Contents

Acknowledgments

PART 1: Introduction

1. An Overview of Social Experimentation and the Digest

What Is a Social Experiment?

Internal and External Validity

Categories of Social Experiments

What Is a Quasi Experiment?

Reasons for Conducting Social Experiments

Are Experiments Ethical?

Alternatives to Social Experimentation

Threats to External Validity of Impact Estimates

Are Experiments Unduly Expensive?

What "Optional Features" Can Experiments Have?

How Might Social Experiments Be Used?

What Is the History of Social Experiments?

What Is the Future for Social Experiments?

Uses and Organization of This Book

PART 2: Experiments in the United States

1. Public Assistance Recipients—AFDC and TANF

Ford Administration

AFDC Job Counselors

Colorado Monthly Reporting Experiment and Pretest

WIN Job-Finding Clubs

Carter Administration

Massachusetts Work Experience Program

Louisville Immediate Job Search Assistance Experiment

WIN Services to Volunteers

Madison and Racine Quality Employment Experiment

Denver Postplacement Services Project

Louisville Group Job Search Experiment

Dayton Wage-Subsidy Voucher Experiment

First Reagan Administration

Monthly Reporting in the AFDC Program

Washington State Intensive Applicant Employment Services Evaluation (Quasi-experimental)

West Virginia Community Work Experience Demonstration

West Virginia Community Work Experience Program (CWEP) (Quasi-experimental)

Baltimore Options Program (Maryland Employment Initiatives)

San Diego Job Search and Work Experience Demonstration

Washington Community Work Experience Program

Arkansas Work Program

Maine Training Opportunities in the Private Sector (TOPS)

Virginia Employment Services Program (ESP)

Florida Trade Welfare for Work

New Jersey Grant Diversion Project

Second Reagan Administration

Cook County Job Search and Work Experience

Saturation Work Initiative Model (SWIM)

Pennsylvania Saturation Work Program (PSWP)

Illinois On-Line Cross-Match Demonstration

New York State Comprehensive Employment Opportunity Support Centers (CEOSC) Program

Teenage Parent Demonstration

Wisconsin Welfare Employment Experiment—Rock County

Child Assistance Program (CAP)

Greater Avenues for Independence (GAIN)

Washington State Family Independence Program (FIP) (Quasi-experimental)

G. H. W. Bush Administration

Child Day Care Recycling Fund Experiment—North Carolina

Community Group Participation and Housing Supplementation Demonstration (Bethel Self-Sufficiency Program)

Illinois Career Advancement Project

Cash Incentives in a Self-Sufficiency Program—Montgomery County, Maryland

New Chance

Ohio Transitions to Independence Demonstration—JOBS

Ohio Transitions to Independence Demonstration— Work Choice

Opportunity Knocks Program

Wisconsin Earned Income Disregard Demonstration

Wisconsin Medical Assistance Extension Demonstration

Ohio Learning, Earning, and Parenting Program (LEAP)

Alabama Avenues to Self-Sufficiency through Employment and Training Services (ASSETS) (Quasi-experimental)

AFDC JOBS Participants: Paths toward Self-Sufficiency

Project Independence—Florida

Wisconsin Learnfare

Partnership for Hope

National Evaluation of Welfare-to-Work Strategies (NEWWS)

Link-Up

Maryland Primary Prevention Initiative (PPI)

To Strengthen Michigan Families (TSMF)

Utah Single-Parent Employment Demo Program (SPED)

California Work Pays Demonstration Program (CWPDP)

Georgia Preschool Immunization

First Clinton Administration

Iowa Family Investment Program

New Jersey Family Development Program

Colorado Personal Responsibility and Employment Program (CPREP)

Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP)

Post-Employment Services Demonstration (PESD)

Vermont Welfare Restructuring Project (WRP)

Florida Family Transition Program (FTP)

Arkansas Welfare Waiver Demonstration

Cal-Learn

LA Jobs-First GAIN Evaluation

Teenage Parent Home Visitor Services Demonstration

Indiana Welfare Reform Evaluation

Ohio Children of Opportunity: Learnfare

Virginia Independence Program (VIP)

Delaware: A Better Chance

Connecticut Jobs First

San Diego School Attendance Demonstration Project (SADP)

The Achieving Change for Texans (ACT) II Experiments

Common Elements for the Three Experiments

Responsibilities, Employment, and Resources (RER)— Non-Choices

Time Limits Pilot

Responsibilities, Employment, and Resources (RER)—Choices

Wisconsin Self-Sufficiency First/Pay for Performance Program

Second Clinton Administration

Work-First Profiling Demonstration

W-2 Child Support Demonstration Evaluation

Experiments Ongoing at Publication

New Visions: College as a Job Advancement Strategy

New Jersey Substance Abuse Research Demonstration (SARD)

Employment Retention and Advancement Project

Welfare to Work Housing Voucher Demonstration

2. Public Assistance Recipients—Food Stamps and Medicaid

Food Stamp Work Registration and Job Search Demonstration

Illinois Monthly Reporting Food Stamp Demonstration

Program for Prepaid Managed Health Care (PPMHC)

Food Stamp Employment and Training Program

San Diego Food Stamp Cash-Out Demonstration

Alabama Food Stamp Cash-Out Demonstration

3. Firms and Organizations

Power Customers

Southern California Edison Electricity Pricing Experiment

Niagara Mohawk Hourly Integrated Pricing Program (HIPP)

Employers

Wage-Subsidy Variation Experiment

Wilkes-Barre Job Search Voucher Project

Health Care Providers

NCHSR Nursing Home Incentives Demonstration

National Home Health Prospective Payment Demonstration—Phase I

National Home Health Prospective Payment Demonstration—Phase II

4. Middle-Class and Employee Populations

Power Customers

Introduction

Connecticut Peak Load Pricing Experiment

Los Angeles Peak Load Pricing Experiment for Electricity

Health Care Consumers

Rand Health Insurance Study

United Healthcare Gatekeeper Plan Experiment

Other

Minnesota Income Tax Compliance Experiment

Seed Money Experiment

Employee Monitoring (Quasi-experimental)

Lifelong Learning Demonstration

Retirement Plan Decisions Experiment

5. Low-Income Households (General)

New Jersey Income Maintenance Experiment

Rural Income Maintenance Experiment

Seattle-Denver Income Maintenance Experiment

Gary Income Maintenance Experiment

Housing Allowance Demand Experiment

Freestanding Housing Voucher Demonstration

National Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) Study

Emergency Food and Homelessness Intervention Project

Operation INC (Incubator for New Companies)

Project Hope (Head Start Opportunities for Parents through Employment)

North Dakota Self-Reliance Program

Wisconsin New Hope Project

Parents' Fair Share (PFS) Demonstration

Experiments Ongoing at Publication

Moving to Opportunity (MTO)

Bridges to Work

Chicago Housing Voucher Lottery

Community Action Program of Tulsa County (CAPTC) American Dream Demonstration

Jobs-Plus (Quasi-experimental)

6. Lower-Income Homeowners

Counseling for Delinquent Mortgagors

Detroit Default Counseling Demonstration

Prepurchase Homeownership Counseling Demonstration

7. Low-Income Children and Their Families

Perry Preschool Program

Washington, D.C., Mobile Unit for Child Health Care

Carolina Abecedarian Project

New York Nurse Home Visitation Experiment: 15-Year Follow-Up

Increasing the Immunization of Preschool Children

Infant Health and Development Program

Memphis Nurse Home Visitation

Even Start Family Literacy Program

National Evaluation of the Comprehensive Child Development Program (CCDP)

Maryland Guardianship Assistance Program Demonstration

School Vouchers

8. Low-Income Youth

Public- versus Private-Sector Jobs Demonstration Project

Cambridge Job Factory

Career Advancement Voucher Demonstration Project

Wilkes-Barre YES Workshop Program

Alternative Youth Employment Strategies (AYES) Project

Cambridge Job Search Voucher Program

Summer Experimental Youth Transition Project

Jobstart

Summer Training and Education Program (STEP)

New Orleans and Philadelphia Nonresidential Job Corps Centers

Alternative Schools

High-Risk Youth Demonstration Project—Yolo County, California

Quantum Opportunities Program (QOP) Pilot

Brothers

Homeless Youth Self-Sufficiency Project

Success Connection

Austin Youth Leadership Development

School Dropout Demonstration Assistance Program

American Conservation and Youth Services Corps

Illinois Youth Employment and Training Initiative (YETI)

National Job Corps Study

Quantum Opportunity Program (QOP) Demonstration

Carrera Model

Experiments Ongoing at Publication

Career Academies

Upward Bound

Center for Employment Training (CET) Replication Study

9. Low-Income Single/Teen Parents

Minority Female Single-Parent (MFSP) Demonstration

Young Families Can Project

Single-Parent Economic Independence Demonstration (SPEID)

10. Unemployed Workers

General Education in Manpower Training

Carbondale Job-Finding Club

Carbondale Handicapped Job-Finding Club

U.S. Employment Service Effectiveness of Counseling Pilot Study

Job Club Behavioral Supervision Test

Buffalo Dislocated Worker Demonstration Program

Claimant Placement and Work Test Demonstration

Delaware Dislocated Worker Pilot Program

Illinois Unemployment Insurance Incentive Program

Texas Worker Adjustment Demonstration

New Jersey Unemployment Insurance Reemployment Demonstration

Washington State Alternative Work Search Experiment

Nevada Concentrated Employment Program (CEP)

Pennsylvania Reemployment Bonus Demonstration

Reemploy Minnesota (REM)

Washington State Reemployment Bonus Experiment

Washington and Massachusetts Unemployment Insurance Self-Employment Work Search Demonstrations

Minority Male Opportunity and Responsibility Program

Maryland Unemployment Insurance Work Search Demonstration

Kentucky Worker Profiling and Reemployment Services (WPRS) Experiment

Job Search Assistance Demonstration

Experiment Ongoing at Publication

Individual Training Accounts

11. Homeless People

Homeless Employment Partnership (HEP)

Boston McKinney Demonstration Project

Philadelphia Micro-Enterprise Development Program

Critical Time Intervention

San Diego Homeless Research Demonstration

New Orleans Homeless Substance Abusers Project

HUD-VA Supported Housing Program (HUD-VASH)

Experiments Ongoing at Publication

Phoenix, Arizona, Homeless Study

St. Louis, Missouri, Community Alternatives

Westchester County, New York, Homeless Study

12. Charged/Convicted Individuals

Living Insurance for Ex-Offenders (LIFE)

Transitional Aid Research Project (TARP)

Court Employment Project

Ex-Offender Research Project

13. Substance Abusers

Wildcat Experiment

Job Seekers' Workshop

Transition Project

14. Frail Elderly

Introduction

Continued Care

BRI Protective Services

BRH Home Aide

Chronic Disease

Worcester Home Care

NCHSR Day Care/Homemaker Demonstration

Wisconsin Community Care Organization (CCO)—Milwaukee

Georgia Alternative Health Services (AHS)

Home Health Care Team

Project OPEN

San Diego Long-Term Care

Florida Pentastar

South Carolina Community Long-Term Care

National Long-Term Care (Channeling) Demonstration

Neighborhood Team Experiment

Team Approach to Outpatient Geriatric Evaluation Experiment

15. Nonelderly People with Disabilities

Training in Community Living

Job Path

Harbinger Mental Health Project

Structured Training and Employment Transitional Services (STETS) Demonstration

Transitional Employment Training Demonstration (TETD)

Project NetWork

Experiments Ongoing at Publication

Consumer-Operated Services Program

Employment Intervention Demonstration Program

State Partnership Initiatives

16. Multiple Groups

National Supported Work Demonstration (NSWD)

AFDC Homemaker—Home Health Aide Demonstrations

PART 3: Experiments Outside the United States

1. Africa

Teacher Incentives—Kenya (Quasi-experimental)

School Meals—Kenya (Quasi-experimental)

Deworming Drug Take-Up—Kenya (Quasi-experimental)

2. Asia-Pacific

Women as Policy Makers—India

Matriculation Awards Pilot—Israel

Assisting the Long-Term Unemployed—Australia

Matriculation Awards—Israel (Quasi-experimental)

3. Canada

Manitoba Basic Annual Income Experiment

Self-Sufficiency Project (SSP)

SSP Entry Effects

SSP Plus

Earnings Supplement Project

Experiments Ongoing at Publication

Community Employment Innovation Project

Learn$ave

4. Continental Europe

Intensified Employment Services—Sweden

Counseling and Monitoring I—Netherlands

Labour Market Training (LMT)—Norway

Job Training—Denmark

Bergen Worker Sickness—Norway

Bergen Pain—Norway

Counseling and Monitoring II—Netherlands

Targeted Negative Income Tax—Germany

Zurich Bike Messengers—Switzerland

Undergraduate Student Achievement—Netherlands

5. Latin America

PACES (Programa de Ampliación de Cobertura de la Educación Secundaria)—Colombia

School Facility Improvements—Bolivia (Quasi-experimental)

PROGRESA (Programa de Educación, Salud, y Alimentación)—Mexico (Quasi-experimental)

Proempleo—Argentina

6. United Kingdom

Electricity Pricing

Restart

13-Week Review

30-Month-Plus Restart

Supportive Caseloading

Jobplan

1—2—1/Workwise

Lone Parent Caseworker Pilots

1—2—1 for the Very Long Term Unemployed

Benefits Agency Visiting Officer/NDLP

New Deal 25 Plus

Intensive Gateway Trailblazers (IGT)/NDYP

In-Work Training Grant (IWTG)

Experiment Ongoing at Publication

Employment Zones

PART 4: Trends

1.The Social Experiment Market (from Journal of Economic Perspectives)

THE PRODUCTS

Policy Objectives

Product Design

Buyers and Sellers

Funding Sources

Suppliers of Experimental Evaluations

Remaining Questions

Market Concentration

The Scope of Future Experimentation

Geographic Concentration

Social Experiments and Economists

2. A Postscript

About the Authors

Index

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