Quasi-experimental and experimental approaches to environmental economics

Michael Greenstone () and Ted Gayer

Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 2009, vol. 57, issue 1, pages 21-44

Abstract: This paper argues that an increased application of quasi-experimental and experimental techniques will improve understanding about core environmental economics questions. This argument is supported by a review of the limitations of associational evidence in assessing causal hypotheses. The paper also discusses the benefits of experiments and quasi-experiments, outlines some quasi-experimental methods, and highlights threats to their validity. It then illustrates the quasi-experimental method by assessing the validity of a quasi-experiment that aims to estimate the impact of the Endangered Species Act on property markets in North Carolina. The paper's larger argument is that greater application of experimental and quasi-experimental techniques can identify efficient policies that increase social welfare.

Keywords: Endangered; species; Property; markets; Quasi-experiments; Natural; experiments; Randomized; experiments (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009
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Related works:
Working Paper: Quasi-Experimental and Experimental Approaches to Environmental Economics (2007)
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Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jeeman:v:57:y:2009:i:1:p:21-44

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