Nobel Lecture - Field Experiments and the Practice of Economics (Esther Duflo, 2019)

 

Summary: Field Experiments and the Practice of Economics (Esther Duflo, Nobel Lecture Slides, 2019)

Esther Duflo’s Nobel lecture underscores how field experiments—especially randomized controlled trials (RCTs)—have revolutionized development economics and public policy. She emphasizes that progress against poverty depends on humility, curiosity, and rigorous learning: field experiments bring economists “down to earth,” allowing them to identify what truly helps people thrive. Duflo highlights successes, failures, and the crucial role of context—showing that scalable solutions require constant adaptation, collaboration with communities, and a willingness to be surprised. For Duflo, economics at its best is a practical, evidence-driven discipline rooted in real lives and continuous improvement.

🟦 THOUGHT CARD: FIELD EXPERIMENTS, EVIDENCE & HUMILITY IN DEVELOPMENT

1. Background Context

Traditionally, development policy was top-down: governments and donors often applied “big ideas” from afar, with little testing or adaptation to local needs. Many interventions failed, sometimes causing harm. The rise of field experiments—pioneered by Duflo, Banerjee, Kremer, and colleagues—shifted the discipline toward direct, iterative engagement: test, learn, adapt, repeat. This has made economics more practical, ethical, and grounded.

2. Core Concept

  • Field experiments (RCTs): Directly test interventions in real-world settings with random assignment, producing reliable evidence about what works.
  • Humility: Accept that experts (and even data) don’t know everything—be open to surprises and local insight.
  • Context Matters: No “one size fits all”—successful policies must be adapted to specific places, cultures, and histories.
  • Iterative Learning: Real progress comes through cycles of testing, failure, refinement, and scaling what works.
  • Collaboration: Work with communities, practitioners, and policymakers—co-create, don’t dictate.

3. Examples / Variations

  • Health: RCTs on bed net distribution, vaccine incentives, and health worker motivation—sometimes showing that small changes (like reminders or small payments) have big effects.
  • Education: Experiments on teaching methods, incentives for attendance, or parental involvement—revealing overlooked barriers and drivers.
  • Gender & Empowerment: Testing approaches to improve women’s agency, reduce violence, or increase political participation.
  • Social Protection: Evaluating how cash transfers, food aid, or microinsurance actually affect well-being.
  • Failures: Duflo highlights that many trials don’t show positive results; this is valuable knowledge for learning and avoiding waste.

4. Latest Relevance

  • Evidence-based Policy: RCT findings now shape government, NGO, and multilateral agency strategies worldwide.
  • Rapid Experimentation: Used in crises (e.g., pandemics, climate shocks) to quickly find what works.
  • Ethical Standards: Growing focus on participant consent, transparency, and sharing benefits.
  • Scale-Up Challenges: Moving from success in one context to many requires adaptation, not just replication.

5. Visual or Metaphoric Form

  • Magnifying Glass: Field experiments zoom in on specific questions—what works, where, and for whom.
  • Gardeners, not Architects: Economists as gardeners, cultivating many small experiments and learning from the “soil” of each place.
  • Spiral Learning Path: A non-linear journey—each cycle of testing brings improvement, not perfection.
  • Bridge-Building: Field experiments connect academic insight with lived reality, bridging gaps between intention and outcome.

6. Resonance from Great Thinkers / Writings

  • Francis Bacon: Empirical inquiry as the root of scientific progress.
  • John Dewey: Learning by doing, valuing reflection and practical experimentation.
  • Karl Popper: Knowledge advances through bold trial and honest error.
  • Amartya Sen: The value of expanding real freedoms—field experiments reveal what does (and doesn’t) help.
  • Duflo’s own writing: The humility to “ask, not tell”—let people and evidence lead the way.

7. Infographic or Timeline Notes

Learning Loop:

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Identify Problem → Design Field Experiment → Randomize & Implement → Observe & Learn → Adapt or Scale → Repeat

Timeline:

  • 1990s–2000s: First development RCTs in health, education, microfinance.
  • 2010s: Global spread of evidence-based approaches.
  • 2020s: Greater focus on ethics, context, and co-creation with communities.

8. Other Tangents from this Idea

  • Limits of Experiments: Not every problem is suited to RCTs; combine with qualitative insights, theory, and local wisdom.
  • Ethics of Power: Who gets to choose the questions, and who benefits from the answers?
  • Scaling with Sensitivity: Beware the “replication trap”—rigidly copying what worked elsewhere.
  • Collaborative Science: New models for open data, shared learning, and practitioner/researcher partnership.

Reflective Prompt:
Where might humility and experimentation lead to better results in your own work or community? How can you “ask, not tell”—and co-create solutions rather than importing them?

 

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