Can User-friendly Labels Reduce Pesticides Use? Empirical Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial

Last registered on November 30, 2022

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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

Can User-friendly Labels Reduce Pesticide Use? Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0009642

Initial registration date

November 27, 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

November 30, 2022, 4:23 PM EST

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

Locations

Country

China

Region

Primary Investigator

Name

Chen Juhui

Affiliation

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status

Completed

Start date

2022-10-01

End date

2022-10-20

Keywords

Agriculture, Behavior

Additional Keywords

JEL code(s)

Secondary IDs

Prior work

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

Abstract

The overuse and misuse of pesticide is very serious in many developing countries, including China. Many studies have explored solutions from the perspectves of risk aversion, law forbidden, and economic incentive, but no cost-effecyive solution has been found so far. Information and knowledge are important factors affecting decision-making of pesticide use, especially the pesticide label, which is a scientifical and convenient information source for farmers to obtain acurrate and timely information. However, most farners ignore labels in reality and rely on other information providers, such as pesticide retailers or their own experience, which are not realiable. Therefore, we want to figure out why the pesticide label does not work and how to reactivate it again.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Juhui, Chen. 2022. "Can User-friendly Labels Reduce Pesticide Use? Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial." AEA RCT Registry. November 30. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.9642-1.0

Sponsors & Partners

Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

Intervention Start Date

2022-10-01

Intervention End Date

2022-10-02

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

Farmers

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

We will redesign a current pesticide label and make it more readable, calculable and easy to follow. We have three intervention labels. One of them is original label (not redesigned) and two redesigned labels—calculable label and easy-to-follow label. Then, we randomly showed one of the labels to the farmers participating in the experiment and asked them to complete mixing the pesticides according to the displayed pesticide label. Finally, we collect the liquid they pour out and write down their behavior during the experiment.

Experimental Design Details

Randomization Method

Using the random algorithm built into the Survey Solutions survey software developed by World Bank

Randomization Unit

individual ramdomization

Was the treatment clustered?

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

1200 farmers

Sample size: planned number of observations

1200 farmers

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

400 farmers control, 400 farmers calculable label, and 400 farmers easy-to-follow label

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

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name

IRB Approval Date

IRB Approval Number

Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?

Data Collection Complete

Data Publication

Is public data available?

Program Files

Reports, Papers & Other Materials