The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Algorithms
We calculate the social return on algorithmic interventions (specifically their Marginal Value of Public Funds) across multiple domains of interest to economists—regulation, criminal justice, medicine, and education. Though these algorithms are different, the results are similar and striking. Each one has an MVPF of infinity: not only does it produce large benefits, it provides a “free lunch.” We do not take these numbers to mean these interventions ought to be necessarily scaled, but rather that much more R&D should be devoted to developing and carefully evaluating algorithmic solutions to policy problems.
Published Versions
Jens Ludwig & Sendhil Mullainathan & Ashesh Rambachan, 2024. "The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Algorithms," AEA Papers and Proceedings, vol 114, pages 623-627.
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