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Registration

Field Before After
Trial Status in_development completed
Trial End Date June 01, 2022 June 08, 2022
Last Published March 28, 2022 07:13 AM May 05, 2023 09:40 AM
Study Withdrawn No
Intervention Completion Date June 08, 2022
Data Collection Complete Yes
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization) 126
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations 126
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms 66 control, 60 treatment
Data Collection Completion Date June 08, 2022
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Papers

Field Before After
Paper Abstract In many public policy areas, randomized policy experiments can greatly contribute to our knowledge of the effects of policies and can thus help to improve public policy. However, policy experiments are not very common. This paper studies whether a lack of appreciation of policy experiments among voters may be the reason for this. Using unique survey data representative of the Dutch electorate, we find clear evidence contradicting this view. Voters strongly support policy experimentation and, in line with theory, particularly so when they do not hold a strong opinion about the policy. In a subsequent survey experiment among Dutch politicians, we find that politicians conform their expressed opinion about policy experiments to what we tell them the actual opinion of voters is. We conclude that voters are not afraid of policy experiments and neither are politicians when we tell them that voters are not.
Paper Citation Dur, Robert, Arjan Non, Paul Prottung, and Benedetta Ricci. 2023. “Who's Afraid of Policy Experiments?.” OSF Preprints. May 5. osf.io/yshkt.
Paper URL https://osf.io/yshkt
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