Public support for digital governance solutions

Last registered on February 14, 2023
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Public support for digital governance solutions
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0009566
Initial registration date
July 04, 2022

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 08, 2022, 9:50 AM EDT

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

Last updated
February 14, 2023, 7:23 AM EST

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

Locations

Country
Russian Federation
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
David Karpa
Affiliation
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Michael Rochlitz
PI Affiliation
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2022-07-06
End date
2022-07-20
Keywords
Behavior, Governance
Additional Keywords
surveillance, repression
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
The goal of this study is to investigate which factors determine public support for digital governance solutions and if exposure to information about the potential abuse of these tools by the government might affect this support. We hypothesize that, in line with previous findings, institutional gaps and asymmetric information positively predict support for a digital governance tool, while exposure to information about the potential abuse might have a negative effect. We expect this negative effect to be moderated by the existence of institutional gaps and sources of information. We test our predictions with the help of a survey experiment of 2400 respondents in the Russian Federation.
Previous research suggests that where institutions are weak, support for new institutions overcoming said weaknesses is high. Where information is controlled by the government in the form of censorship or propaganda by either state-owned or state-controlled media, the public may be misinformed about the potential abuse of such new institutions. Thus, we expect that citizens who receive information primarily through national media will show higher support for the digital governance tool. We further control for government satisfaction, trust in the government, previous contact with digital governance, and the usual range of socio-demographic indicators.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Karpa, David and Michael Rochlitz. 2023. "Public support for digital governance solutions ." AEA RCT Registry. February 14. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.9566-1.1
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2022-07-06
Intervention End Date
2022-07-20

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
We are interested in whether subjects will support the introduction of a digital governance solution in the Russian Federation that entails the centralized collection of personal data.
We are furthermore interested in citizens' propensity to share their data with the government.

We investigate whether the perception of institutional gaps and sources of information (state-controlled or independent) influence our dependent outcomes.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We designed a randomized control trial with random assignment to treatments and the control group. We employ controlled manipulations of the information subjects receive with respect to which behavior such a system could punish in a 2 x 2 factorial design. We have four vignettes consisting of two dimensions: law enforcement [no example/vandalism example] and political repression [no example/protest example].
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization will be carried out by the market research company. Subjects will be assigned to treatments at random.
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
2,400 subjects, citizens of the Russian Federation
Sample size: planned number of observations
2,400 subjects, citizens of the Russian Federation
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
600 subjects control, 600 subjects social order treatment, 600 subjects repression treatment, 600 subjects social order & repression treatment
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Gesellschaft für experimentelle Wirtschaftsforschung
IRB Approval Date
2022-07-04
IRB Approval Number
UG1hxAh9
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Yes
Data Collection Completion Date
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)
2,462 participants in Russia
Was attrition correlated with treatment status?
No
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations
2,462 participants in Russia
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms
Control 589 Crime 585 Repression 572 Crime and Repression 577
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

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Program Files

Program Files
No
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials