Biased Beliefs and Search in Education Markets

Last registered on October 30, 2021
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Biased Beliefs and Search in Education Markets
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0007998
Initial registration date
July 24, 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
July 26, 2021, 11:52 AM EDT

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

Last updated
October 30, 2021, 7:12 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country
Chile
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Patrick Agte
Affiliation
Princeton University
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Claudia Allende
PI Affiliation
Stanford University
PI Name
Adam Kapor
PI Affiliation
Princeton University
PI Name
Christopher Neilson
PI Affiliation
Princeton University
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2021-05-02
End date
2022-07-30
Keywords
Education
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
This study examines the role of biased beliefs about the distribution of school characteristics and search costs in the school choice process. To disentangle these two mechanisms, we conduct a randomized control trial in Chile in which we vary the nature of the information that is given to parents. In the first treatment arm, we attempt to change parents’ beliefs by providing information on the price and quality distribution of schools in their neighborhood. In the second treatment arm, we try to also reduce search costs by including information on the attributes of each individual school in addition to the distributions. The experimental results are used to inform a structural model of search and school choice.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Agte, Patrick et al. 2021. "Biased Beliefs and Search in Education Markets." AEA RCT Registry. October 30. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.7998-1.3000000000000003
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2021-07-27
Intervention End Date
2021-09-25

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
The primary outcomes of this study consist of search effort and the final awareness set. The standard search model predicts that parents search less if they underestimate the utility of schools that are not in their consideration set. Thus, we hypothesize that the fi rst treatment arm will increase search effort and result in a larger awareness set by correcting parents' beliefs. By contrast, parents in the second
correct treatment arm should put less e ort in search than parents in the first treatment arm since they already obtain all information in the report card. We are ambivalent about the effect of the second treatment on the awareness set. While the report card should increase the parent's passive knowledge of schools, we are only able to collect the names of the schools that parents actively report in the survey.
This might be different from their passive knowledge if parents only remember to report the schools for which they have actively searched.

The measures of knowledge and school choice may include the following:
• Search effort.
- Number of schools explored through the school explorer tool (based on click data).
- Number of schools that the parent visited /called / visited the website.
- Number of friends consulted by the parents.
- Time invested in searching for schools.
• Final awareness set
- Number of schools that the parent knows at least by name.
- Number of schools that the parent knows well.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Our secondary outcomes consist of the parents' final educational choices, beliefs, and the perceived value of search. It is unclear how the treatment arms will affect the final application set since the rank-ordered list also depends on the probability of getting accepted in each school. We hypothesize that both treatments should lead to a better school assignment at the end of the process but the changes
might be too noisy to detect effects. We also hypothesize that parents in both treatment arms should have more correct beliefs and value search more than the control group.

The measures of knowledge and school choice may include the following:
• Choice.
- Number of schools that the parent lists in the centralized school choice application.
- School attributes of the schools that the parent lists in the centralized school choice application.
- School attributes of the school that is finally assigned to the student.
• Beliefs
- Differences between the perceived and actual joint distribution of quality and price of schools within 2km radius of the household.
• Perceived value of search.
- Probability of finding better school given initial awareness set.
- Whether the parent recommends continuing searching given an initial awareness set.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Strati ed by region, perceived SEP status, and maternal education, parents were then randomly assigned
to either the control group or to one of two treatment groups. Treatment information will be shown
through pop-ups in a school explorer tool that will be sent to all sample parents.

• Parents in the control group are shown a map of all schools within 2km radius of the household.
• Parents in the first treatment arm receive the same information as the control group plus information on the joint distributions of quality and price of schools within 2km radius of the household.
• Parents in the second treatment arm receive the same information as the rst treatment group
plus a report card for all schools within 2km radius of the household.

Outcome data will be obtained through administrative data, click data from the school explorer tool, and a midline and endline survey.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization is done in office by a computer.
Randomization Unit
Household
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
No clusters
Sample size: planned number of observations
2,443 households
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Control: 815 households
Treatment 1: 814 households
Treatment 2: 814 households
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Princeton University
IRB Approval Date
2021-05-18
IRB Approval Number
13824
Analysis Plan

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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