the Refugee Crisis?." AEA RCT Registry. April 27. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.7606-1.0

Sponsors & Partners

Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

Intervention Start Date

2021-04-26

Intervention End Date

2021-05-20

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

Two measures for populist voting (party-program preference and self-reported voting intention) and two measures for immigration attitudes (donation decision and self-reported attitudes).

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design

The information intervention includes three conditions. (German) subjects are randomly assigned to exactly one of them. In all three conditions subjects are first asked about 1) the number of asylum seekers that were rejected by the German migration agency and still reside in Germany and 2) the number of asylum seekers that were accepted by the German migration agency and still reside in Germany.

Thereafter, conditions differ, Subjects in first treatment are told the actual number of accepted asylum seekers while participants in the second treatment learn the number of rejected asylum seekers. Subjects in the last condition are not informed about any of these numbers.

Afterwards outcomes are elicited.

Experimental Design Details

Randomization Method

Randomization is done by a computer. The whole experiment is computerized.

Randomization Unit

Randomization is done at the individua-level.

Was the treatment clustered?

No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

2100.

Sample size: planned number of observations

2100

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

700 for each of the three conditions.

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

Supporting Documents and Materials

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name

IRB Approval Date

IRB Approval Number

Analysis Plan Documents

Pre-Analysis-Plan

MD5: b7863ae716e4d2096098e9594988faef

SHA1: e377eba061da9ca25f57fcd3ff2a077085e81b0e

Uploaded At: April 26, 2021

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