The E-Word – On the Public Acceptance of Experiments

Mira Fischer, Elisabeth Grewenig (), Philipp Lergetporer (), Katharina Werner and Helen Zeidler ()
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Elisabeth Grewenig: Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW), Germany
Philipp Lergetporer: Technical University of Munich
Helen Zeidler: Technical University of Munich

No 16511, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Randomized experiments are often viewed as the "gold standard" of scientific evidence, but people's scepticism towards experiments has compromised their viability in the past. We study preferences for experimental policy evaluations in a representative survey in Germany (N>1,900). We find that a majority of 75% supports the idea of small-scale evaluations of policies before enacting them at a large scale. Experimentally varying whether the evaluations are explicitly described as "experiments" has a precisely estimated overall zero effect on public support. Our results indicate political leeway for experimental policy evaluation, a practice that is still uncommon in Germany.

Keywords: policy experimentation; experiment aversion; education (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C93 H40 I28 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 20 pages
Date: 2023-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp
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Published - published in: Economics Letters, 2024, 235, 111558

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Related works:
Journal Article: The E-word – On the public acceptance of experiments (2024)
Working Paper: The E-Word – On the Public Acceptance of Experiments* (2023)
Working Paper: The E-Word - On the Public Acceptance of Experiments (2023)
Working Paper: The E-Word – On the Public Acceptance of Experiments (2019)
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