Replication data for: From Proof of Concept to Scalable Policies: Challenges and Solutions, with an Application

Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) Abhijit Banerjee; Rukmini Banerji; James Berry; Esther Duflo; Harini Kannan; Shobhini Mukerji; Marc Shotland; Michael Walton

Version: View help for Version V1

Name	File Type	Size	Last Modified
analysis_data			10/12/2019 06:37:PM
logs			10/12/2019 06:37:PM
raw_tabfig			10/12/2019 06:37:PM
LICENSE.txt	text/plain	14.6 KB	10/12/2019 02:37:PM
proof_to_scale_analysis.do	text/plain	11 KB	10/12/2019 02:37:PM
readme.docx	application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document	18.3 KB	10/12/2019 02:37:PM
readme.pdf	application/pdf	39.3 KB	10/12/2019 02:37:PM

Project Citation:

Banerjee, Abhijit, Banerji, Rukmini, Berry, James, Duflo, Esther, Kannan, Harini, Mukerji, Shobhini, … Walton, Michael. Replication data for: From Proof of Concept to Scalable Policies: Challenges and Solutions, with an Application. Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2017. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2019-10-12. https://doi.org/10.3886/E114005V1

Project Description

Summary: The promise of randomized controlled trials is that evidence gathered through the evaluation of a specific program helps us—possibly after several rounds of fine-tuning and multiple replications in different contexts—to inform policy. However, critics have pointed out that a potential constraint in this agenda is that results from small "proof-of-concept" studies run by nongovernment organizations may not apply to policies that can be implemented by governments on a large scale. After discussing the potential issues, this paper describes the journey from the original concept to the design and evaluation of scalable policy. We do so by evaluating a series of strategies that aim to integrate the nongovernment organization Pratham's "Teaching at the Right Level" methodology into elementary schools in India. The methodology consists of reorganizing instruction based on children's actual learning levels, rather than on a prescribed syllabus, and has previously been shown to be very effective when properly implemented. We present evidence from randomized controlled trials involving some designs that failed to produce impacts within the regular schooling system but still helped shape subsequent versions of the program. As a result of this process, two versions of the programs were developed that successfully raised children's learning levels using scalable models in government schools. We use this example to draw general lessons about using randomized control trials to design scalable policies.

Scope of Project

JEL Classification:
      C90 Design of Experiments: General
      D78 Positive Analysis of Policy Formulation and Implementation
      I21 Analysis of Education
      I28 Education: Government Policy
      L31 Nonprofit Institutions; NGOs; Social Entrepreneurship
      O15 Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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V1 [2019-10-12]

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