In Pursuit of Balance : Randomization in Practice in Development Field Experiments

We present new evidence on the randomization methods used in existing experiments, and new simulations comparing these methods. We find that many papers do not describe the randomization in detail, implying that better reporting is needed. Our simulations suggest that in samples of 300 or more, the...

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Main Authors:	Bruhn, Miriam, McKenzie, David
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	EN
Published:	2012
Subjects:	Survey Methods Sampling Methods C830 Field Experiments C930 Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development O120
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5467

id	okr-10986-5467
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-54672021-04-23T14:02:22Z In Pursuit of Balance : Randomization in Practice in Development Field Experiments Bruhn, Miriam McKenzie, David Survey Methods Sampling Methods C830 Field Experiments C930 Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development O120 We present new evidence on the randomization methods used in existing experiments, and new simulations comparing these methods. We find that many papers do not describe the randomization in detail, implying that better reporting is needed. Our simulations suggest that in samples of 300 or more, the different methods perform similarly. However, for very persistent outcome variables, and in smaller samples, pair-wise matching and stratification perform best and appear to dominate the rerandomization methods commonly used in practice. The simulations also point to specific recommendations for which variables to balance on, and for which controls to include in the ex post analysis. 2012-03-30T07:32:58Z 2012-03-30T07:32:58Z 2009 Journal Article American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 19457782 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5467 EN http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo World Bank Journal Article
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
language	EN
topic	Survey Methods Sampling Methods C830 Field Experiments C930 Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development O120
spellingShingle	Survey Methods Sampling Methods C830 Field Experiments C930 Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development O120 Bruhn, Miriam McKenzie, David In Pursuit of Balance : Randomization in Practice in Development Field Experiments
relation	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo
description	We present new evidence on the randomization methods used in existing experiments, and new simulations comparing these methods. We find that many papers do not describe the randomization in detail, implying that better reporting is needed. Our simulations suggest that in samples of 300 or more, the different methods perform similarly. However, for very persistent outcome variables, and in smaller samples, pair-wise matching and stratification perform best and appear to dominate the rerandomization methods commonly used in practice. The simulations also point to specific recommendations for which variables to balance on, and for which controls to include in the ex post analysis.
format	Journal Article
author	Bruhn, Miriam McKenzie, David
author_facet	Bruhn, Miriam McKenzie, David
author_sort	Bruhn, Miriam
title	In Pursuit of Balance : Randomization in Practice in Development Field Experiments
title_short	In Pursuit of Balance : Randomization in Practice in Development Field Experiments
title_full	In Pursuit of Balance : Randomization in Practice in Development Field Experiments
title_fullStr	In Pursuit of Balance : Randomization in Practice in Development Field Experiments
title_full_unstemmed	In Pursuit of Balance : Randomization in Practice in Development Field Experiments
title_sort	in pursuit of balance : randomization in practice in development field experiments
publishDate	2012
url	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5467
_version_	1764395149355384832

In Pursuit of Balance : Randomization in Practice in Development Field Experiments

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