Statistical Conclusion Validity: Estimation in Economic Experiments

This chapter focuses on solving two experimental problems: EP1 and EP2. EP1 concerns measuring the causal impact of treatment and determining relevant mediators and moderators in an ethically responsible manner. EP2 provides insights into whether the causal impacts of treatments implemented in one environment transfer to other environments (spatially, temporally, or scale differentiated). Internal validity refers to whether our maintained assumptions of causal inference within a potential outcomes framework hold, while external validity relates to our confidence in transferring insights gained from one population or domain to another.

Key Ideas

1. Causal inference is challenging because the same unit cannot be observed in more than one state of the world simultaneously.
2. Experimentation is a vital tool used to solve the causal inference problem, allowing us to lend insights into two Experimental Problems.
3. Experimental Problem 1 (EP1) pertains to measuring the causal impact of treatments and determining relevant mediators and moderators in an ethically responsible manner.
4. Experimental Problem 2 (EP2) relates to whether the causal impacts of treatments implemented in one environment transfer to other environments, be them spatially, temporally, or scale differentiated.