Economic Experiments: Insights and Impact on Policy

Economics is typically not thought of as an experimental discipline. Lab experiments have, however, been part of economics research for decades. More recently, randomized controlled field experiments are being done by economists. Issues that have been studied include: the effect of giving people a universal basic income, the health effects of enrolling people in Medicaid, the effects of paying school kids to read books or get good grades, the effects of paying off medical debt and lots more. Many of these experiments have important public policy implications. We will discuss how these experiments get done and the fascinating results that emerge.

Dennis Sheehan, Ph.D., is professor emeritus of finance at the Penn State University Smeal College of Business. He previously taught in the business schools at Purdue University, the University of Chicago and the University of Rochester. He earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Georgetown University and received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of California at Berkeley. Dennis is happily retired in his hometown of Newport.