Handbook of Field Experiments

Chapter 1. An Introduction to the "Handbook of Field Experiments"
A. Banerjee, E. Duflo

• 1. The Impact on the Way We Do Research
• 2. The Impact on the Way We Think About the World
• 3. Conclusion

Section I. Some Historical Background

Chapter 2. The Politics and Practice of Social Experiments: Seeds of a Revolution
J.M. Gueron

• 1. Why Focus on Welfare?
• 2. Why Experiment?
• 3. The Story
• 4. Major Challenges
• 5. Demonstrating Feasibility: The National Supported Work Demonstration
• 6. Social Experiments Reincarnated as a Partnership: Testing Feasibility Anew by Evaluating State Initiatives
• 7. Using Randomized Controlled Trials to Test Full-Scale Programs: The Fight Got Tougher
• 8. What Works Best? A Multiarm Test of Labor Force Attachment versus Human Capital Development
• 9. The Momentum Shifts
• 10. Useful and Used
• 11. Lessons and Challenges

Section II. Methodology and Practice of RCTs

Chapter 3. The Econometrics of Randomized Experiments
S. Athey and G.W. Imbens

• 1. Introduction
• 2. Randomized Experiments and Validity
• 3. The Potential Outcome/Rubin Causal Model Framework for Causal Inference
• 4. The Analysis of Completely Randomized Experiments
• 5. Randomization Inference and Regression Estimators
• 6. The Analysis of Stratified and Paired Randomized Experiments
• 7. The Design of Randomized Experiments and the Benefits of Stratification
• 8. The Analysis of Clustered Randomized Experiments
• 9. Noncompliance in Randomized Experiments
• 10. Heterogenous Treatment Effects and Pretreatment Variables
• 11. Experiments in Settings With Interactions
• 12. Conclusion

Chapter 4. Decision Theoretic Approaches to Experiment Design and External Validity
A. Banerjee, S. Chassang, E. Snowberg

• 1. Introduction
• 2. The Framework
• 3. Perspectives on Experimental Design
• 4. Rerandomization, Registration, and Preanalysis
• 5. External Validity
• 6. Structured Speculation
• 7. Issues of Particular Interest
• 8. Conclusion

Chapter 5. The Practicalities of Running Randomized Evaluations: Partnerships, Measurement, Ethics, and Transparency
R. Glennerster

• 1. Collaboration Between Researchers and Implementers
• 2. Preparing for Practical Pitfalls in Field Experiments
• 3. Ethics
• 4. Transparency of Research
• 5. Conclusion

Chapter 6. The Psychology of Construal in the Design of Field Experiments
E.L. Paluck and E. Shafir

• 1. Introduction
• 2. Pilot: Seek Shared Construal of Behavior and the Situation Between Investigators and Participants
• 3. Design: Ensure the Intervention Design, Measurement, and Deployment Achieve Shared Construal Between Investigators and Participants
• 4. Interpret: How Do Investigators Construe What Matters in the Data?
• 5. Concluding Thoughts

Section III. Understanding Preferences and Preference Change

Chapter 7. Field Experiments in Markets
O. Al-Ubaydli and J.A. List

• 1. Introduction
• 2. Preamble
• 3. Main Results
• 4. Methodological Insights
• 5. Closing Remarks

Chapter 8. Field Experiments on Discrimination
M. Bertrand and E. Duflo

• 1. Introduction
• 2. Measuring Discrimination in the Field
• 3. Consequences of Discrimination
• 4. What Affects Discrimination?
• 5. Conclusion

Chapter 9. Field Experiments on Voter Mobilization: An Overview of a Burgeoning Literature
A.S. Gerber and D.P. Green

• 1. Intellectual Context for Emergence of Field Experiments in Political Science
• 2. How Do Experiments Address the Problems in the Prior Voter Turnout Research?
• 3. An Overview of the Experimental Literature on Voter Mobilization
• 4. The Effect of Messaging

Chapter 10. Lab in the Field: Measuring Preferences in the Wild
U. Gneezy and A. Imas

• 1. Theoretically-Relevant Populations
• 2. Using Lab-in-the Field for Collecting Covariates as Complements to RCTs and for Targeting Policy
• 3. Comparing Between Contexts and Cultures
• 4. External Validity
• 5. Conclusion

Chapter 11. Field Experiments in Marketing
D. Simester

• 1. Papers that Report Field Experiments
• 2. Pricing Topics
• 3. Advertising Topics
• 4. Product-Related Topics
• 5. Model Validation
• 6. Other Topics
• 7. Designing Experiments and Future Topics
• 8. Conclusions
• Appendix: Summary of the Papers