Experimental economics

This course will cover a number of key questions and techniques of experimental economics.

During the course of this seminar we will discuss and practice various aspects of using experimental methods in economics, including

● Judging if experiment is a suitable tool to answer research questions at hand

● Designing experiments:

o Field vs. lab

o Online vs. offline but computerized vs. pen&paper

o One-time vs. repeated decision; types of group matching

o Treatment: blocking/controlling and randomizing; level of randomization; factorial designs

o Econs’ tricks: BDM, strategy method, random lottery incentive system, conditional information lottery…

● Determining the sample: desirable subject pool and sample size (power calculations)…

● Writing experimental instructions

● Programing experiments

● Analysing experimental data

● Writing papers based on experiments

The substantive areas to which these will be applied will depend on participants’ interests but may include:

● Biases in judgment and decision making

● Decision making under risk and uncertainty

● Time preference and self-control

● Social/distributional preference

● Strategic games

● Bargaining and negotiations

● Markets

● Gender and discrimination

The Handbook of Experimental Economics, John Kagel and Alvin E. Roth, editors, Princeton University Press, 1995.

Colin Camerer, Behavioral Game Theory: Experiments in Strategic Interaction, Princeton University Press, 2003.

Bardsley, Nicholas, et al. Experimental economics: Rethinking the rules. Princeton University Press, 2010.

… and numerous journal articles.

The students will become

familiar with the methods of experimental economics (P8S_WG)

able to apply them in their own research agenda (P8S_UW)

aware of the responsibility towards the participants of experiments, the research community and society at large (P8S_KO, P8S_KR)

The students will be required to design an experimental study and hand in a stub of a paper, including abbreviated introduction/motivation and literature review, detailed design & procedures/methods section. They will also be required to conduct a pilot or manipulation check for the experiment.