Does it pay to ensure bail? An RCT on the effects of bail cost-sharing

Last registered on November 07, 2021
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Does it pay to ensure bail? An RCT on the effects of bail cost-sharing
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0007736
Initial registration date
November 04, 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
November 07, 2021, 4:26 PM EST

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

Locations

Country
United States of America
Region
Twin Cities Metro Area, Minnesota

Primary Investigator

Name
Hanna Hoover
Affiliation
University of Michigan Ann Arbor
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Jennifer Doleac
PI Affiliation
Texas A&M University
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Chelsea Temple
PI Affiliation
Texas A&M University
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2022-01-01
End date
2024-01-01
Keywords
Crime, Violence, & Conflict
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
K42, L31
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
There is growing evidence that pretrial detention worsens both criminal justice and labor market outcomes: for those on the margin of being detained while awaiting trial, pretrial detention increases the likelihood of conviction and decreases both employment and the receipt of government benefits (Dobbie et al., 2018; Stevenson, 2018, Leslie and Pope, 2017). Many who are detained pretrial would be released if they could post bail; not being able to afford bail might then have detrimental long-term consequences that are costly to that individual and to society. As those detained are predominantly low-income individuals, posting bail becomes a significant financial shock. One possible solution to this is bail cost-sharing: for a monthly fee, individuals will be guaranteed that bail will be paid quickly upon arrest. We conduct a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effects of bail cost-sharing on individual outcomes, such as incidence of arrest and days incarcerated.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Doleac, Jennifer, Hanna Hoover and Chelsea Temple. 2021. "Does it pay to ensure bail? An RCT on the effects of bail cost-sharing." AEA RCT Registry. November 07. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.7736-1.0
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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention (Hidden)
The research team will send a letter to subjects via email, offering the opportunity to participate in the study. If interested, the invited subjects will be directed to a website (visit https://bailstudy.com). This website will include information about the study, and will invite individuals to enter their first name, last name, and preferred email address if they would like a link to the Qualtrics survey. The survey (attached) asks for basic identifying information, including first and last name, date of birth, gender, race ethnicity, zip code, phone number, and email. The survey also asks information on employment, relationship status, and criminal justice contact. At the beginning of the survey, individuals will read an informed consent document with all of the necessary information. If they wish to proceed with the study, they will click "next" on the Qualtrics screen to go to the survey.

For participating in the survey, individuals will be entered into a random drawing to win one of ten $50 Target gift cards. Individuals may also be randomly assigned to receive an invitation to participate in the bail cost-sharing program. Completion of the survey is required to be entered into the random drawing for a $50 Target gift card.
Individuals are not required to purchase the bail cost-sharing service in order to be eligible for the gift card.

The second randomization will dictate our treatment and control groups. At the end of the survey, Qualtrics will randomly assign individuals to the treatment or control group. The treatment group will receive information about the bail cost-sharing service and a 50% discount on the service for the first twelve months. The control group will not be given information about bail cost-sharing, but will not be prohibited from purchasing it. This is partly an "encouragement" design, where we provide information about this service and a discount to a random subset of the sample. Our main "treatment" will be the price discount given that it is highly likely individuals in the control group will hear about the service from people in the treatment group. The discount should also increase take-up.

After completion of the Qualtrics survey, study participants will be emailed a copy of their survey responses, the result of the random drawing for a Target gift card, and the result of their random assignment to either the treatment or control group. None of the individuals assigned to the treatment group will be required to purchase bail cost-sharing. We will tell them about the service and direct them to the Vonzella website to sign up if they choose. Once the Qualtrics survey and the results of both randomizations are emailed to study participants, the research team's communication with participants will end.
Intervention Start Date
2022-01-01
Intervention End Date
2024-01-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Enrollment in the bail-cost sharing program
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Employment outcomes, wages, and details of interaction with the criminal justice system (arrest, being placed in jail, pre-trial release, posted bail amount, crime committed, sentencing information).
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The research team will send a letter (attached) to the potential subjects via email, offering the opportunity to
participate in the study. If interested, individuals will be directed to a website (visit https://bailstudy.com). This website will include information about the study, and will invite individuals to enter their first name, last name, and preferred email address if they would like a link to the Qualtrics survey.

The survey asks for basic identifying information, including first and last name, date of birth, gender, race, ethnicity, zip code, phone number, and email. The survey also asks information on employment, relationship status, and criminal justice contact. At the beginning of the survey, individuals will read an informed consent document (attached) with all of the necessary information. If they wish to proceed with the study, they will click "next" on the Qualtrics screen to go to the survey.

For participating in the survey, individuals will be entered into a random drawing to win one of ten $50 Target gift cards. Individuals may also be randomly assigned to receive an invitation to participate in the bail cost-sharing program. Completion of the survey is required to be entered into the random drawing for a $50 Target gift card. Individuals are not required to purchase the bail cost-sharing service in order to be eligible for the gift card.
Experimental Design Details
The research team will send a letter (attached) to the potential subjects via email, offering the opportunity to
participate in the study. If interested, individuals will be directed to a website (visit https://bailstudy.com). This website will include information about the study, and will invite individuals to enter their first name, last name, and preferred email address if they would like a link to the Qualtrics survey.

The survey asks for basic identifying information, including first and last name, date of birth, gender, race, ethnicity, zip code, phone number, and email. The survey also asks information on employment, relationship status, and criminal justice contact. At the beginning of the survey, individuals will read an informed consent document (attached) with all of the necessary information. If they wish to proceed with the study, they will click "next" on the Qualtrics screen to go to the survey.

For participating in the survey, individuals will be entered into a random drawing to win one of ten $50 Target gift cards. Individuals may also be randomly assigned to receive an invitation to participate in the bail cost-sharing program. Completion of the survey is required to be entered into the random drawing for a $50 Target gift card. Individuals are not required to purchase the bail cost-sharing service in order to be eligible for the gift card.

The second randomization will dictate our treatment and control groups. At the end of the survey, Qualtrics will
randomly assign individuals to the treatment or control group. The treatment group will receive information about
the bail cost-sharing service and a 50% discount on the service for the first twelve months. The control group will
not be given information about bail cost-sharing, but will not be prohibited from purchasing it. This is partly an
"encouragement" design, where we provide information about this service and a discount to a random subset of the
sample. Our main "treatment" will be the price discount given that it is highly likely individuals in the control group
will hear about the service from people in the treatment group. The discount should also increase take-up.

After completion of the Qualtrics survey, study participants will be emailed a copy of their survey responses, the
result of the random drawing for a Target gift card, and the result of their random assignment to either the
treatment or control group.

None of the individuals assigned to the treatment group will be required to purchase bail cost-sharing. We will tell
them about the service and direct them to the Vonzella website to sign up if they choose. Once the Qualtrics survey
and the results of both randomizations are emailed to study participants, the research team's communication with
participants will end.
Randomization Method
Randomization will occur through the Qualtrics survey software
Randomization Unit
Randomization occurs at the individual-level
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
1000
Sample size: planned number of observations
1000
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
500
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Texas A&M University
IRB Approval Date
2021-10-11
IRB Approval Number
N/A
Analysis Plan

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