The Role of Theory in Field Experiments

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4975475
AutoresDavid Card (0000-0001-6914-6698, Class of 1950 Professor of Economics, University of California, Berkeley, California; Director of the Labor Studies Program, National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts.), Stefano Dellavigna (Associate Professor of Economics, University of California, Berkeley, California; Research Associates, National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts.), Ulrike Malmendier (0000-0002-2786-4365, Associate Professor of Economics and of Finance, University of California, Berkeley, California; Research Associates, National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts.)
Año2011
Volumen25
Número3
Páginas39-62
Fecha de publicación2011-08-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaThe Journal of Economic Perspectives (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0895-3309 • E-ISSN: 1944-7965
EditorialAmerican Economic Association (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1257/jep.25.3.39
OpenAlexW2170040903
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas10
Referencias citadas36

We classify all published field experiments in five top economics journals from 1975 to 2010 according to how closely the experimental design and analysis are linked to economic theory. We find that the vast majority of field experiments (68 percent) are Descriptive studies that lack any explicit model; 18 percent are Single Model studies that test a single model-based hypothesis; 6 percent are Competing Models studies that test competing model-based hypotheses; and 8 percent are Parameter Estimation studies that estimate structural parameters in a completely specified model. We also classify laboratory experiments published in these journals over the same period and find that economic theory has played a more central role in the laboratory than in the field. Finally, we discuss in detail three sets of field experiments-on gift exchange, on charitable giving, and on negative income tax-that illustrate both the benefits and the potential costs of a tighter link between experimental design and theoretical underpinnings

Econometrics · Economics · Estimation · Management · Culture, Economy, and Development Studies · Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics · Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies · Mathematics