I think our point is more that there is not enough social and behavioral science R&D anywhere (in or out of academia) specifically targeted at EA goals, i.e., finding interventions that can generate >1000x ROI at scale. If that R&D were really happening outside of academia, then great! But the recent retrenchment at GiveWell to just 4 interventions with sufficient evidence to be “top charities” suggests that we are not in fact investing sufficiently in R&D to find highly cost-effective causes.
Without targeted funding, social and behavioral science R&D to find interventions that clear the >1000x ROI threshold won’t happen on its own: academic journals and public funders of science don’t prioritize that particular goal. But incentives matter! If we want to find those interventions, all we have to do is fund the work.
Thanks for this.
I think our point is more that there is not enough social and behavioral science R&D anywhere (in or out of academia) specifically targeted at EA goals, i.e., finding interventions that can generate >1000x ROI at scale. If that R&D were really happening outside of academia, then great! But the recent retrenchment at GiveWell to just 4 interventions with sufficient evidence to be “top charities” suggests that we are not in fact investing sufficiently in R&D to find highly cost-effective causes.
Without targeted funding, social and behavioral science R&D to find interventions that clear the >1000x ROI threshold won’t happen on its own: academic journals and public funders of science don’t prioritize that particular goal. But incentives matter! If we want to find those interventions, all we have to do is fund the work.