The Dozen Things Experimental Economists Should Do (More Of)

Czibor, Eszter; Jimenez-Gomez, David; List, John A.

doi:10.2139/ssrn.3313734

Cited by 28 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 266 publications

(295 reference statements)

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“…Second, we add to the emerging literature on the scalability of policy interventions by answering the following questions: how do goal-setting nudges perform at scale, and are mobile devices an appropriate scaling device for behaviorally-motivated interventions? Policymakers often need to base their decisions on studies from small-scale and highly selected samples, which may yield disappointing results when the intervention is brought to scale (Al-Ubaydli, , Al-Ubaydli, List, and Suskind 2019, Czibor, Jimenez-Gomez, and List 2019, DellaVigna and Linos 2020. Our study directly mimics a large-scale policy intervention, targets a representative sample of households, and thereby circumvents many of the issues that inflate treatment effect estimates.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

When Nudges Fail to Scale: Field Experimental Evidence from Goal Setting on Mobile Phones

Löschel¹,

Rodemeier

Werthschulte³

2020

SSRN Journal

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Non-pecuniary incentives motivated by insights from psychology ("nudges") have been shown to be effective tools to change behavior in a variety of fields. An often unanswered question relevant for public policy is whether these promising interventions can be scaled up. In cooperation with a large public utility in Germany, we develop an energy savings application for mobile phones that can be used by the majority of the population. The app randomizes a goal-setting nudge prompting users to set themselves energy consumption targets. The roll-out of the app is promoted by a mass-marketing campaign and large financial incentives. Results document low demand for the energy app in the general population and a tightly estimated null effect of the nudge on electricity consumption among app users. A likely mechanism of the null effect is unfavorable self-selection into the app: users are characterized by an already low baseline energy consumption and exhibit none of the behavioral biases that typically explain why goal setting affects behavior. We also find that the nudge significantly decreases the likelihood to use the app over time. Structural estimates imply that the average user is willing to pay 7.41 EUR to avoid the nudge and the intervention would yield substantial welfare losses if implemented nationwide.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

When Nudges Fail to Scale: Field Experimental Evidence from Goal Setting on Mobile Phones

Löschel¹,

Rodemeier

Werthschulte³

2020

SSRN Journal

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“…See alsoWacholder et al (2004) andIoannidis (2005). 12 For comprehensive treatments, seeGreenland et al (2016) andCzibor et al (2019) Deke and Finucane (2019). and Kaplan (2018) also provide descriptions of this issue that are friendlier to the general audience.13 For example, seeList et al (2016) for an MHT approach with experimental data.…”

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confidence: 99%

How can experiments play a greater role in public policy? Twelve proposals from an economic model of scaling

Al‐Ubaydli

Lee

List

et al. 2020

Behav. Public Policy

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Policymakers are increasingly turning to insights gained from the experimental method as a means to inform large-scale public policies. Critics view this increased usage as premature, pointing to the fact that many experimentally tested programs fail to deliver their promise at scale. Under this view, the experimental approach drives too much public policy. Yet, if policymakers could be more confident that the original research findings would be delivered at scale, even the staunchest critics would carve out a larger role for experiments to inform policy. Leveraging the economic framework of Al-Ubaydli et al. (2019), we put forward 12 simple proposals, spanning researchers, policymakers, funders and stakeholders, which together tackle the most vexing scalability threats. The framework highlights that only after we deepen our understanding of the scale-up problem will we be on solid ground to argue that scientific experiments should hold a more prominent place in the policymaker's quiver.

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“…Getting to the whys of an intervention also have important effects on scaling, as discussed in sub-section 10.10. Czibor et al (2019) provide a deeper discussion of going beyond A/B testing in broader economic settings.…”

Section: Go Beyond A/b Testing To Deepen Our Understanding Of Childrenmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Experiments with Children Inform Economics

List¹,

Petrie²,

Samek³

2021

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and students at the Behavioral and Experimental Economics (BEE) research group. This research was funded by the Kenneth and Anne Griffin Foundation and by NIH grant 1R01DK114238. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research.NBER working papers are circulated for discussion and comment purposes. They have not been peer-reviewed or been subject to the review by the NBER Board of Directors that accompanies official NBER publications.

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The Dozen Things Experimental Economists Should Do (More Of)

Cited by 28 publications

References 266 publications

When Nudges Fail to Scale: Field Experimental Evidence from Goal Setting on Mobile Phones

When Nudges Fail to Scale: Field Experimental Evidence from Goal Setting on Mobile Phones

How can experiments play a greater role in public policy? Twelve proposals from an economic model of scaling

How Experiments with Children Inform Economics

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