David Card, Nobel Prize 2021: the Design-Based Revolution

In the early 1990s, David Card contributed to a major evolution in economic research. From then on, the quality of empirical research is no longer judged solely by its links with a formal theoretical model, but above all by the relevance of the hypotheses under which causal relationships are identified. Using a range of quasi-experimental methods, David Card has made decisive contributions to a number of major debates, including those on the minimum wage, immigration, racial segregation and education. Empirical research in economics is gaining in autonomy, prestige and audience, especially among other social sciences. Based on an analysis of the publications of some emblematic economic journals, we trace the way in which the quasi-experimental approaches promoted by David Card eventually spread in Europe and in France.