Affiliation:
1. University of Michigan (email: )
Abstract
In randomized controlled trials, treatment is often assigned by stratified randomization. I show that among all stratified randomization schemes that treat all units with probability one half, a certain matched-pair design achieves the maximum statistical precision for estimating the average treatment effect. In an important special case, the optimal design pairs units according to the baseline outcome. In a simulation study based on datasets from ten randomized controlled trials, this design lowers the standard error for the estimator of the average treatment effect by 10 percent on average, and by up to 34 percent, relative to the original designs. (JEL C13, C21)
Publisher
American Economic Association
Subject
Economics and Econometrics
Reference58 articles.
1. Estimation of the Conditional Variance in Paired Experiments
2. Bridging the Intention-Behavior Gap? The Effect of Plan-Making Prompts on Job Search and Employment
3. Abel, Martin, Rulof Burger, Eliana Carranza, and Patrizio Piraino. 2019. "Replication data for: Bridging the Intention-Behavior Gap? The Effect of Plan-Making Prompts on Job Search and Employment." Publisher: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) Type: dataset.
4. The Value of Reference Letters: Experimental Evidence from South Africa
5. The Value of Reference Letters: Experimental Evidence from South Africa
Cited by
17 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献，注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献，订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献