Information Provision over the Phone Saves Lives: An RCT to Contain COVID-19 in Rural Bangladesh at the Pandemic's Onset

Shyamal Chowdhury (), Hannah Schildberg-Hörisch (), Sebastian Schneider and Matthias Sutter
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Shyamal Chowdhury: University of Sydney
Hannah Schildberg-Hörisch: Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods

No 15768, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Lack of information about COVID-19 and its spread may have contributed to excess mortality at the pandemic's onset. In April and May 2020, we implemented a randomized controlled trial with more than 3,000 households in 150 Bangladeshi villages. Our one-to-one information campaign via phone stressed the importance of social distancing and hygiene measures, and illustrated the consequences of an exponential spread of COVID-19. We find that information provision improves knowledge about COVID-19 and induces significant behavioral changes. Information provision also yields considerably better health outcomes, most importantly by reducing the number of reported deaths by about 50% in treated villages.

Keywords: field experiment; COVID-19; information intervention; death rates (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C93 D01 D91 I12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 45 pages
Date: 2022-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp
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Working Paper: Information Provision over the Phone Saves Lives: An RCT to Contain COVID-19 in Rural Bangladesh at the Pandemic’s Onset (2022)
Working Paper: Information provision over the phone saves lives: An RCT to contain COVID-19 in rural Bangladesh at the pandemic's onset (2022)
Working Paper: Information provision over the phone saves lives: An RCT to contain COVID-19 in rural Bangladesh at the pandemic's onset (2022)
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