Session VIII: Experiments and Quasi-Experiments

Research Papers, on Perusall: 

  • Banerjee, A.; Duflo, E.; Glennerster, R.; Banerji, R and Khemani, S. 2010. “Pitfalls of Participatory Programs: Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation of Education in India”, American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 2(1), 1-30.

Moving to Opportunity

  • Background: Moving to Opportunity (MTO) for Fair Housing Demonstration Program: http://www2.nber.org/mtopublic/
    Chetty, R., Hendren, N., & Katz, L. F. (2016). The effects of exposure to better neighborhoods on children: New evidence from the moving to opportunity experiment. American Economic Review, 106(4), 855-902.
  • Briggs, Xavier de Souza et al. 2008. Why Did the Moving to Opportunity Experiment Not Get Young People into Better Schools? Housing Policy Debate.19 (1):53-93. 
    Planet Money Podcast: Interesting take on MTO experiment: https://www.npr.org/2019/08/30/756028025/episode-937-moving-to-opportunity

Recommended Readings: 

  • Berkowitz, Leonard and Edward Donnerstein. 1982. “External Validity is More Than Skin Deep: Some Answers to Criticisms of Laboratory Experiments.” American Psychologist 37:245-257.
  • Burtless, Gary. 1995. “The Case for Randomized Field Trials in Economic and Policy Research.” Journal of Economic Perspectives 9(2): 63-84.
  • McDermott, Rose. 2002. “Experimental Methods in Political Science.” Annual Review of Political
  • Science V. Palo Alto, CA: Annual Reviews.
  • McDermott, Rose. “Experimental Methodology in Political Science.” Political Analysis 10(4): 325-42. 
  • Vaughn McKim and Stephen Turner. 1997. Causality in Crisis? Statistical Methods and the Search for Causal Knowledge in the Social Sciences. University of Notre Dame.
  • Yee, Albert. 1996. “The Causal Effects of Ideas on Policies.” International Organization 50(1): 69-109.

Technical References (Recommended): 

  • Singleton and Straits. Chapter 3.
  • Salganick. Chapter 4. 
  • Angrist and Pischke. Chapter 1. 
  • Cook, T. D., Campbell, D. T., & Shadish, W. (2002). Experimental and quasi-experimental designs for generalized causal inference (Vol. 1195). Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin. (Columbia Libraries)
  • Dunning, Thad. 2007. “Improving Causal Inference: Strengths and Limitations of Natural Experiments.” Political Research Quarterly.
  • List, Why economists should conduct field experiments and 14 tips for pulling one off. Journal of Economic Perspectives, (2011) 25(3): 3-16.