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: IZA, Bonn, University of Düsseldorf, Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods, Bonn

No 2022_09, Discussion Paper Series of the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods from Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods

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)
Date: 2022-11-29
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp
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Related works:
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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