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Incorporating ethics and welfare into randomized experiments

Author

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  • Yusuke Narita

    (Department of Economics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511; Cowles Foundation, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511)

Abstract

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) enroll hundreds of millions of subjects and involve many human lives. To improve subjects’ welfare, I propose a design of RCTs that I call Experiment-as-Market (EXAM). EXAM produces a welfare-maximizing allocation of treatment-assignment probabilities, is almost incentive-compatible for preference elicitation, and unbiasedly estimates any causal effect estimable with standard RCTs. I quantify these properties by applying EXAM to a water-cleaning experiment in Kenya. In this empirical setting, compared to standard RCTs, EXAM improves subjects’ predicted well-being while reaching similar treatment-effect estimates with similar precision.

Suggested Citation

  • Yusuke Narita, 2021. "Incorporating ethics and welfare into randomized experiments," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 118(1), pages 2008740118-, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:nas:journl:v:118:y:2021:p:e2008740118
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    Cited by:

    1. Yusuke Narita, 2021. "A Theory of Quasi-Experimental Evaluation of School Quality," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(8), pages 4982-5010, August.
    2. Bergemann, Dirk & Ottaviani, Marco, 2021. "Information Markets and Nonmarkets," CEPR Discussion Papers 16459, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.

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