The perils of embedded experiments

• Published date: 01 November 2024
• Author: Jean Drèze
• Date: 01 November 2024
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/rode.12999

SPECIAL ISSUE ARTICLE

The perils of embedded experiments

Jean Drèze

Department of Economics, Ranchi

University, Ranchi, Jharkhand, India

Correspondence

Jean Drèze, Department of Economics,

Ranchi University, Ranchi, Jharkhand,

India.

Email: jaandaraz@gmail.com

Abstract

There is growing interest in experiments conducted by

researchers and policymakers as a team. The attraction

of these ‘embedded experiments’is that they seem to

facilitate speedy translation of research into policy.

This approach, however, can trivialise public policy

and compromise the independence of the researchers.

It is also a fountain of ethical dilemmas including

consent issues, conflicts of interest and compensation

norms. The perils of embedded experiments, and

possible safeguards, are discussed with the help of a

case study.

KEYWORDS

e-governance, employment guarantee, evidence-based policy,

randomized controlled trials, research ethics

JEL CLASSIFICATION

B41, C93, E24, H53, I38

1|INTRODUCTION

Evidence-based policy is the rage, to the extent that even village folk in eastern India (where I

live) sometimes hold forth about the importance of ‘ebhidens’, as they call it. No one, of course,

would deny the value of bringing evidence to bear on public policy, as long as evidence

is understood in a broad sense and does not become the sole arbiter of decision-making.

Sometimes, however, evidence-based policy gets reduced to an odd method that consists of

using randomised controlled trials (RCTs) to find out ‘what works’and then ‘scale up’whatever

works. That makes short shrift of the long bridge that separates evidence from policy. Sound

policy requires not only evidence—broadly understood—but also a good understanding of the

issues, considered value judgements,and inclusive deliberation (Drèze, 2018a,2020a).

Enormous energy has been spent on the quest for rigorous evidence, much less on the integ-

rity of the process that leads from evidence to policy. As illustrated in an earlier article (Drèze

Received: 25 June 2022 Revised: 10 February 2023 Accepted: 22 March 2023

DOI: 10.1111/rode.12999

Rev Dev Econ. 2024;28:2059–2071. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/rode © 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 2059