Exploring whether behavior in context-free experiments is predictive of behavior in the field: Evidence from lab and field experiments in rural Sierra Leone

► We compare choice behavior of Sierra Leonean subsistence farmers across two experimental contexts. ► The first choice occurs in a context-free standard public goods game. ► The second choice occurs in the context of a real development intervention (“behavior in the field”). ► There is no meaningful correlation in behavior across contexts. ► This casts doubt on the prospect of using lab experiments as “predictors” of behavior in real life.