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Reproducibility package for Design of Partial Population Experiments with an Application to Spillovers in Tax Compliance

2025
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Reference ID
RR_ARG_2025_258
DOI
https://doi.org/10.60572/qh1r-j770
Author(s)
Guillermo Cruces, Gonzalo Vazquez-Bare, Dario Tortarolo
Collections
World Bank Policy Research Working Papers
Metadata
JSON
Created on
Feb 05, 2025
Last modified
Mar 24, 2025
  • Overview
  • Reproducibility Package
  • Description
  • Scope and coverage
  • Disclaimer
  • Access and rights
  • Contacts
  • Information on metadata
  • Citation

    • Overview

    Abstract

    We develop a framework to analyze partial population experiments, a generalization of the cluster experimental design where clusters are assigned to different treatment intensities. Our framework allows for heterogeneity in cluster sizes and outcome distributions. We study the large-sample behavior of OLS estimators and cluster-robust variance estimators and show that (i) ignoring cluster heterogeneity may result in severely underpowered experiments and (ii) the cluster-robust variance estimator may be upward-biased when clusters are heterogeneous. We derive formulas for power, minimum detectable effects, and optimal cluster assignment probabilities. All our results apply to cluster experiments, a particular case of our framework. We set up a potential outcomes framework to interpret the OLS estimands as causal effects. We implement our methods in a large-scale experiment to estimate the direct and spillover effects of a communication campaign on property tax compliance. We find an increase in tax compliance among individuals directly targeted with our mailing, as well as compliance spillovers on untreated individuals in clusters with a high proportion of treated taxpayers.

    Reproducibility Package

    Scripts
    Get Reproducibility Package
    Title
    Reproducibility package for Design of Partial Population Experiments with an Application to Spillovers in Tax Compliance
    Date
    2025-01
    Dependencies
    Stata dependencies are listed in the ado folder. R dependencies are listed in the file renv.lock.
    Notes
    Computational reproducibility verified by Development Impact (DIME) Analytics team, World Bank.
    Source code repository
    Repository name URI
    Reproducible Research Repository (World Bank) https://reproducibility.worldbank.org
    Software
    Name
    R
    Version
    4.4.2
    Name
    Stata
    Version
    17 MP

    Reproducibility

    Technology environment

    – OS: Windows 10 Enterprise 22H2
    – Processor: Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E7- 4860 @ 2.27GHz 2.26 GHz (2 processors)
    – Memory available: 16 GB
    – Software version: Stata 17 MP Parallel Edition for Windows (64-bit x86-64), R version 4.4.2
    Technology requirements

    The code takes approximately 75 minutes to run.
    Reproduction instructions
    1. Secure Access to Data: Some of the data required for replication is not publicly available.
    2. Download and Place Data: Once the data is obtained, users should download it and place it in the appropriate folder.
    3. Run the Package:
      • Edit directory paths in the 0_master.do file.
      • Edit the csv file path in the 1_Table_1.R script.

    Since not all the data is publicly available, the package includes the code outputs in the folder "Results", which contains the results produced by replicators. These files can be used to review the results presented in the paper.

    Data

    Datasets
    Name
    Tax Microdata from the Tres de Febrero Municipality, Argentina
    Note
    Source: Finance department, Tres de Febrero Municipality, Argentina. Datasets: Base 1 Cuenta Corriente por Cuenta 2019.dta, data_baseline.dta , randomization_final.dta, Base total con datos imprenta.dta, BOLETAS DIGITALES (3).xlsx, suscripciones_20210308.xlsx, Base 1 Cuenta Corriente por Cuenta al 10Mar.dta, cuadras_buffers.dta. To access the data, please contact the following email Jcurrao@tresdefebrero.gov.ar or finanzas@tresdefebrero.gov.ar. See more details on the README file.
    Access policy
    Data is confidential and not included in the package.
    Name
    Replication data for Do Labor Market Policies have Displacement Effects? Evidence from a Clustered Randomized Experiment
    Note
    Source: Bruno Crépon, Esther Duflo, Marc Gurgand, Roland Rathelot, Philippe Zamora, Do Labor Market Policies have Displacement Effects? Evidence from a Clustered Randomized Experiment , The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Volume 128, Issue 2, May 2013, Pages 531–580, https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjt001. The data was provided directly by the authors of the paper to the authors of this reproducibility package. To get the original data please contact eduflo@mit.edu. For more information regarding these data, replicators can contact Dario Tortarolo (dtortarolo@worldbank.org). Datasets should be placed in the corresponding folder in the Bases\Data_other folder.
    Access policy
    Data is confidential and not included in the package.
    Name
    Replication data for Together We Will: Experimental Evidence on Female Voting Behavior in Pakistan
    Note
    Source: Giné, Xavier, and Ghazala Mansuri. “Together We Will: Experimental Evidence on Female Voting Behavior in Pakistan.” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 10, no. 1 (January 2018): 207–35. https://doi.org/10.1257/app.20130480. Datasets should be placed in the corresponding folder in the Bases\Data_other folder.
    Access policy
    The data is publicly available but not included in the package. Data can be downloaded in the Data URL.
    License
    Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License
    License URL
    https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
    Data URL
    https://www.openicpsr.org/openicpsr/project/113595/version/V1/view
    Name
    Replication data for Deterring or displacing electoral irregularities? Spillover effects of observers in a randomized field experiment in Ghana.
    Note
    Source: Ichino, N. and Schündeln, M., 2012. Deterring or displacing electoral irregularities? Spillover effects of observers in a randomized field experiment in Ghana. The Journal of Politics, 74(1), pp.292-307. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022381611001368. Datasets should be placed in the corresponding folder in the Bases\Data_other folder.
    Access policy
    The data is publicly available but cannot be redistributed. Data can be downloaded in the Data URL.
    Data URL
    https://dataverse.harvard.edu/dataset.xhtml?persistentId=doi:10.7910/DVN/JRPXPK
    Name
    Replication data for The Short-term Impact of Unconditional Cash Transfers to the Poor: Experimental Evidence from Kenya
    Note
    Source: Johannes Haushofer, Jeremy Shapiro, The Short-term Impact of Unconditional Cash Transfers to the Poor: Experimental Evidence from Kenya, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Volume 131, Issue 4, November 2016, Pages 1973–2042, https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjw025 Datasets should be placed in the corresponding folder in the Bases\Data_other folder.
    Access policy
    The data is publicly available but cannot be redistributed. Data can be downloaded in the Data URL.
    Data URL
    https://johanneshaushofer.com/research
    Name
    Replication data for Causal Inference With Interference and Noncompliance in Two-Stage Randomized Experiments.
    Note
    Source: Imai, K., Jiang, Z., & Malani, A. (2020). Causal Inference With Interference and Noncompliance in Two-Stage Randomized Experiments. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 116(534), 632–644. https://doi.org/10.1080/01621459.2020.1775612 Datasets should be placed in the corresponding folder in the Bases\Data_other folder.
    Access policy
    The data is publicly available but cannot be redistributed. Data can be downloaded in the Data URL.
    Data URL
    https://dataverse.harvard.edu/dataset.xhtml?persistentId=doi:10.7910/DVN/N7D9LS
    Data statement

    Some data is restricted and has not been included in the reproducibility package. For more details, please refer to the README file.

    Description

    Output
    Type
    Working Paper
    Title
    Design of Partial Population Experiments with an Application to Spillovers in Tax Compliance
    Authors
    Guillermo Cruces, Dario Tortarolo, Gonzalo Vazquez-Bare
    Description
    Policy Research Working Papers (PRWP) WPS11059
    URL
    http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099627502062533661
    DOI
    https://doi.org/10.1596/1813-9450-11059
    Authors
    Author Affiliation Email
    Guillermo Cruces University of Nottingham & CONICET-CEDLAS-UNLP guillermo.cruces@nottingham.ac.uk
    Gonzalo Vazquez-Bare UC Santa Barbara gvazquez@econ.ucsb.edu
    Dario Tortarolo World Bank dtortarolo@worldbank.org
    Date of production

    2025-01-27

    Scope and coverage

    Geographic locations
    Location Code
    Argentina ARG
    Keywords
    Partial Population Experiments Spillovers Randomized Control Trials Cluster Experiments Two-stage Designs Property Tax Tax Compliance
    Topics
    ID Topic Parent topic ID Vocabulary Vocabulary URI
    C01 Econometrics C0 Journal of Economic Literature (JEL)
    C93 Field Experiments C9 Journal of Economic Literature (JEL)
    H71 State and Local Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue H7 Journal of Economic Literature (JEL)
    H26 Tax Evasion and Avoidance H2 Journal of Economic Literature (JEL)
    H21 Efficiency • Optimal Taxation H2 Journal of Economic Literature (JEL)
    O23 Fiscal and Monetary Policy in Development O2 Journal of Economic Literature (JEL)

    Disclaimer

    Disclaimer

    The materials in the reproducibility packages are distributed as they were prepared by the staff of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this event do not necessarily reflect the views of the World Bank, the Executive Directors of the World Bank, or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the materials included in the reproducibility package.

    Access and rights

    License
    Name URI
    Modified BSD3 https://opensource.org/license/bsd-3-clause/

    Contacts

    Contacts
    Name Affiliation Email
    Guillermo Cruces U. of Nottingham & CONICET-CEDLAS-UNLP guillermo.cruces@nottingham.ac.uk
    Reproducibility WBG World Bank reproducibility@worldbank.org

    Information on metadata

    Producers
    Name Abbreviation Affiliation Role
    Reproducibility WBG DIME World Bank - Development Impact Department Verification and preparation of metadata
    Date of Production

    2025-01-27
    Document version

    1

    Citation

    Citation
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