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The Ethics of Field Experiments in Authoritarian Contexts: A Comment on Cantoni, Yang, Yuchtman and Zhang (2019)

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  • Landgrave, Michelangelo Geovanny

    (University of Colorado - Boulder)

Abstract

This article is a comment on Cantoni et al. (2019) and subsequent research conducted as part of the “Demand for Democracy” project. In the aforementioned article, researchers report a field experiment where Hong Kong research subjects are nudged to participate in a protest against the People’s Republic of China using an informational treatment. I argue that the field experiment is unethical because, in addition to being deceptive, it was conducted in an authoritarian context where research subjects can be punished for protesting and because research subjects have no practical recourse for any harm suffered as part of the experiment. The Demand for Democracy experiment is not only unethical, but is illustrative of a larger systemic problem with conducting experiments in authoritarian contexts. I propose that field experiments in authoritarian contexts be banned, or that the experimental community should at minimum adopt safeguards to protect research subjects.

Suggested Citation

  • Landgrave, Michelangelo Geovanny, 2023. "The Ethics of Field Experiments in Authoritarian Contexts: A Comment on Cantoni, Yang, Yuchtman and Zhang (2019)," OSF Preprints nvzt8_v1, Center for Open Science.
    • Handle: RePEc:osf:osfxxx:nvzt8_v1
    DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/nvzt8_v1
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Davide Cantoni & David Y Yang & Noam Yuchtman & Y Jane Zhang, 2019. "Protests as Strategic Games: Experimental Evidence from Hong Kong's Antiauthoritarian Movement," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 134(2), pages 1021-1077.
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