Advances with Field Experiments

October 28–29, 2011

Organizers

Sponsors

In one of its largest conferences to date, the Becker Friedman Institute gathered nearly 30 researchers who presented wide-ranging research highlighting the best and most innovative new work using field experiments to address economic questions.

The conference expanded on an initial event held at the Wharton School in 2010. With the Institute’s support, conference organizers Iwan Barankay and John List chose to invite as many researchers as possible, to foster a network of people working in this area.

Over two days, scholars presented innovative experimental research on topics ranging from altruism to entrepreneurship in Pakistan, and from savings rates to gender differences in competitiveness. Barankay told attendees that they essentially chose to randomize the presentations, to maximize mingling and cross-fertilizaton.

Opening the conference, Institute research director Lars Peter Hansen said that approach dovetailed with the Institute’s mission. “This is a great example of what the institute is here for. As economics becomes more specialized, we think of ourselves as a place that counters that trend. This is a diverse program that applies the basic tools of economics and experimentation across a lot of fields and topics.”

Another important aim of this workshop was to provide young researchers, including PhD students near completion of their program, with the opportunity to meet and discuss their work with more senior economists.

Program

Friday, Oct. 28: International House

SESSION 1
Home Room
“Incentivizing Calculated Risk-Taking: Evidence from a Series of Experiments with Commercial Bank Loan Officers”
Martin Kanz (World Bank)
Paper (.pdf) » | Watch Video »

“The Power of a Bad Example: A Field Experiment in Household Garbage Disposal”
Ben Vollaard (Tilburg University)
View Slides » | Watch Video »

“Revising Commitments: Time Preference and Time-Inconsistency in the Field”
Jessica Goldberg (University of Michigan)
Paper (.pdf) » | Watch Video »
  National Room
“Micro-Savings & Informal Insurance in Villages: A Natural Field Experiment on the Effects of Financial Deepening on Safety Nets of the Poor”
Jeffrey A. Flory (University of Maryland)
Paper (.pdf) » | Watch Video »

“Social Networks and Individual Reproductive Decision Making”
Muthoni Ngatia (Yale University)
Watch Video »

“Networks and Workouts: Treatment Status Specific Peer Effects in a Randomized Field Experiment”
Philip Babcock (University of California Berkeley)
Paper (.pdf) » | Watch Video »
SESSION 2
Home Room
“Gender Differences in Productivity Responses to Performance Rankings: Evidence From a Randomized Workplace Experiment”
Iwan Barankay (University of Pennsylvania)
Watch Video »

“Do Competitive Workplaces Deter Female Workers? A Large-Scale Natural Field Experiment on Gender Differences in Job-Entry Decisions”
Andreas Leibbrandt (University of Chicago)
Paper (.pdf) » | Watch Video »
  National Room
“No Margin, No Mission? A Field Experiment on Incentives for Pro-Social Tasks”
Kelsey Jack (Tufts University)
Paper (.pdf) » | Watch Video »

“Better Neighbors and Basic Knowledge: A Field Experiment on the Role of Non-Pecuniary Incentives on Energy Consumption”
Robert Metcalfe (Oxford University)
Paper (.pdf) » | Watch Video »

KEYNOTE LECTURE
“Are Students Real People?”
Uri Gneezy (University of Californa San Diego)

SESSION 3
Home Room
“Employee Recognition and Performance”
Susanne Neckermann (University of Mannheim and ZEW, Mannheim)
Watch Video »

“Do Single-Sex Schools Make Boys and Girls More Competitive?”
Muriel Niederle (Stanford University)
Watch Video »

“The Impact of Short-Term Incentives on Student Achievement”
Sally Sadoff (University of California San Diego)
Paper (.pdf) » | Watch Video »

  National Room
“Signals of Support and Public Good Provision”
Judd Kessler (University of Pennsylvania)

“Are There Complementarities in the Education Production Function?”
Jeffrey A. Livingston (Bentley University)
Paper (.pdf) » | Watch Video »

“Childhood Obesity, Parents' Knowledge and Report Cards”
Heather Royer (University of California Santa Barbara)

Paper (.pdf) » | Watch Video »
SESSION 4
Home Room
“The Dark Side of Solidarity”
Myriam Hadnes (University of Frankfurt)
Paper (.pdf) » | Watch Video »

“Perceived Returns to Job Search Overseas: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial in the Philippines”
Emily A. Beam (University of Michigan)
Paper (.pdf) » | Watch Video »
  National Room
“Money or Ideas? A Field Experiment on Constraints to Entrepreneurship in Rural Pakistan”
Ghazala Mansuri (World Bank)
Paper (.pdf) | Watch Video »

“The Effects of Prize Spread and Noise in Elimination Tournaments: A Natural Field Experiment”
Josse Delfgaauw (Erasmus University, Rotterdam)
Paper (.pdf) » | Watch Video »

Saturday, Oct. 29: Charles M. Harper Center

SESSION 5
Room C07
“Commitments to Save: A Field Experiment in Rural Malawi”
Xavier Giné (World Bank)
Paper (.pdf) » | Watch Video »

“Using Experiments to Screen for Social Programs: Theory and Empirical Evidence”
Amanda Agan (University of Chicago)
Watch Video »

“Insurance Through Savings Accounts: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment among Low-Income Micro-Entrepreneurs in Chile”
Dina Pomeranz (Harvard Business School)

  Room C08
“A Hard-ability ‘Theorem’ on Measuring Advertising Effectiveness”
Randall A. Lewis (Yahoo! Research)
Paper (.pdf) » | Watch Video »

“Interpreting Time Horizon Effects in Inter-Temporal Choice: Evidence from Artifactual Field Experiments”
David Huffman (Swarthmore College)
Paper (.pdf) » | Watch Video »

“Avoiding the Ask: A Field Experiment on Altruism, Empathy and Charitable Giving”
Justin M. Rao (Yahoo! Research)
Paper (.pdf) » | Watch Video »
SESSION 6
Room C07
“Is there a Gender Gap in Preschoolers' Competitiveness? An Experiment in the U.S.”
Anya Savikhin (Chicago)
Paper (.pdf) » | Watch Video »

“Rewarding Altruism? A Natural Field Experiment”
Nicola Lacetera (University of Toronto)
Paper (.pdf) » | Watch Video »
  Room C08
“The Role of Application Assistance and Information in College Decisions: Results from the H&R Block FAFSA Experiment”
Philip Oreopoulos (University of Toronto)
Paper (.pdf) » | Watch Video »

“A Personal Touch: Text Message Reminders and Loan Repayment”
Melanie Morten (Yale University)
Paper (.pdf) » | Watch Video »
KEYNOTE LECTURE
George Loewenstein (Carnegie-Mellon University)
Article » | Watch Video »

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