Trends in RCT field experiment research and its application to domestic agriculture and forestry problems

Abstract

In recent years, efficient administrative management is required as the fiscal situation in the public sector has become severer. Attempts to form actual policies based on scientific basis (evidence) of the effect of public policy are spreading in Europe as well as the United States based on such problem consciousness. This practice is also well applied in Japan. This is called the evidence-based policy making (EBPM) approach. In this EBPM approach, it is the Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) in the real world that is considered the method that can evaluate the effect of policy most accurately. On the other hand, the RCT in experimental field research is still at a preliminary stage and only a handful of field experiments in the area of agriculture and the environment are being conducted in Japan. This paper hopefully serves as an introductory report on designing field RCT with a case study. After summarizing the advantages and disadvantages of RCT experiment in the field, we introduce an RCT case study using a social intervention project in Manchester, UK.