Field Experiments
Course content
Recent years have seen an enormous increase and interest in research using experimental methods in the field to address questions across a broad range of topics in economics and management:
- Does Uber surge pricing work to steer demand?
- What is the impact of microloans on alleviating poverty?
- Do people eat more vegetarian food when it is on top of the menu?
- Do people work harder when you pay them more?
Rather than trying to find already available data (which is often not possible) and inferring causality with advanced econometric methods, field experiments randomly assign units of observations to treatment and control conditions to identify causal effects. While the idea is simple, the implementation brings other challenges.
The course will teach the students how to design, implement, and analyse field experiments – also known as randomized controlled trials (RCT). It will show the potential gains from using field experiments to test economic theory, make causal inference, and inform optimal policies, both in the public and private sector.
Students will acquire the tools to successfully conduct their own field experiments and learn to critically evaluate experimental findings from the academic literature. Students will also explore the many challenges to implementing RCTs in the field and the tools to address these issues in study design and analysis.
MSc programme in Economics – elective course
From spring 2025 the course is also offered to students at the
- Master Programmes in Global Development
- Master Programme in Security Risk Management
- Master Programme in Social Data Science
- Master Programmes in Sociology
- Master Programme in Political Science
Enrolled students register the course through the Selfservice. Please contact the study administration at each programme for questions regarding registration.
The course is open to:
- Exchange and Guest students from abroad
- Credit students from Danish Universities
- Open University students
After completing the course the student is expected to be able to:
Knowledge:
- Discuss state-of-the-art empirical research in experimental economics conducted in the field.
- Identify research or policy questions that can be answered using field experiments.
Skills:
- Conduct power calculations for determening the correct sample size of an experiment.
- Analyze experimental data using econometric tools.
- Argue for optimal choice of outcome variables, sample size, clustering and randomization balancing.
Competencies:
- Plan and develop a field experiment design, both conceptually for testing economic theory and practically.
- Independently identify challenges that could arise when conducting an experiment and argue how to overcome them.
- Initiate and participate in discussions of the implications of experimental results for policy makers or managements in the public and private sector.
The format of the course is a combination of lectures and
individual student work. The first eleven lectures will present
core concepts, methods, and empirical results. Lecture number 12,
13 and 14 will consist of student presentations applying and
critically reflecting on the learning of the lectures.
Student participation in all lectures will be expected and
encouraged. An active discussion in class is essential for
effective learning.
The course will be based on a book, lecture slides, research papers, policy documents and survey articles. A detailed syllabus with required readings will be provided in Absalon the beginning of the course.
The following books and articles give an overview of the type of literature that will be used in class:
- Main Book: Running Randomized Evaluations – A practical guide by Rachel Glennester and Kudaz Takavarasha ISBN-13: 978-0-691-15927-0
- Harrison, Glenn and John A. List. 2004. "Field Experiments." Journal of Economic Literature, XLII: 1013-1059.
- Athey, Susan, and Guido W. Imbens. "The econometrics of randomized experiments." Handbook of economic field experiments. Vol. 1. North-Holland, 2017. 73-140.
- Banerjee, Abhijit, Rukmini Banerji, James Berry, Esther Duflo, Harini Kannan, Shobhini Mukerji, Marc Shotland, and Michael Walton. 2017. "From Proof of Concept to Scalable Policies: Challenges and Solutions, with an Application." Journal of Economic Perspectives, 31 (4): 73-102.
- Card, David, Stefano Della Vigna & Ulrike Malmendier. 2011. The Role of Theory in Experiments. Journal of Economic Perspectives 25(3): 39–62.
- List, John A., Sally Sadoff & Mathis Wagner (2011). So You Want to Run an Experiment, Now What? Some Simple Rules of Thumb for Optimal Experimental Design. Experimental Economics 14: 439–457.
- Pomeranz, D. (2011). Impact Evaluation Methods: A Brief Introduction to Randomized Evaluations in Comparison with Other Methods.
- Hauser, Oliver P., Elizabeth Linos, and Todd Rogers. "Innovation with field experiments: Studying organizational behaviors in actual organizations." Research in Organizational Behavior 37 (2017): 185-198.
It is recommended to have followed the course "Applied
Econometric Policy Evaluation" at the study of Economics,
University of Copenhagen, or equivalent before or at the same time
as the course.
The student will benefit from having attended a course on
behavioral economics such as "Science of Behavior
Change", the summer school "Behavioral Experimental
Economics" or "The Psychology of Choice" at the
study of Economics, University of Copenhagen, or equivalent before
taking Field Experiments.
Schedule:
3 hours lectures ones a week from week 6 to 20.
The overall schema can be seen at KUnet:
MSc in Economics => "courses and teaching" =>
"Planning and overview" => "Your timetable"
KA i Økonomi => "Kurser og undervisning" =>
"Planlægning og overblik" => "Dit skema"
Timetable and venue:
To see the time and location of lectures and exercise classes
please press the link under "Timetable"/"Se
skema" at the right side of this page (F means Spring).
You can find the similar information in English at
https://skema.ku.dk/ku2425/uk/module.htm
-Select Department: “2200-Økonomisk Institut” (and wait for
respond)
-Select Module:: “2200-F25; [Name of course]”
-Select Report Type: “List – Weekdays”
-Select Period: “Forår/Spring”
Press: “ View Timetable”
Please be aware:
- The schedule of the lectures can change without the participants´
acceptance. If this occure, you can see the new schedule in your
personal timetable at KUnet, in the app myUCPH and through the
links in the right side of this course description and the link
above.
- It is the students´s own responsibility continuously throughout
the study to stay informed about their study, their teaching, their
schedule, their exams etc. through the curriculum of the study
programme, the study pages at KUnet, student messages, the course
description, the Digital Exam portal, Absalon, the personal schema
at KUnet and myUCPH app etc.
The students receive oral collective feedback during the lectures.
Each student receives individual oral feedback on the mandatory presentations.
for enrolled students: Rules etc at Master(UK) and Master(DK)
When registered you will be signed up for exam.
- Full-degree students – sign up at Selfservice on KUnet
- Exchange and guest students from abroad – sign up through Mobility Online and Selfservice- read more through this website.
- Credit students from Danish universities - sign up through this website.
- Open University students - sign up through this website.
The dates for the exams are found here Exams – Faculty of Social Sciences - University of Copenhagen (ku.dk)
Please note that it is your own responsibility to check for overlapping exam dates.
- ECTS
- 7,5 ECTS
- Type of assessment
-
Written assignment, 12 hours
- Type of assessment details
- Individual take-home exam.
The exam assignment is in English and must be answered in English.
It is not allowed to collaborate on the assignment with anyone. - Exam registration requirements
-
To qualify for the exam the student must no later than the given deadlines during the course:
- Have approved one mandatory presentation in which they describe and critically analyse field experiments conducted in the public and private sector, both in developed and developing countries.
- The presentations can be performed individual or in a group of maximal 2 students.
- Aid
- All aids allowed
for the written assignment.
Use of AI tools is permitted. You must explain how you have used the tools. When text is solely or mainly generated by an AI tool, the tool used must be quoted as a source.
- Marking scale
- 7-point grading scale
- Censorship form
- No external censorship
for the written exam.
- Exam period
-
Exam information:
The examination date can be found in the exam schedule here
More information is available in Digital Exam from the middle of the semester.
More information about examination, rules, aids etc. at Master(UK) and Master(DK).
- Re-exam
-
Same as the ordinary exam.
You must have approved 1 mandatory presentation. The presentation can be performed individually or in a group of maximal 2 students.
Reexam information:
The reexamination date/period can be found in the reexam schedule here
More information in Digital Exam in August.
More info: Master(UK) and Master(DK)
Criteria for exam assessment
Students are assessed on the extent to which they master the learning outcome for the course.
In order to obtain the top grade “12”, the student must with no or only a few minor weaknesses be able to demonstrate an excellent performance displaying a high level of command of all aspects of the relevant material and can make use of the knowledge, skills and competencies listed in the learning outcomes.
In order to obtain the passing grade “02”, the student must in a satisfactory way be able to demonstrate a minimal acceptable level of the knowledge, skills and competencies listed in the learning outcomes.
Single subject courses (day)
- Category
- Hours
- Lectures
- 42
- Preparation
- 152
- Exam
- 12
- English
- 206
Kursusinformation
- Language
- English
- Course number
- AØKK08410U
- ECTS
- 7,5 ECTS
- Programme level
- Full Degree Master
- Duration
-
1 semester
- Placement
- Spring
- Go to 'Signup' for information about registration and enrollment.
- Price
-
Information about admission and tuition fee: Master and Exchange Programme, credit students and guest students (Open University)
- Schedulegroup
-
and venue:
- For teaching: Go to 'Remarks'.
- For exam and re-sits: Go to 'Exam'. - Studyboard
- Department of Economics, Study Council
Contracting department
- Department of Economics
- Department of Anthropology
- Department of Political Science
- Social Data Science
- Department of Sociology
Contracting faculty
- Faculty of Social Sciences
Course Coordinator
- Christina Gravert (3-69676d466b69757434717b346a71)
Teacher
See "Course Coordinators"
Please read "Remarks" regarding the schedule of the
teaching.
Se skema
Er du BA- eller KA-studerende?
Kursusinformation for indskrevne studerende