The Pie: An Economics Podcast Life as a Lab: John List on the Art and Ethics of Field Experiments
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May 5, 2026 
John List, University of Chicago economist and pioneer of large-scale real-world experiments. He tells how hands-on markets shaped his approach. Topics include what natural field experiments are, ethical tradeoffs and informed consent, scalable policy tests like Lyft and Walmart studies, common experimental mistakes, replication and power, and practical tips to make your life a lab.
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Baseball Card Table Sparked Experimental Curiosity
- John List began experimenting as a teenager selling baseball cards at weekend conventions, observing real bargaining, pricing, and opportunity costs.
- Those early market observations convinced him to test classroom theory against real-world behavior and sparked his career in field experiments.
Natural Field Experiments Use The World As The Lab
- A natural field experiment perturbs a real-world setting that people would experience anyway to learn causal effects without artificial lab shocks.
- List used charity mailings and differing letters to test fundraising tactics while keeping activities natural for participants.
Get Ethics Right Before Running Field Tests
- Follow ethical rules: justify lack of informed consent, avoid adding undue harm, and obtain IRB approval for field experiments.
- List cites Belmont, Helsinki, and the Common Rule and uses a graded "gold/silver/bronze" standard for study ethics.
