TY  - JOUR
AU  - List,John A.
TI  - Field Experiments:  A Bridge Between Lab and Naturally-Occurring Data
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 12992
PY  - 2007
Y2  - March 2007
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w12992
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w12992.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
John List
Department of Economics
University of Chicago
1126 East 59th
Chicago, IL 60637
Tel: 301/405-1288
Fax: 301/314-9091
E-Mail: jlist@uchicago.edu
AB  - Laboratory experiments have been used extensively in economics in the past several decades to lend both positive and normative insights into a myriad of important economic issues.  This study discusses a related approach that has increasingly grown in prominence of late--field experiments.  I argue that field experiments serve as a useful bridge between data generated in the lab and empirical studies using naturally-occurring data.  In discussing this relationship, I highlight that field experiments can yield important insights into economic theory and provide useful guidance to policymakers.  I also draw attention to an important methodological contribution of field experiments:  they provide an empirical account of behavioral principles that are shared across different domains.  In this regard, at odds with conventional wisdom, I argue that representativeness of the environment, rather than representative of the sampled population, is the most crucial variable in determining generalizability of results for a large class of experimental laboratory games.
ER  -