There seems to be a lot of enthusiasm for experimental economics among young researchers. At a personal level I find activities like model building and data analysis as trivial attempts to explain social realities, although at professional levels we do undertake many such activities on a regular basis. I would like to invite ideas from esteemed colleagues on the relevance of such exercises and their applications in policy making when it goes a step beyond; i.e., generating data through experiments in the field of economics.
I admire how researchers are able to find and manipulate situations to uncover the operations of causal processes through things like true experiments, experiments of opportunity , regression discontinuity designs and the full toolkit of modern econometric analysis. At the same time I also have a lot of sympathy for Angus Deaton's point of view beautifully expressed in his 2008 Keynes lecture that the work also has to be substantively interesting and my words -more than technical showmanship.
"Instruments of Development: Randomisation in the Tropics, and the Search for the Elusive Keys to Economic Development
Keynes Lecture in Economics
ANGUS DEATON
DOI:10.5871/bacad/9780197264584.003.0006
This lecture presents the text of the speech about economic development delivered by the author at the 2008 Keynes Lecture in Economics held at the British Academy. It examines macro and micro kinds of economic assistance and evaluates how assistance works. The lecture suggests that econometric methodology needs to be assessed, not only by methodologists but also by those who are concerned with the substance of the issue."
This is a very interesting and difficult question.
Therefore, we can agree with the answer that gave Kelvyn Jones.
In my opinion, the main problem - it is impossible to repeat the same experiment in the economy. From here there can be different conclusions, different variables.
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