Handbook of Field Experiments  VOLUME2

VOLUME 2
Contributors xiii
Section I. The Challenge of Improving Human Capital
1. Impacts and Determinants of Health Levels in Low-Income Countries 3
P. Dupas, E. Miguel
1. Introduction 4
2. Methodological Section 6
3. Experimental Estimates of the Impact of Health on Individual Productivity 18
4. Environmental/Infrastructural Determinants of Health 31
5. Demand for Health Products and Healthcare 34
6. Supply of Health Care 69
7. Conclusion 82
References 84

2. The Production of Human Capital in Developed Countries:
Evidence From 196 Randomized Field Experiments 95
R.G. Fryer, Jr.
1. Introduction 96
2. A Method for Finding and Evaluating Field Experiments 105
3. Evidence From 196 Randomized Field Trials 110
4. Combining What Works: Evidence From a Randomized Field Experiment in Houston 169
5. Conclusion 181
References 307
3. Field Experiments in Education in the Developing Countries 323
K. Muralidharan
1. Introduction 324
2. Field Experiments in EducationdA Short Overview 325
3. Selected Overview of Field Experiments in Education in Developing Countries 330
4. Limitations of Field Experiments and Strategies for Mitigating Them 349
5. Conducting Field Experiments in Education in the Developing Countries 357
6. Conclusion 376
References 379
Section II. Designing Effective Social Programs
4. Social Policy: Mechanism Experiments and Policy Evaluations 389
W.J. Congdon, J.R. Kling, J. Ludwig, S. Mullainathan
1. Introduction 390
2. What Are Mechanism Experiments? 394
3. Why Do Mechanism Experiments? 397
4. When to Do Mechanism Experiments Versus Policy Evaluations? 409
5. Conclusion 422
References 423
5. Field Experiments in Developing Country Agriculture 427
A. de Janvry, E. Sadoulet, T. Suri
1. Introduction 428
2. A Review of FEs in Agriculture 429
3. Agriculture and FEs: A Conceptual Framework 437
4. Agriculture is Different: Implications for the Design and Implementation of FEs 441
5. Discussion: Using FEs to Reveal the Production Function in Agriculture 460
References 463
6. The Personnel Economics of the Developing State 467
F. Finan, B.A. Olken, R. Pande
1. Introduction 468
2. Stylized Facts on the Architecture of the State and the Role of Individuals 470
3. The Selection and Recruitment of Public Officials 482
4. Using Incentives to Improve Performance 491
5. Monitoring Mechanisms and Public Service Delivery 500
6. Towards Smart(er) Governance: the Promise of e-Governance and Other Avenues 505
7. Concluding Thoughts 507
Appendix 509
References 511
7. Designing Social Protection Programs: Using Theory and Experimentation
to Understand How to Help Combat Poverty 515
R. Hanna, D. Karlan
1. Introduction 516
2. Redistributive Programs 519
3. Missing Insurance Markets 528
4. Behavioral Constraints 530
5. Market Failures Preventing Asset Accumulation 537
6. Ideas Only Go So Far: Implementation Matters Too 542
7. Conclusion: Key Areas for Further Work 545
References 548
8. Social Experiments in the Labor Market 555
J. Rothstein, T. von Wachter
1. Introduction 556
2. What Are Social Experiments? Historical and Econometric Background 560
3. A More Thorough Overview of Labor Market Social Experiments 570
4. Going Beyond TreatmenteControl Comparisons to Resolve Additional Design Issues 596
5. Conclusion 628
References 630