Land grabbing and its consequences for mental health and interethnic trust

Last registered on December 02, 2021

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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

Land grabbing and its consequences for mental health and interethnic trust

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0008632

Initial registration date

November 29, 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

December 02, 2021, 4:59 PM EST

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

Locations

Country

Indonesia

Region

Kalimantan

Primary Investigator

Name

Jan Priebe

Affiliation

Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM)

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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Daniel Geissel

PI Affiliation

German Institute for Global and Area Studies

Contact Investigator

PI Name

Jann Lay

PI Affiliation

German Institute for Global and Area Studies

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PI Name

Rebecca Lohmann

PI Affiliation

German Institute for Global and Area Studies

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Additional Trial Information

Status

On going

Start date

2021-09-20

End date

2021-12-15

Keywords

Agriculture, Behavior, Lab, Welfare

Additional Keywords

Indonesia, inter-ethnic trust, land grabbing, mental health, reciprocity

JEL code(s)

D60, H13, I14, I31, Q15, Z13

Secondary IDs

Prior work

This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.

Abstract

In many developing countries the large-scale expansion of agricultural producers involves the acquisition of vast areas of land from traditional rural communities. While some of the land purchases happen voluntarily and in good faith, other transactions are forced and occur against the will of local communities. In this research project we examine the consequences of large-scale land acquisitions on local villagers’ welfare in Central Indonesia – the island of Borneo. The research project involves two related but separate studies. Study 1 will investigate the impact of land acquisitions on local villager’s mental health. Study 2 will analyze the role of land acquisitions on interethnic trust and reciprocity.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Geissel, Daniel et al. 2021. "Land grabbing and its consequences for mental health and interethnic trust." AEA RCT Registry. December 02. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.8632-1.0

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

The intervention consists of psychological primes. Subjects are randomized into one of the following three groups: (i) Control group: neutral primes, (ii) primes related to the past local environment in terms of primary forests, and (iii) primes related to the past local environment in terms of cultural habits. In total, each individual will be exposed to two priming sessions. Priming session 1 consists of storytelling exercises. Priming session 2 consists of word puzzles. Assignment to treatment groups is stable meaning that individuals will always be in the same priming group throughout the priming experiment.

Intervention Start Date

2021-09-20

Intervention End Date

2021-11-29

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

Primary outcomes are study-specific. For study 1 the primary outcomes relate to depression (10-item depression scale; CES-D module) and anxiety (7-item anxiety scale; Hospital Anxiety Scale). For study 2 the primary outcomes relate to incentivized and unincentivized measures of interethnic trust and reciprocity.

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Secondary outcomes include variables that we will use to investigate mechanisms through heterogenous treatment effects and are study-specific. In study 1 secondary outcomes relate to changes in incomes (magnitude, fluctuations, uncertainty, working hours), local inequality, personal experience of land expropriation, intra-household bargaining power, physical health, indebtedness, conflict experience, job satisfaction, and unfulfilled expectations. In study 2 secondary outcomes relate to income effects, local inequality, personal experience of land expropriation, indebtedness, conflict experience, job satisfaction, unfulfilled expectations, ethno-psychological factors (elevated self-identity, ethnic stereotyping, social dominance), and interethnic experience/exposure.

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

The research project adopts a 3x1 design in which individuals are randomized into 1 out of 3 possible treatment groups (priming groups).

Experimental Design Details

Randomization Method

The random assignment is done by the PIs with a replicable procedure using statistical software.

Randomization Unit

Randomization is done at the individual level.

Was the treatment clustered?

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

Sample size: planned number of observations

2700

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

900 individuals

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

In a basic group means comparison with 80% power, a significance level of 0.05, and unit standard deviations, the MDE is 6.5pp for a sample of 1,332 individuals (1 control group vs. 1 treatment group).

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB