Ecosystems for Field Research in India: X ARC Lab

The eXperimental Applied Research Collaborations Lab (X ARC Lab) aims to transform how experimental economics is conducted, mentored, and scaled. Professors Arun Chandrasekhar (Stanford University) and Emily Breza (Harvard University) have developed a research program that combines rigorous field-based experimental economics with a strong focus on training and mentoring early-career researchers. The lab supports graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in conducting experimental and policy-relevant research in rural India.

The Lab also focuses on strengthening training and mentorship opportunities for early-career scholars by building a large-scale longitudinal panel, with an emphasis on climate shocks in Karnataka and Odisha. It provides structured opportunities for early-career scholars to engage in high-quality field research, while producing durable public goods that advance both academic and policy understanding of climate vulnerability in rural India. This work aims to generate public goods that support researchers, policymakers, and students in understanding how communities respond to climate and economic shocks. The Lab’s datasets and tools will be publicly available, enabling other researchers to study climate resilience, social networks, risk sharing, migration, and the behavioral impacts of policy interventions.

The goal is to provide a platform that dramatically lowers the cost of conducting surveys and experiments for early-career researchers.