Using Randomized Controlled Trials and Network Analysis in International Economics: An Introduction

Abstract

This article introduces two methodologies that can be largely useful to empirical analysis in international economics but have not been fully utilized in the field: randomized controlled trials and network analysis. These methods can contribute to a number of topics in international economics including learning by exporting, FDI spillovers, and international diffusion of knowledge and economic shocks, correcting for biases due to endogeneity and specifying channels of diffusion.