Working Paper: NBER ID: w23213
Authors: Esther Duflo
Abstract: As economists increasingly help governments design new policies and regulations, they take on an added responsibility to engage with the details of policy making and, in doing so, to adopt the mindset of a plumber. Plumbers try to predict as well as possible what may work in the real world, mindful that tinkering and adjusting will be necessary since our models gives us very little theoretical guidance on what (and how) details will matter. This essay argues that economists should seriously engage with plumbing, in the interest of both society and our discipline.
Keywords: Economics; Policy Design; Public Policy; Field Experiments
JEL Codes: A0
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| design of water connection policies (Q25) | uptake of services (I11) |
| uptake of loans (G21) | access to water (Q25) |
| design of water connection policies (Q25) | access to water (Q25) |
| design of water connection policies (Q25) | overall well-being of households (I31) |
| design of identification card distribution (C90) | access to subsidized rice (Q11) |
| design of identification card distribution (C90) | effectiveness of subsidy program (H53) |