TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Riddell, Chris
AU  - Riddell, W. Craig
        TI  - When Can Experimental Evidence Mislead? A Re-Assessment of Canada's Self Sufficiency Project
        PY  - 2016/May/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 9939
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/publications/dp9939
        AB  - The Self-Sufficiency Project was a well-known welfare-to-work experiment that provided a generous but time-limited financial incentive to leave welfare and enter the workforce. Experimental evidence showed large short-term impacts but no lasting effects. We argue that these conclusions need to be re-assessed. Policy changes implemented during the SSP implied the behavior of the control group did not provide an appropriate counterfactual. We estimate the impacts the financial incentive would have had in a stable policy environment. This re-assessment leads to significant changes in the lessons previously reached. Our study demonstrates that experimental findings need to be interpreted with care.
        KW  - welfare-to-work policies
KW  - social experiments
KW  - Self-Sufficiency Project
        ER  -