Tests of the standard electroweak model in beta decay

We review the current status of precision measurements in allowed nuclear beta decay, including neutron decay, with emphasis on their potential to look for new physics beyond the standard electroweak model. The experimental results are interpreted in the framework of phenomenological model-independent descriptions of nuclear beta decay as well as in some specific extensions of the standard model. The values of the standard couplings and the constraints on the exotic couplings of the general beta decay Hamiltonian are updated. For the ratio between the axial and the vector couplings we obtain C_A/C_V = -1.26992(69) under the standard model assumptions. Particular attention is devoted to the discussion of the sensitivity and complementarity of different precision experiments in direct beta decay. The prospects and the impact of recent developments of precision tools and of high intensity low energy beams are also addressed.