The Voltage Effect

The quality of an idea or project does not ensure the success of its large-scale deployment. Indeed, scalability—i.e., the ability of a device to adapt and rapidly grow in response to increased demand—always carries an element of chance. John A. List, a specialist in experimental economics who worked for ride-sharing company Lyft and for the White House, made this his field of study. In this book, he starts by listing the classic causes of failures during a deployment. One example among others, false positives: a pilot project appears to be a success that could be widely reproduced, but later turns out to have been dependent on very specific conditions, impossible to gather in a systematic manner. Or cultural pitfalls: the initial project rested on a small community bonded by common values that would be difficult to disseminate on a massive scale. With his economist’s outlook, John A. List also devotes part of the book to modeling the costs and returns of a large-scale deployment; in particular, he demonstrates why economies of scale are sometimes underwhelming. A clearly expressed argument, supported by numerous examples.