On Minimizing the Risk of Bias in Randomized Controlled Trials in Economics
Estimation of empirical relationships is prone to bias. Economists have carefully studied sources of bias in structural and quasi-experimental approaches, but the randomized control trial (RCT) has only begun to receive such scrutiny. This paper ar...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2016
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2016/07/26579028/minimizing-risk-bias-randomized-controlled-trials-economics http://hdl.handle.net/10986/24828 |
| Summary: | Estimation of empirical relationships is
prone to bias. Economists have carefully studied sources of
bias in structural and quasi-experimental approaches, but
the randomized control trial (RCT) has only begun to receive
such scrutiny. This paper argues that several lessons from
medicine, derived from analysis of thousands of RCTs
establishing a clear link between certain practices and
biased estimates, can be used to reduce the risk of bias in
economics RCTs. It identifies the subset of these lessons
applicable to economics and uses them to assess risk of bias
in estimates from economics RCTs published between 2001 and
2011. In comparison to medical studies, most economics
studies examined do not report important details on study
design necessary to assess risk of bias. Many report
practices that suggest risk of bias, though this does not
necessarily mean bias resulted. The paper concludes with
suggestions on how to remedy these issues. |
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