THREE THEMES ON FIELD EXPERIMENTS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

We discuss the following three themes on the use of field experiments to study economic development: (1) We summarize the arguments for and against using experiments to gather behavioral data in the field; (2) We argue and illustrate that field experiments can provide data on behavior that can be used in subsequent analyses of the effect of behavioral social capital on economic outcomes; and (3) We illustrate that field experiments can be used as a development tool on their own to teach communities about incentives and strategic interaction.

Citation

Camilo Cardenas, J. and Carpenter, J.P. (2005), "THREE THEMES ON FIELD EXPERIMENTS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT", Harrison, G.W., Carpenter, J. and List, J.A. (Ed.) Field Experiments in Economics (Research in Experimental Economics, Vol. 10), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 71-123. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0193-2306(04)10004-5