REECAP is open to those who wish to promote behavioural analysis and economic experimental designs for the ex-ante and ex-post evaluation of European agricultural policies.
The CAP toolbox for ex-ante policy assessment and ex-post evaluation studies includes mostly farm and market simulation models, statistical and econometric analysis of survey data, and descriptive case studies. Yet, the CAP has changed considerably, requiring adaptations of its evaluation toolbox. Policy-makers require more evidence-based policy recommendations. They pay more attention to cause-effect relationships of policies and to the additionality of their effects. Building an experimental situation or identifying a quasi-experimental situation for which outcomes can be compared to a proper counterfactual is a way to demonstrate and measure impact. Moreover, behavioral insights, often gained through lab and field economic experiments, have highlighted the need to understand better the decision context beyond the simple profit maximization assumption, in order to predict economic agents’ responses to different policy instruments and to design efficient and cost-effective policies.
Economic experiments are at the forefront of these recent methodological developments. By economic experiments, we mean discrete choice experiments (DCEs), laboratory experiments, field experiments and randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Their main common feature is to rely on data that are generated in a controlled setting, with a randomized assignment of participants to treatment and control groups. In contrast to “naturally-occurring” observational data, experimental data are obtained through a rigorous experimental protocol. This allows for a clearer identification of impact and causality and results which are potentially replicable in different contexts or with different types of participants.
More info on REECAP at: https://bit.ly/2YDd8QC
To register, follow the link https://bit.ly/3b2lC9i
