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Experimentation and Social Welfare Policymaking in the United States |
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From MDRC: Adapted from a speech given at "Lancement du Grenelle de l'insertion: Les rencontres de l'experimentation sociale," a conference sponsored by the French government in Grenoble, France, to discuss the role of experimental studies in reducing poverty and helping the unemployed reenter the labor market. France has been a trailblazer in social welfare policy: from its remarkable system of child care to its commitment to comprehensive health care for all. While I have been invited to share the U.S. experience with experimentation and the role that MDRC has played, I also welcome the opportunity to learn from France's experience. The most reliable way to create a counterfactual or control group is to use a random assignment research design --- widely accepted as the "gold standard" --- essentially the same research method used in medical research to determine the effectiveness of a new medicine. This brings me to the last part of my story, the test of conditional cash transfers that is just now getting underway in New York City. Two years ago, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg established a commission of key stakeholders to make recommendations about alleviating poverty. Progresa replaced the grain subsidy system with a relatively generous cash transfer that was conditioned on children staying in school, on their parents participating in nutrition classes that taught them how to improve their diets, and on the families getting regular health check-ups. Thirty years later, the U.S. has learned that random assignment is possible, that you can learn what works, and that experimentation can be a powerful tool for social change.
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