Behavioural Development Economics: Lessons from Field Labs in the Developing World

Explanations of poverty, growth and development depend on the assumptions made about individual preferences and the willingness to engage in strategic behaviour. Economic experiments, especially those conducted in the field, have begun to paint a picture of economic agents in developing communities...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	The Journal of development studies 2008-03, Vol.44 (3), p.311-338
Main Authors:	Cardenas, Juan Camilo, Carpenter, Jeffrey
Format:	Article
Language:	eng
Subjects:	Behavioural economics Community Developing Countries Development economics Development strategies Economic Development Economic growth Economics Economists Experiments LDCs Poverty Preferences Scientific Research
Online Access:	Get full text
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Summary:	Explanations of poverty, growth and development depend on the assumptions made about individual preferences and the willingness to engage in strategic behaviour. Economic experiments, especially those conducted in the field, have begun to paint a picture of economic agents in developing communities that is at variance with the traditional portrait. We review this growing literature with an eye towards preference-related experiments conducted in the field. We also offer lessons on what development economists might learn from experiments. We conclude by sharing our thoughts on how to conduct experiments in the field and then offer a few ideas for future research.
ISSN:	0022-0388 1743-9140