Beyond Experimentation

Overview

We use experiments to understand whether a policy would work. We usually care about whether said policy works outside of the experimental setting. Experiments alone do not answer that question. Which opens a conversation on the scope and limitations of using experiments to inform policy-making.

The lab illustrates these ideas by giving you the chance to write your own design based on an application of your choosing.

Reading

• RD section 23

• Deaton, Angus, and Nancy Cartwright. 2018. “Understanding and misunderstanding randomized controlled trials.” Social Science & Medicine 210: 2-21

• Slough, Tara, Daniel Rubenson, Ro’ee Levy, et al. 2021. “Adoption of community monitoring improves common pool resource management across contexts.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 118 (29): e2015367118

Slides

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Lab

Writing your own design

Due

Monday, March 25, 5 PM