TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Chowdhury, Shyamal
AU  - Schildberg-Hörisch, Hannah
AU  - Schneider, Sebastian O.
AU  - Sutter, Matthias
        TI  - Information Provision over the Phone Saves Lives: An RCT to Contain COVID-19 in Rural Bangladesh at the Pandemic's Onset
        PY  - 2022/Nov/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 15768
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/publications/dp15768
        AB  - 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.
        KW  - field experiment
KW  - COVID-19
KW  - information intervention
KW  - death rates
        ER  -