Speaker
Description
Economic experiments are increasingly used for the ex-ante evaluation of agri-environmental policies. Such experiments typically rely on one of three subject pools: standard subject pool students, agricultural students, or farmers. While experiments with farmers are often considered more relevant for policymaking due to their higher external validity, the shift from students to agricultural students or farmers often necessitates changes in experimental settings and protocols. For instance, experiments with professionals frequently move from controlled lab environments to classroom or online settings, which can impact self-selection, attrition, experimental control, and participant engagement. Despite the conceptual recognition of these challenges (e.g., Roe & Just, 2009), no experimental study in agricultural economics has systematically quantified the effects of using different subject pools and experiment types. Our study addresses this gap by comparing data from an economic experiment conducted (i) with farmers online, (ii) with agricultural students online and in classrooms, and (iii) with standard subject pool students online and in a laboratory. Our aim is to provide insights into potential trade-offs between internal and external validity when designing economic experiments to inform the CAP. Data collection is ongoing, and we expect to present preliminary results at the Congress.
| Status of your work | First results |
|---|---|
| Early Career Researcher Award | No, the paper is not eligible |
