Social ExperimentationJerry A. Hausman, David A. Wise University of Chicago Press, 2007 M12 1 - 300 pages Since 1970 the United States government has spent over half a billion dollars on social experiments intended to assess the effect of potential tax policies, health insurance plans, housing subsidies, and other programs. Was it worth it? Was anything learned from these experiments that could not have been learned by other, and cheaper, means? Could the experiments have been better designed or analyzed? These are some of the questions addressed by the contributors to this volume, the result of a conference on social experimentation sponsored in 1981 by the National Bureau of Economic Research. The first section of the book looks at four types of experiments and what each accomplished. Frank P. Stafford examines the negative income tax experiments, Dennis J. Aigner considers the experiments with electricity pricing based on time of use, Harvey S. Rosen evaluates housing allowance experiments, and Jeffrey E. Harris reports on health experiments. In the second section, addressing experimental design and analysis, Jerry A. Hausman and David A. Wise highlight the absence of random selection of participants in social experiments, Frederick Mosteller and Milton C. Weinstein look specifically at the design of medical experiments, and Ernst W. Stromsdorfer examines the effects of experiments on policy. Each chapter is followed by the commentary of one or more distinguished economists. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 55
Page 2
... households in the negative - income - tax experiments were far higher than any state provided in its welfare system . Similarly , time - of - use electricity prices for residen- tial customers were unheard of in the United States before ...
... households in the negative - income - tax experiments were far higher than any state provided in its welfare system . Similarly , time - of - use electricity prices for residen- tial customers were unheard of in the United States before ...
Page 11
... households . Dennis J. Aigner is professor of economics , University of Southern California . This paper was prepared for presentation at the NBER Conference on Social Experi- mentation , 5-7 March 1981 , Hilton Head , South Carolina ...
... households . Dennis J. Aigner is professor of economics , University of Southern California . This paper was prepared for presentation at the NBER Conference on Social Experi- mentation , 5-7 March 1981 , Hilton Head , South Carolina ...
Page 15
... household demographic characteristics . Exam- ples are the studies by Engle et al . ( 1979 ) , Hendricks , Koenker , and ... households facing the TOU rate ( their welfare therefore went down ) , and thereby explains the reduc- tion in ...
... household demographic characteristics . Exam- ples are the studies by Engle et al . ( 1979 ) , Hendricks , Koenker , and ... households facing the TOU rate ( their welfare therefore went down ) , and thereby explains the reduc- tion in ...
Page 17
... households that faced the narrow peak period , over the period May - October 1976. They pool the data over months . Hill et al . ( HOTW ) also attempt to correct for the influence of the incentive scheme in their work . Wisconsin ...
... households that faced the narrow peak period , over the period May - October 1976. They pool the data over months . Hill et al . ( HOTW ) also attempt to correct for the influence of the incentive scheme in their work . Wisconsin ...
Page 19
... households from paying any more for electricity under experimental rates than they would have paid under the prevailing ( control ) rate . Their results suggest that for these Arizona households the midpeak own - price elasticity is ...
... households from paying any more for electricity under experimental rates than they would have paid under the prevailing ( control ) rate . Their results suggest that for these Arizona households the midpeak own - price elasticity is ...
Contents
1 | |
11 | |
2 Housing Behavior and the Experimental HousingAllowance Program What Have We Learned? | 55 |
3 IncomeMaintenance Policy and Work Effort Learning from Experiments and LaborMarket Studies | 95 |
4 Macroexperiments versus Microexperiments for Health Policy | 145 |
5 Technical Problems in Social Experimentation Cost versus Ease of Analysis | 187 |
6 Toward Evaluating the CostEffectiveness of Medical and Social Experiments | 221 |
7 The Use of Information in the Policy Process Are SocialPolicy Experiments Worthwhile? | 251 |
8 Social Science Analysis and the Formulation of Public Policy Illustrations of What the President Knows and How He Comes to Know It | 257 |
List of Contributors | 283 |
Author Index | 285 |
Subject Index | 288 |
Common terms and phrases
Aigner analysis ANOVA assess assumptions attrition behavior benefits Broad Peak budget changes cholesterol clinical trials control group cost-effectiveness costs decision demand experiment discussion econometric economic efficacy EHAP elasticity estimates electricity eligible endogenous equation evaluation example exogenous experimental data experimental design experimental effect function Hausman and Wise Hawthorne effects hedonic households housing allowances housing services hypertension impact important incentive income maintenance increase individual Institute intervention issues Journal labor supply labor-market likelihood function macroexperimentation macroexperiments measure ment Mosteller MRFIT negative income tax nonexperimental observations off-peak outcomes paper parameters payments peak percent perimental period policy makers population potential pre-experimental predict price elasticity problems procedure projects question random residential response Rosen selection selectivity bias social experiments specific statistical Stromsdorfer studies subjects supply experiment time-of-day tion TOU pricing TOU rates treatment assignment treatment effect treatment groups U.S. Congress unemployment utility variables variation wage welfare
Popular passages
Page 188 - Five-year findings of the hypertension detection and follow-up program. I. Reduction in mortality of persons with high blood pressure, including mild hypertension.
Page 192 - Professor of Political Economy, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, and research associate. National Bureau of Economic Research.
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