Rankings / Candidate
John A. List
University of Chicago · Behavioral
Photo: Xuthoria, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Currently #11, tier Field, score 14.3, named by 1 source.Score history: 100.0, 25.0, 14.3
The work. He took economics out of the lab and into flea markets, charities, and schools, turning field experiments into a mainstream method.
The case for. Field experiments now run everywhere from ride-share apps to school districts, and List is the name attached to the method.
The case against. Experiments were rewarded in 2019 with Banerjee, Duflo, and Kremer, and he is still in his fifties; the committee rarely revisits a method this fast.
The KmikeyM angle. KmikeyM is a running field experiment with a sample size of one, and List's obsession with whether lab results survive contact with real stakes is the whole question.
What the sources say
- Clarivate alumni (prior years) named John A. List: named in 2015: for advancing field experiments in economics (heat 100) Preseason: the Clarivate alumni pool