Public Sector Experimentation: An Evaluation of the Impact of a Social Security Operation

Abstract

A case study is presented that demonstrates the use of a randomized control trial in measuring the impact of a social security operation. The need to measure the impact of many public sector activities is discussed. The infrequent reported use of experiments in such measurement is noted and the value of experimentation, and its role compared with other approaches, is considered. The study highlights some design principles for experiments in organizations.