Social Experimentation and Economic Policy by Robert Ferber

Social Experimentation and Economic Policy by Robert Ferber

Social experimentation is a tool that enables economists and policy makers to test proposed economic policies in the real world. Instead of testing policies by analytical methods or by laboratory simulation, the policies are tested on people who would be affected were these policies implemented. The authors describe how such social experiments are set up and carried out, and consider the advantages and disadvantages of social experimentation relative to other means of evaluating economic and social policies. The main part of the book is a review and a critical evaluation of the principal social experiments in economics that have been carried out in the United States, where this method has been used most extensively. The authors examine in detail the first large-scale experiment in the United States (the New Jersey Income Maintenance Experiment) and subsequent experiments with the labour force, electricity rates, and cash housing allowances. A consideration of the social utility of social experimentation follows, and the book closes with a set of recommendations on the conditions under which social experimentation might best be used in evaluating economic and social policies.

Hirsch, Werner Z.: - Professor Werner Z. Hirsch has been active in the field of Law and Economics since the early 1970s. Not only has he been active in the theoretical side of the field, but also in the practice of it by participating in the law-making process as an advisor and committee member on numerous occasions. In addition, he has served as an expert witness in a host of court cases, where he has given input on the economic rationale behind the laws. He is currently a professor in the UCLA Department of Economics, where his major interests lie in the fields of Law and Economics, Urban Economics, and Public Finance.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780521285070
ISBN 10	0521285070
Title	Social Experimentation and Economic Policy
Author	Robert Ferber
Series	Cambridge Surveys Of Economic Literature
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Cambridge University Press
Year published	1981-12-31
Number of pages	264
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.