Policy evaluation, randomized controlled trials, and external validity—A systematic review

Jörg Peters, Jörg Langbein and Gareth Roberts

Economics Letters, 2016, vol. 147, issue C, 51-54

Abstract: This paper reviews all Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) published in leading economic journals between 2009 and 2014 with respect to how they deal with potential hazards to external validity: Hawthorne and John-Henry effects, general equilibrium effects, specific sample problems, and special care in treatment provision. We find that the majority of published RCTs does not discuss these hazards and many do not provide the necessary information to assess potential problems.

Keywords: Policy evaluation; Internal validity; External validity; Randomized controlled trials (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C83 C93 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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Working Paper: Policy evaluation, randomized controlled trials, and external validity: A systematic review (2015)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:147:y:2016:i:c:p:51-54

DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2016.08.013

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