experimental economics sciencedirect

Methods in Experimental Economics

An Introduction

• © 2019
• Joachim Weimann 0 ,
• Jeannette Brosig-Koch 1

Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany

• Comprehensive and hands-on introduction to experimental economic research
• Also addresses the statistical analysis of experimental data
• One of the first textbooks on experimental economic research
• Written for students and researchers in economics, as well as related fields in which experimental research is relevant

Part of the book series: Springer Texts in Business and Economics (STBE)

6057 Accesses

9 Citations

2 Altmetric

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this book

• Available as EPUB and PDF
• Read on any device
• Instant download
• Own it forever
• Durable hardcover edition
• Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
• Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

Licence this eBook for your library

Institutional subscriptions

Table of contents (4 chapters)

Front matter, the study of behavior.

• Joachim Weimann, Jeannette Brosig-Koch

Methodological Foundations

Experimental practice, the experiment from a statistical perspective, back matter.

• Experimental economics
• Behavioral economics
• Game theory
• Experimental data
• Experimental laboratory

About this book

This textbook provides a hands-on and intuitive overview of the methodological foundations of experimental economics. Experimental economic research has been an integral part of economic science for quite some time and is gaining more and more attention in related disciplines. The book addresses the design and execution of experiments, the evaluation of experimental data and the equipment of an experimental laboratory. It illustrates the challenges involved in designing and conducting experiments and helps the reader to address them in practice. 

Authors and Affiliations

Joachim Weimann

Jeannette Brosig-Koch

About the authors

Joachim Weimann is a professor at the Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, executive director of the Magdeburg Laboratory for Experimental Economic Research (MaXLab) and chairman of the Society for Experimental Economic Research, the world's oldest association of experimental economists. In addition to experimental economic research, his scientific interests include labor market research, happiness research and environmental economics. Jeannette Brosig-Koch is a professor at the University of Duisburg-Essen, founding director of the Essen Laboratory for Experimental Economic Research (elfe) and chairwoman of the Social Sciences Committee of the Verein für Socialpolitik. Her research deals with various issues in the field of experimental health economics and market design.

Bibliographic Information

Book Title : Methods in Experimental Economics

Book Subtitle : An Introduction

Authors : Joachim Weimann, Jeannette Brosig-Koch

Series Title : Springer Texts in Business and Economics

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93363-4

Publisher : Springer Cham

eBook Packages : Economics and Finance , Economics and Finance (R0)

Copyright Information : Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019

Hardcover ISBN : 978-3-319-93362-7 Published: 24 July 2019

eBook ISBN : 978-3-319-93363-4 Published: 12 July 2019

Series ISSN : 2192-4333

Series E-ISSN : 2192-4341

Edition Number : 1

Number of Pages : XIII, 307

Number of Illustrations : 26 b/w illustrations, 34 illustrations in colour

Additional Information : Original German edition published by Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH, Wiesbaden, Germany, 2019

Topics : Behavioral/Experimental Economics , Game Theory, Economics, Social and Behav. Sciences , Game Theory

• Publish with us

Policies and ethics

• Find a journal
• Track your research

• Architecture and Design
• Asian and Pacific Studies
• Business and Economics
• Classical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies
• Computer Sciences
• Cultural Studies
• Engineering
• General Interest
• Geosciences
• Industrial Chemistry
• Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies
• Jewish Studies
• Library and Information Science, Book Studies
• Life Sciences
• Linguistics and Semiotics
• Literary Studies
• Materials Sciences
• Mathematics
• Social Sciences
• Sports and Recreation
• Theology and Religion
• Publish your article
• The role of authors
• Promoting your article
• Abstracting & indexing
• Publishing Ethics
• Why publish with De Gruyter
• How to publish with De Gruyter
• Our book series
• Our subject areas
• Your digital product at De Gruyter
• Contribute to our reference works
• Product information
• Tools & resources
• Product Information
• Promotional Materials
• Orders and Inquiries
• FAQ for Library Suppliers and Book Sellers
• Repository Policy
• Free access policy
• Open Access agreements
• Database portals
• For Authors
• Customer service
• People + Culture
• Journal Management
• How to join us
• Working at De Gruyter
• Mission & Vision
• De Gruyter Foundation
• De Gruyter Ebound
• Our Responsibility
• Partner publishers

Your purchase has been completed. Your documents are now available to view.

The Handbook of Experimental Economics

• Edited by: John H. Kagel and Alvin E. Roth
• X / Twitter

Please login or register with De Gruyter to order this product.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Copyright year: 1995
• Audience: Professional and scholarly;College/higher education;
• Main content: 744
• Other: 69 line drawings 73 tables
• Keywords: adaptive models ; auction theory studies ; Battle of the Sexes game ; blind-bid auction ; call market ; description invariance ; Dutch auction ; efficient outcomes ; Ellsberg paradox ; fanning in hypothesis ; focal points ; futures market ; illusion of control ; impunity games ; infinite horizon game ; Lindahl equilibrium ; Lindahl mechanism ; mechanism design ; Nash bargaining theory ; options market ; posted-bid auctions ; price list auction ; Prisoner's Dilemma ; scoring rules ; simulation ; computer ; Vickery auction ; trigger strategies
• Published: May 5, 2020
• ISBN: 9780691213255

ordering information from PUP for U.S. and overseas customers.

THE HANDBOOK OF EXPERIMENTAL ECONOMICS Edited by John H. Kagel and Alvin E. Roth is published by Princeton University Press and copyrighted, (c) 1995, by Princeton University Press. All rights reserved. This text may be used and shared in accordance with the fair-use provisions of US copyright law, and it may be archived and redistributed in electronic form, provided that this entire notice is carried and provided that Princeton University Press is notified and no fee is charged for access. Archiving, redistribution, or republication of this text on other terms, in any medium, requires the consent of Princeton University Press.

Early reviews (from the bookjacket...) by Ken Binmore, Robert Gibbons, Daniel Kahneman, Richard Thaler, and Ariel Rubinstein.

This Handbook is the work not only of many years, but also of many hands, by no means all of whom are authors of the chapters. In order to invite the maximum amount of feedback to the author of each chapter, a three day conference was convened in Pittsburgh in June of 1990, at which each author presented an extended outline of his proposed chapter. Investigators from every major center of experimental economics at the time were invited to attend, and most of these centers were in fact represented 2 . The discussions were lively, sometimes even heated. Each author subsequently circulated the various versions of his chapter widely to both experimenters and others interested in the particular topic area, and received many comments and suggestions. Indeed, the pace of experimentation was sufficiently rapid during the time that the chapters were being written that revisions were often required to take account of recent developments, sometimes developments that had been initiated by the earlier discussions.

The capstone of this effort came in January of 1994 when the (virtually) final chapters were presented at the annual meeting of the American Economic Association, in Boston.

This Handbook has eight chapters. Every one except the first of these surveys an area of economics in which there has been a concentration of experiments. The first chapter, in contrast, is meant to serve as an introduction to experimental economics as a whole. In our editorial discussions with the chapter authors, they were told that they were free to write each chapter under the assumption that readers would have read the Introduction. Thus each author was free to focus each chapter as sharply as seemed appropriate.

One suggestion that we received more than once during the course of this project was that the Handbook should include a chapter on methodology, which would tell people how to do experiments. We have not done this. Our view is that a better way to learn how to design and conduct experiments is to consider how good experiments grow organically out of the issues they are designed to investigate, and the hypotheses among which they are designed to distinguish. For this reason, we asked each author to address methodological issues that were important for the experiments being discussed 3 .

One of the pleasures of participating in this project has been that it has afforded us the best seats from which to observe one of the most exciting games in town. New centers of experimental economics have sprung up continually while this work was underway, and the interaction between theorists and experimenters has increased apace. Indeed, one of the special pleasures of finally finishing this project is that it is clear that in only a few more years, a single volume will no longer be able to do even the rough justice that we manage here, to such a rapidly growing area of economic research.

March 1994 Pittsburgh, PA.

1. This volume thus has a very different, although complementary purpose to the earlier volume Laboratory experimentation in economics: Six points of view (Alvin E. Roth, editor, Cambridge University Press, 1987). In that volume, six investigators with different approaches to experimentation (John Kagel, Charles Plott, Alvin Roth, Reinhard Selten, Vernon Smith, and Richard Thaler) were each asked to describe work that illustrated their own approach. In this Handbook, in contrast, the authors were asked to describe how series of experiments are mediated by and mediate the different approaches of different investigators.

2. Although we failed to preserve a complete list of attendees, some of whom only attended for a day, the following list is nearly complete: John O'Brien (Carnegie-Mellon University), Colin Camerer (University of Pennsylvania, now at California Institute of Technology), Robin Dawes (Carnegie-Mellon University), Robert Forsythe (University of Iowa), Glenn Harrison (University of South Carolina), John Hey (University of York), Elizabeth Hoffman (University of Arizona, now at Iowa State University), Charles Holt (University of Virginia), John Kennan (University of Iowa, now at Wisconsin), John Ledyard (California Institute of Technology), Dan Levin (University of Houston), Graham Loomes (University of York), Jack Ochs (University of Pittsburgh), Vesna Prasnikar (University of Pittsburgh, now at University of Ljubljana and Northwestern University), Tatsuyoski Saijo (University of Tsukuba), Andrew Schotter (New York University), Leo Simon (UC Berkeley), Vernon Smith (University of Arizona), Sanjay Srivastava (Carnegie-Mellon University), Shyam Sunder (Carnegie-Mellon University), Richard Thaler (Cornell University, now at Chicago), John Van Huyck (Texas A&M University), and James Walker (University of Indiana). Regrettably no one from the active German (then West German) group of experimenters was able to accept our invitation.

3. Readers with a methodological inclination might keep an eye out for the following kinds of issues: the role of monetary incentives on behavior, demand induced effects, subject pool effects, inducing risk preferences (the binary lottery technique), techniques for inducing infinite horizon games, effects of subject experience, within versus between group designs, and abstract versus concrete problem representation (to name some of the issues that appear in more then one chapter).

• 1. Individual Choice, and the Wallis-Friedman Critique
• 2. Game-theoretic Hypotheses
• 3. Industrial Organization
• B. The 1960's to the present
• II. The Uses of Experimentation
• 1. The Prisoner's Dilemma a.Experiments versus simulations: A methodological digression
• 2. The Free Rider Problem in Public Goods Provision
• 1. Coordination and coordination failure
• 2. Learning and adaptation
• 1. Nash's model of bargaining
• 2. Controlling for unobserved risk posture: binary lottery payoffs
• 3. Information in bargaining
• 4. Risk aversion in bargaining
• 1. Repeated double auctions with stationary parameters
• 2. Some policy-oriented comparisons of market rules
• 3. Information aggregation: Markets as forecasters
• 1. The winner's curse
• a. Controlling incentives: A methodological digression
• a. Alternative theoretical directions
• b. Market behavior
• 2. Other choice phenomena
• 3. Why haven't these demonstrated anomalies swept away utility theory?
• a. The BDM procedure for measuring reservation prices
• b. Controlling preferences with monetary payoffs
• (1) Preferences and probabilities: An Historical Digression on Binary Lotteries and Related Experimental Designs
• d. To control or not to control? Costs and benefits

Bibliography

• A. A Simple Public Goods Experiment (LI>B. The Art of Experiment: Sensitivity and Control
• C. The Language of Experiment: Mechanisms and Environments
• D. The Range of Public Goods Environments
• E. What Is and Is Not to Be Surveyed
• A. Bohm: Estimating Demand
• B. Dawes et al.: Social Dilemmas
• C. Marwell et al.: The Free-Rider Problem
• D. Economists Begin to React
• E. Issac et al.: Systematic Study by Economists
• A. Thresholds and Provision Points
• B. Experience, Repetition and Learning
• 1. Marginal Payoffs and Rebates
• 3. Communication
• 1. Environment
• 2. Systematic
• 3. Institutional
• E. Unknown Effects
• IV. Final Thoughts

Appendix Notes Bibliography

• A. Adaptive Learning Processes and Rational Expectations Equilibria
• B. The Path or Prices When the Rate of Growth of the Money Stock Is Zero
• C. Price Inflation with a Growing Money Stock
• D. Sunspots
• A. Payoff Dominance, Security and Historical Precedent
• B. The Relevance of Dominated Strategies
• C. Influencing Equilibrium Selection
• III. Experiments in Decentralized Matching Environments: Games with Multiple Optimal Equilibria
• IV. Concluding Remarks

Notes Bibliography

• A. Unstructured Bargaining Experiments
• 1. An Initial Exchange of Views
• 2. A Larger Experimental Design
• a. Are Players "Trying to Be Fair"?
• a. Distinguishing between Alternative Hypotheses
• b. A Cross-Cultural Experiment
• A. The Frequency of Disagreements and Delays
• a. The Uncontrolled Social Utility Hypothesis
• b. The Communications Hypothesis
• 2. A New Experiment
• 3. Some Further Experiments
• 4. Recapitulation of the Methodological Issues
• 1. Nonstrategic Models
• a. Complete Information Models
• b. Incomplete Information Models
• c. A Digression on the Strategy Method
• D. Deadlines
• I. Overview
• II. Beginnings
• A. Experiments That Evaluate Behavioral Assumptions
• B. Tests for Sensitivity to Violations of Structural Assumptions
• C. Searching for Empirical Regularities
• A. Instructions
• B. Design Considerations
• A. Posted Prices
• B. Uniform Prices
• C. One-Sided Sequential Auctions
• D. Double Auctions
• E. Decentralized Negotiations
• F. Discounting
• G. Other Institutions
• H. Disadvantages of the Cournot Quantity-Choice Institution
• A. Monopoly
• B. Decentralized Regulatory Proposals
• C. Potential Competition as a Regulator: Market Contestability
• D. Predatory Pricing and Antitrust Remedies
• A. Definitions of Market Power
• B. Market Power in Double Auctions
• C. Market Power in Posted-Offer Auctions
• A. Repetition with Different Cohorts: Experience
• B. Multiperiod Repetition with the Same Cohort
• C. Pure-Numbers Effects and the Ability to Punish
• D. Communication
• E. Contractual Provisions
• A. Product Quality, Asymmetric Information, and Market Failures
• B. Spatial Competition
• C. Vertically Related Markets
• A. Field Data from Financial Markets
• B. Designing Experimental Asset Markets
• C. Dissemination of Information
• D. Aggregation of Information
• E. Market for Information
• II. Futures and State-Contingent Claims
• III. Bubbles and False Equilibria
• A. Adjustment Path
• B. Variables That Transmit Information
• C. Learning Sequences
• D. Aggregate Uncertainty
• E. Role of Arbitrage
• F. Generation of Bids and Asks
• A. Variance Bound Tests
• B. Arbitrage Relationships
• A. Trading Suspensions and Price Change Limits
• B. Double Auction versus Call Market
• C. Specialist Privileges and Book Display
• D. Control of Speculative Bubbles
• E. Bid-Ask Spread
• F. Off-Floor and Block Trading
• VII. Laboratory Modeling of Asset Markets

Introduction

• A. Experimental Procedures
• 1. Tests of the Strategic Equivalence of First-Price and Dutch Auctions
• 2. Tests of the Strategic Equivalence of Second-Price and English Auctions
• 1. Effects of Changing Numbers of Bidders
• 2. Uncertainty Regarding the Number of Bidders
• D. Auctions with Affiliated Private Values
• E. Effects of Price Information in Private Value Auctions
• F. Learning, Adjustment Processes, and Cash Balance Effects in First-Price Private Value Auctions
• 1. Risk Aversion and CRRAM As Applied to Single Unit First-Price Auctions
• 2. The Flat Maximum Critique
• 3. Risk Aversion and Overbidding in Related Environments
• 4. Using the Binary Lottery Procedure to Control for Risk Aversion
• 1. First-Place Sealed Bid Auctions
• 2. Limited Liability and "Safe Havens"
• 3. Second-Place Sealed Bid Auctions
• B. More Winner's Curse: English Auctions and First-Price Auctions with Asymmetric Information
• 1. The Winner's Curse in Bilateral Bargaining Games with Asymmetric Information
• 2. The Winner's Curse in "Blind Bid" Auctions
• 3. Lemons and Ripoffs: The Winner's Curse in Markets with Quality Endogenously Determined
• D. Learning and Adjustment Processes in Markets with a Winner's Curse
• A. Collusion
• 1. Direct Comparisons between Laboratory and Field Data
• 2. Differences in Structure between Laboratory and Field Auctions
• C. Two-Sided Auctions
• D. Other Auction Studies

Detailed table of contents of chapter 8:

• 1. Why Study Errors in Decision Making?
• B. Two Controversies: Methods and Implications
• C. A Map and Guidebook
• 1. Scoring Rules
• 2. Confidence Intervals
• B. Perception and Memory Bases
• 1. Underweighting of Base Rates
• 2. Underweighting on Likelihood Information (Conservatism)
• 3. The Law of Small Numbers and Misperceptions of Randomness
• 4. Market Level Tests of Representativeness
• D. Confirmation Bias and Obstacles to Learning
• E. Expectations Formation
• 1. False Consensus and Hindsight Bias
• 2. Market Level Tests of Curse of Knowledge
• G. The Illusion of Control
• H. Judgment: Summary and New Directions
• 1. Notation and a Diagram
• 2. The Axioms
• 1. Three Controversies
• 2. Initial Tests
• 1. The Allais Paradoxes
• 2. Process Violations
• 3. Prospect Theory
• 4. Elicitation Biases
• 1. Predictions of Generalized EU Theories
• 2. Empirical Studies Using Pairwise Choices
• 3. Empirical Studies Measuring Indifference Curves
• 4. Empirical Studies Fitting Functions to Individuals
• 5. Cross-Species Robustness: Experiments with Animals
• 6. Some Conclusions from Recent Studies
• 7. Investments in Risky Assets
• 1. The Ellsberg Paradox
• 2. Conceptions of Ambiguity
• 3. Empirical Tests
• 4. Formal Models
• 5. Applications to Economics
• F. Choice over Time
• G. Process Theories and Tests
• 1. Framing Effects
• 2. Lottery Correlation, Regret, and Display Effects
• 3. Compound Lottery Reduction
• 1. New Evidence of Preference Reversal
• 2. Arbitage and Incentives
• 3. Reversals and Markets
• 4. Social Comparisons and Reversals
• 5. Some Conclusions about Preference Reversals
• 1. Market Experiments
• 2. Explanations Based on Experimental Artifacts
• 3. Endowment Effects: Some Psychology and Implications
• 1. Search for Wages and Prices
• 2. Search for Information
• L. Choice: Summary and New Directions

Short reviews

--from the hardcover bookjacket:

"I wish every economist and economics graduate student would read this book. Those who are considering running experiments should be forced to; this is a bible in how to run good experiments. Every chapter is amazingly comprehensive and has been written by a true expert in the field. But economists who would never dream about running an experiment can benefit from reading this just as much. The beauty of experiments is that they force theorists to think carefully about their theories." Richard Thaler, Cornell University

"This Handbook surveys one of the most important developments in economics in the last decade, the flowering of experimental economics. Led by two of the leaders of current economic theory and experimental economics, an impressive group of researchers provides the reader with an excellent up-to-date overview of one of the most fascinating and promising areas of current economic research." Ariel Rubinstein, Tel Aviv University and Princeton University

"The Handbook is not only a contribution to experimental economics, it is a major contribution to social science. It successfully combines the rigor and clarity of economic analysis with a commitment to open-minded examination of data, and a refreshing willingness to question dogma. Every student of human choice and action will find this text useful." Daniel Kahneman, The Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University

"Experimental economics comes of age with this volume. At last the dust begins to clear, and it becomes possible to confront theory with coherent and reliable laboratory data." Ken Binmore, University College, London

"This Handbook heralds the emergence of experimental economics as a field within economics. Several chapters emphasize that strong connections are developing to such fields as industrial organization and macroeconomics. Just as important, however, the Handbook may open a dialogue with the legions of researchers in other disciplines, including organizational behavior, political science, psychology, and sociology, who also conduct experiments to improve their understanding of human behavior." Robert Gibbons, Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University

--and from the paperback book jacket:

"This book is impressive for the clarity, depth, and informativeness of its surveys. The focus on series of experiments is very instructive... One can learn a lot from the issues debated, the methodological digressions, and the many suggestions for further research... This is a great book that is whole-heartedly recommended." F. van Winden, The Journal of Economics

"The book provides not only a comprehensive and deep review of major areas of experimental research, but it is also exceptionally intellectually stimulating and insightful for theoretical economists as well as those who are interested in more immediate policy issues." Katerina Sherstyuk, Economic Record

Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics

Subject Area and Category

• Economics and Econometrics
• Applied Psychology
• Social Sciences (miscellaneous)

Elsevier Inc.

Publication type

22148043, 22148051

Information

How to publish in this journal

The set of journals have been ranked according to their SJR and divided into four equal groups, four quartiles. Q1 (green) comprises the quarter of the journals with the highest values, Q2 (yellow) the second highest values, Q3 (orange) the third highest values and Q4 (red) the lowest values.

The SJR is a size-independent prestige indicator that ranks journals by their 'average prestige per article'. It is based on the idea that 'all citations are not created equal'. SJR is a measure of scientific influence of journals that accounts for both the number of citations received by a journal and the importance or prestige of the journals where such citations come from It measures the scientific influence of the average article in a journal, it expresses how central to the global scientific discussion an average article of the journal is.

Evolution of the number of published documents. All types of documents are considered, including citable and non citable documents.

This indicator counts the number of citations received by documents from a journal and divides them by the total number of documents published in that journal. The chart shows the evolution of the average number of times documents published in a journal in the past two, three and four years have been cited in the current year. The two years line is equivalent to journal impact factor ™ (Thomson Reuters) metric.

Evolution of the total number of citations and journal's self-citations received by a journal's published documents during the three previous years. Journal Self-citation is defined as the number of citation from a journal citing article to articles published by the same journal.

Evolution of the number of total citation per document and external citation per document (i.e. journal self-citations removed) received by a journal's published documents during the three previous years. External citations are calculated by subtracting the number of self-citations from the total number of citations received by the journal’s documents.

International Collaboration accounts for the articles that have been produced by researchers from several countries. The chart shows the ratio of a journal's documents signed by researchers from more than one country; that is including more than one country address.

Not every article in a journal is considered primary research and therefore "citable", this chart shows the ratio of a journal's articles including substantial research (research articles, conference papers and reviews) in three year windows vs. those documents other than research articles, reviews and conference papers.

Ratio of a journal's items, grouped in three years windows, that have been cited at least once vs. those not cited during the following year.

Evolution of the percentage of female authors.

Evolution of the number of documents cited by public policy documents according to Overton database.

Evoution of the number of documents related to Sustainable Development Goals defined by United Nations. Available from 2018 onwards.

Leave a comment

Name * Required

Email (will not be published) * Required

* Required Cancel

The users of Scimago Journal & Country Rank have the possibility to dialogue through comments linked to a specific journal. The purpose is to have a forum in which general doubts about the processes of publication in the journal, experiences and other issues derived from the publication of papers are resolved. For topics on particular articles, maintain the dialogue through the usual channels with your editor.

Follow us on @ScimagoJR Scimago Lab , Copyright 2007-2024. Data Source: Scopus®

Cookie settings

Cookie Policy

Legal Notice

Privacy Policy

Browse Econ Literature

• Working papers
• Software components
• Book chapters
• JEL classification

More features

• Subscribe to new research

RePEc Biblio

Author registration.

• Economics Virtual Seminar Calendar NEW!

Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics)

• Journal of Behavioral Economics , Elsevier
• Publisher Info
• Serial Info

Corrections

Contact information of elsevier, serial information, impact factors.

• Simple ( last 10 years )
• Recursive ( 10 )
• Discounted ( 10 )
• Recursive discounted ( 10 )
• H-Index ( 10 )
• Euclid ( 10 )
• Aggregate ( 10 )
• By citations
• By downloads (last 12 months)

2024, Volume 110, Issue C

2024, volume 109, issue c, 2024, volume 108, issue c, 2023, volume 107, issue c, 2023, volume 106, issue c, 2023, volume 105, issue c, 2023, volume 104, issue c, 2023, volume 103, issue c, 2023, volume 102, issue c, more services and features.

Follow serials, authors, keywords & more

Public profiles for Economics researchers

Various research rankings in Economics

RePEc Genealogy

Who was a student of whom, using RePEc

Curated articles & papers on economics topics

Upload your paper to be listed on RePEc and IDEAS

New papers by email

Subscribe to new additions to RePEc

EconAcademics

Blog aggregator for economics research

Cases of plagiarism in Economics

About RePEc

Initiative for open bibliographies in Economics

News about RePEc

Questions about IDEAS and RePEc

RePEc volunteers

Participating archives

Publishers indexing in RePEc

Privacy statement

Found an error or omission?

Opportunities to help RePEc

Get papers listed

Have your research listed on RePEc

Open a RePEc archive

Have your institution's/publisher's output listed on RePEc

Get RePEc data

Use data assembled by RePEc

Handbook of Experimental Economics Results

• 1st Edition, Volume 1 - August 15, 2008
• Editors: Charles R. Plott, Vernon L. Smith
• Language: English
• Hardback ISBN: 9780444826428 9 7 8 - 0 - 4 4 4 - 8 2 6 4 2 - 8
• eBook ISBN: 9780080887968 9 7 8 - 0 - 0 8 - 0 8 8 7 9 6 - 8

Experimental methods in economics respond to circumstances that are not completely dictated by accepted theory or outstanding problems. While the field of economics makes sharp… Read more

Purchase options

Limited Offer

Save 50% on book bundles

Immediately download your ebook while waiting for your print delivery. no promo code is needed..

Institutional subscription on ScienceDirect

• No. of pages : 1184
• Language : English
• Edition : 1
• Published : August 15, 2008
• Imprint : North Holland
• Hardback ISBN : 9780444826428
• eBook ISBN : 9780080887968

Charles R. Plott

Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Fellow of the Econometric Society

Diplôme Docteur honoris causa, L'université Pierre Mendès (France), 1996

Doctor of Letters honoris causa, Purdue University , 1995

Vernon L. Smith

• Search Menu

Sign in through your institution

• Browse content in Arts and Humanities
• Browse content in Archaeology
• Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Archaeology
• Archaeological Methodology and Techniques
• Archaeology by Region
• Archaeology of Religion
• Archaeology of Trade and Exchange
• Biblical Archaeology
• Contemporary and Public Archaeology
• Environmental Archaeology
• Historical Archaeology
• History and Theory of Archaeology
• Industrial Archaeology
• Landscape Archaeology
• Mortuary Archaeology
• Prehistoric Archaeology
• Underwater Archaeology
• Urban Archaeology
• Zooarchaeology
• Browse content in Architecture
• Architectural Structure and Design
• History of Architecture
• Residential and Domestic Buildings
• Theory of Architecture
• Browse content in Art
• Art Subjects and Themes
• History of Art
• Industrial and Commercial Art
• Theory of Art
• Biographical Studies
• Byzantine Studies
• Browse content in Classical Studies
• Classical History
• Classical Philosophy
• Classical Mythology
• Classical Literature
• Classical Reception
• Classical Art and Architecture
• Classical Oratory and Rhetoric
• Greek and Roman Papyrology
• Greek and Roman Epigraphy
• Greek and Roman Law
• Greek and Roman Archaeology
• Late Antiquity
• Religion in the Ancient World
• Digital Humanities
• Browse content in History
• Colonialism and Imperialism
• Diplomatic History
• Environmental History
• Genealogy, Heraldry, Names, and Honours
• Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing
• Historical Geography
• History by Period
• History of Emotions
• History of Agriculture
• History of Education
• History of Gender and Sexuality
• Industrial History
• Intellectual History
• International History
• Labour History
• Legal and Constitutional History
• Local and Family History
• Maritime History
• Military History
• National Liberation and Post-Colonialism
• Oral History
• Political History
• Public History
• Regional and National History
• Revolutions and Rebellions
• Slavery and Abolition of Slavery
• Social and Cultural History
• Theory, Methods, and Historiography
• Urban History
• World History
• Browse content in Language Teaching and Learning
• Language Learning (Specific Skills)
• Language Teaching Theory and Methods
• Browse content in Linguistics
• Applied Linguistics
• Cognitive Linguistics
• Computational Linguistics
• Forensic Linguistics
• Grammar, Syntax and Morphology
• Historical and Diachronic Linguistics
• History of English
• Language Evolution
• Language Reference
• Language Acquisition
• Language Variation
• Language Families
• Lexicography
• Linguistic Anthropology
• Linguistic Theories
• Linguistic Typology
• Phonetics and Phonology
• Psycholinguistics
• Sociolinguistics
• Translation and Interpretation
• Writing Systems
• Browse content in Literature
• Bibliography
• Children's Literature Studies
• Literary Studies (Romanticism)
• Literary Studies (American)
• Literary Studies (Asian)
• Literary Studies (European)
• Literary Studies (Eco-criticism)
• Literary Studies (Modernism)
• Literary Studies - World
• Literary Studies (1500 to 1800)
• Literary Studies (19th Century)
• Literary Studies (20th Century onwards)
• Literary Studies (African American Literature)
• Literary Studies (British and Irish)
• Literary Studies (Early and Medieval)
• Literary Studies (Fiction, Novelists, and Prose Writers)
• Literary Studies (Gender Studies)
• Literary Studies (Graphic Novels)
• Literary Studies (History of the Book)
• Literary Studies (Plays and Playwrights)
• Literary Studies (Poetry and Poets)
• Literary Studies (Postcolonial Literature)
• Literary Studies (Queer Studies)
• Literary Studies (Science Fiction)
• Literary Studies (Travel Literature)
• Literary Studies (War Literature)
• Literary Studies (Women's Writing)
• Literary Theory and Cultural Studies
• Mythology and Folklore
• Shakespeare Studies and Criticism
• Browse content in Media Studies
• Browse content in Music
• Applied Music
• Dance and Music
• Ethics in Music
• Ethnomusicology
• Gender and Sexuality in Music
• Medicine and Music
• Music Cultures
• Music and Media
• Music and Religion
• Music and Culture
• Music Education and Pedagogy
• Music Theory and Analysis
• Musical Scores, Lyrics, and Libretti
• Musical Structures, Styles, and Techniques
• Musicology and Music History
• Performance Practice and Studies
• Race and Ethnicity in Music
• Sound Studies
• Browse content in Performing Arts
• Browse content in Philosophy
• Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art
• Epistemology
• Feminist Philosophy
• History of Western Philosophy
• Metaphysics
• Moral Philosophy
• Non-Western Philosophy
• Philosophy of Language
• Philosophy of Mind
• Philosophy of Perception
• Philosophy of Science
• Philosophy of Action
• Philosophy of Law
• Philosophy of Religion
• Philosophy of Mathematics and Logic
• Practical Ethics
• Social and Political Philosophy
• Browse content in Religion
• Biblical Studies
• Christianity
• East Asian Religions
• History of Religion
• Judaism and Jewish Studies
• Qumran Studies
• Religion and Education
• Religion and Health
• Religion and Politics
• Religion and Science
• Religion and Law
• Religion and Art, Literature, and Music
• Religious Studies
• Browse content in Society and Culture
• Cookery, Food, and Drink
• Cultural Studies
• Customs and Traditions
• Ethical Issues and Debates
• Hobbies, Games, Arts and Crafts
• Natural world, Country Life, and Pets
• Popular Beliefs and Controversial Knowledge
• Sports and Outdoor Recreation
• Technology and Society
• Travel and Holiday
• Visual Culture
• Browse content in Law
• Arbitration
• Browse content in Company and Commercial Law
• Commercial Law
• Company Law
• Browse content in Comparative Law
• Systems of Law
• Competition Law
• Browse content in Constitutional and Administrative Law
• Government Powers
• Judicial Review
• Local Government Law
• Military and Defence Law
• Parliamentary and Legislative Practice
• Construction Law
• Contract Law
• Browse content in Criminal Law
• Criminal Procedure
• Criminal Evidence Law
• Sentencing and Punishment
• Employment and Labour Law
• Environment and Energy Law
• Browse content in Financial Law
• Banking Law
• Insolvency Law
• History of Law
• Human Rights and Immigration
• Intellectual Property Law
• Browse content in International Law
• Private International Law and Conflict of Laws
• Public International Law
• IT and Communications Law
• Jurisprudence and Philosophy of Law
• Law and Politics
• Law and Society
• Browse content in Legal System and Practice
• Courts and Procedure
• Legal Skills and Practice
• Primary Sources of Law
• Regulation of Legal Profession
• Medical and Healthcare Law
• Browse content in Policing
• Criminal Investigation and Detection
• Police and Security Services
• Police Procedure and Law
• Police Regional Planning
• Browse content in Property Law
• Personal Property Law
• Study and Revision
• Terrorism and National Security Law
• Browse content in Trusts Law
• Wills and Probate or Succession
• Browse content in Medicine and Health
• Browse content in Allied Health Professions
• Arts Therapies
• Clinical Science
• Dietetics and Nutrition
• Occupational Therapy
• Operating Department Practice
• Physiotherapy
• Radiography
• Speech and Language Therapy
• Browse content in Anaesthetics
• General Anaesthesia
• Neuroanaesthesia
• Clinical Neuroscience
• Browse content in Clinical Medicine
• Acute Medicine
• Cardiovascular Medicine
• Clinical Genetics
• Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics
• Dermatology
• Endocrinology and Diabetes
• Gastroenterology
• Genito-urinary Medicine
• Geriatric Medicine
• Infectious Diseases
• Medical Toxicology
• Medical Oncology
• Pain Medicine
• Palliative Medicine
• Rehabilitation Medicine
• Respiratory Medicine and Pulmonology
• Rheumatology
• Sleep Medicine
• Sports and Exercise Medicine
• Community Medical Services
• Critical Care
• Emergency Medicine
• Forensic Medicine
• Haematology
• History of Medicine
• Browse content in Medical Skills
• Clinical Skills
• Communication Skills
• Nursing Skills
• Surgical Skills
• Browse content in Medical Dentistry
• Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
• Paediatric Dentistry
• Restorative Dentistry and Orthodontics
• Surgical Dentistry
• Medical Ethics
• Medical Statistics and Methodology
• Browse content in Neurology
• Clinical Neurophysiology
• Neuropathology
• Nursing Studies
• Browse content in Obstetrics and Gynaecology
• Gynaecology
• Occupational Medicine
• Ophthalmology
• Otolaryngology (ENT)
• Browse content in Paediatrics
• Neonatology
• Browse content in Pathology
• Chemical Pathology
• Clinical Cytogenetics and Molecular Genetics
• Histopathology
• Medical Microbiology and Virology
• Patient Education and Information
• Browse content in Pharmacology
• Psychopharmacology
• Browse content in Popular Health
• Caring for Others
• Complementary and Alternative Medicine
• Self-help and Personal Development
• Browse content in Preclinical Medicine
• Cell Biology
• Molecular Biology and Genetics
• Reproduction, Growth and Development
• Primary Care
• Professional Development in Medicine
• Browse content in Psychiatry
• Addiction Medicine
• Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• Forensic Psychiatry
• Learning Disabilities
• Old Age Psychiatry
• Psychotherapy
• Browse content in Public Health and Epidemiology
• Epidemiology
• Public Health
• Browse content in Radiology
• Clinical Radiology
• Interventional Radiology
• Nuclear Medicine
• Radiation Oncology
• Reproductive Medicine
• Browse content in Surgery
• Cardiothoracic Surgery
• Gastro-intestinal and Colorectal Surgery
• General Surgery
• Neurosurgery
• Paediatric Surgery
• Peri-operative Care
• Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
• Surgical Oncology
• Transplant Surgery
• Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery
• Vascular Surgery
• Browse content in Science and Mathematics
• Browse content in Biological Sciences
• Aquatic Biology
• Biochemistry
• Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
• Developmental Biology
• Ecology and Conservation
• Evolutionary Biology
• Genetics and Genomics
• Microbiology
• Molecular and Cell Biology
• Natural History
• Plant Sciences and Forestry
• Research Methods in Life Sciences
• Structural Biology
• Systems Biology
• Zoology and Animal Sciences
• Browse content in Chemistry
• Analytical Chemistry
• Computational Chemistry
• Crystallography
• Environmental Chemistry
• Industrial Chemistry
• Inorganic Chemistry
• Materials Chemistry
• Medicinal Chemistry
• Mineralogy and Gems
• Organic Chemistry
• Physical Chemistry
• Polymer Chemistry
• Study and Communication Skills in Chemistry
• Theoretical Chemistry
• Browse content in Computer Science
• Artificial Intelligence
• Computer Architecture and Logic Design
• Game Studies
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Mathematical Theory of Computation
• Programming Languages
• Software Engineering
• Systems Analysis and Design
• Virtual Reality
• Browse content in Computing
• Business Applications
• Computer Security
• Computer Games
• Computer Networking and Communications
• Digital Lifestyle
• Graphical and Digital Media Applications
• Operating Systems
• Browse content in Earth Sciences and Geography
• Atmospheric Sciences
• Environmental Geography
• Geology and the Lithosphere
• Maps and Map-making
• Meteorology and Climatology
• Oceanography and Hydrology
• Palaeontology
• Physical Geography and Topography
• Regional Geography
• Soil Science
• Urban Geography
• Browse content in Engineering and Technology
• Agriculture and Farming
• Biological Engineering
• Civil Engineering, Surveying, and Building
• Electronics and Communications Engineering
• Energy Technology
• Engineering (General)
• Environmental Science, Engineering, and Technology
• History of Engineering and Technology
• Mechanical Engineering and Materials
• Technology of Industrial Chemistry
• Transport Technology and Trades
• Browse content in Environmental Science
• Applied Ecology (Environmental Science)
• Conservation of the Environment (Environmental Science)
• Environmental Sustainability
• Environmentalist Thought and Ideology (Environmental Science)
• Management of Land and Natural Resources (Environmental Science)
• Natural Disasters (Environmental Science)
• Nuclear Issues (Environmental Science)
• Pollution and Threats to the Environment (Environmental Science)
• Social Impact of Environmental Issues (Environmental Science)
• History of Science and Technology
• Browse content in Materials Science
• Ceramics and Glasses
• Composite Materials
• Metals, Alloying, and Corrosion
• Nanotechnology
• Browse content in Mathematics
• Applied Mathematics
• Biomathematics and Statistics
• History of Mathematics
• Mathematical Education
• Mathematical Finance
• Mathematical Analysis
• Numerical and Computational Mathematics
• Probability and Statistics
• Pure Mathematics
• Browse content in Neuroscience
• Cognition and Behavioural Neuroscience
• Development of the Nervous System
• Disorders of the Nervous System
• History of Neuroscience
• Invertebrate Neurobiology
• Molecular and Cellular Systems
• Neuroendocrinology and Autonomic Nervous System
• Neuroscientific Techniques
• Sensory and Motor Systems
• Browse content in Physics
• Astronomy and Astrophysics
• Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics
• Biological and Medical Physics
• Classical Mechanics
• Computational Physics
• Condensed Matter Physics
• Electromagnetism, Optics, and Acoustics
• History of Physics
• Mathematical and Statistical Physics
• Measurement Science
• Nuclear Physics
• Particles and Fields
• Plasma Physics
• Quantum Physics
• Relativity and Gravitation
• Semiconductor and Mesoscopic Physics
• Browse content in Psychology
• Affective Sciences
• Clinical Psychology
• Cognitive Psychology
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Criminal and Forensic Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Educational Psychology
• Evolutionary Psychology
• Health Psychology
• History and Systems in Psychology
• Music Psychology
• Neuropsychology
• Organizational Psychology
• Psychological Assessment and Testing
• Psychology of Human-Technology Interaction
• Psychology Professional Development and Training
• Research Methods in Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Browse content in Social Sciences
• Browse content in Anthropology
• Anthropology of Religion
• Human Evolution
• Medical Anthropology
• Physical Anthropology
• Regional Anthropology
• Social and Cultural Anthropology
• Theory and Practice of Anthropology
• Browse content in Business and Management
• Business Ethics
• Business Strategy
• Business History
• Business and Technology
• Business and Government
• Business and the Environment
• Comparative Management
• Corporate Governance
• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Entrepreneurship
• Health Management
• Human Resource Management
• Industrial and Employment Relations
• Industry Studies
• Information and Communication Technologies
• International Business
• Knowledge Management
• Management and Management Techniques
• Operations Management
• Organizational Theory and Behaviour
• Pensions and Pension Management
• Public and Nonprofit Management
• Strategic Management
• Supply Chain Management
• Browse content in Criminology and Criminal Justice
• Criminal Justice
• Criminology
• Forms of Crime
• International and Comparative Criminology
• Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice
• Development Studies
• Browse content in Economics
• Agricultural, Environmental, and Natural Resource Economics
• Asian Economics
• Behavioural Finance
• Behavioural Economics and Neuroeconomics
• Econometrics and Mathematical Economics
• Economic History
• Economic Systems
• Economic Methodology
• Economic Development and Growth
• Financial Markets
• Financial Institutions and Services
• General Economics and Teaching
• Health, Education, and Welfare
• History of Economic Thought
• International Economics
• Labour and Demographic Economics
• Law and Economics
• Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics
• Microeconomics
• Public Economics
• Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics
• Welfare Economics
• Browse content in Education
• Adult Education and Continuous Learning
• Care and Counselling of Students
• Early Childhood and Elementary Education
• Educational Equipment and Technology
• Educational Strategies and Policy
• Higher and Further Education
• Organization and Management of Education
• Philosophy and Theory of Education
• Schools Studies
• Secondary Education
• Teaching of a Specific Subject
• Teaching of Specific Groups and Special Educational Needs
• Teaching Skills and Techniques
• Browse content in Environment
• Applied Ecology (Social Science)
• Climate Change
• Conservation of the Environment (Social Science)
• Environmentalist Thought and Ideology (Social Science)
• Natural Disasters (Environment)
• Social Impact of Environmental Issues (Social Science)
• Browse content in Human Geography
• Cultural Geography
• Economic Geography
• Political Geography
• Browse content in Interdisciplinary Studies
• Communication Studies
• Museums, Libraries, and Information Sciences
• Browse content in Politics
• African Politics
• Asian Politics
• Chinese Politics
• Comparative Politics
• Conflict Politics
• Elections and Electoral Studies
• Environmental Politics
• Ethnic Politics
• European Union
• Foreign Policy
• Gender and Politics
• Human Rights and Politics
• Indian Politics
• International Relations
• International Organization (Politics)
• International Political Economy
• Irish Politics
• Latin American Politics
• Middle Eastern Politics
• Political Behaviour
• Political Economy
• Political Institutions
• Political Methodology
• Political Communication
• Political Philosophy
• Political Sociology
• Political Theory
• Politics and Law
• Politics of Development
• Public Policy
• Public Administration
• Quantitative Political Methodology
• Regional Political Studies
• Russian Politics
• Security Studies
• State and Local Government
• UK Politics
• US Politics
• Browse content in Regional and Area Studies
• African Studies
• Asian Studies
• East Asian Studies
• Japanese Studies
• Latin American Studies
• Middle Eastern Studies
• Native American Studies
• Scottish Studies
• Browse content in Research and Information
• Research Methods
• Browse content in Social Work
• Addictions and Substance Misuse
• Adoption and Fostering
• Care of the Elderly
• Child and Adolescent Social Work
• Couple and Family Social Work
• Direct Practice and Clinical Social Work
• Emergency Services
• Human Behaviour and the Social Environment
• International and Global Issues in Social Work
• Mental and Behavioural Health
• Social Justice and Human Rights
• Social Policy and Advocacy
• Social Work and Crime and Justice
• Social Work Macro Practice
• Social Work Practice Settings
• Social Work Research and Evidence-based Practice
• Welfare and Benefit Systems
• Browse content in Sociology
• Childhood Studies
• Community Development
• Comparative and Historical Sociology
• Economic Sociology
• Gender and Sexuality
• Gerontology and Ageing
• Health, Illness, and Medicine
• Marriage and the Family
• Migration Studies
• Occupations, Professions, and Work
• Organizations
• Population and Demography
• Race and Ethnicity
• Social Theory
• Social Movements and Social Change
• Social Research and Statistics
• Social Stratification, Inequality, and Mobility
• Sociology of Religion
• Sociology of Education
• Sport and Leisure
• Urban and Rural Studies
• Browse content in Warfare and Defence
• Defence Strategy, Planning, and Research
• Land Forces and Warfare
• Military Administration
• Military Life and Institutions
• Naval Forces and Warfare
• Other Warfare and Defence Issues
• Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution
• Weapons and Equipment

Handbook of Experimental Economic Methodology

• Cite Icon Cite
• Permissions Icon Permissions

This book confronts and debates the issues faced by the growing field of experimental economics. For example, as experimental work attempts to test theory, it raises questions about the proper relationship between theory and experiments. As experimental results are used to inform policy, the utility of these results outside the lab is questioned, and finally, as experimental economics tries to integrate ideas from other disciplines like psychology and neuroscience, the question of their proper place in the discipline of economics becomes less clear. The book is divided into four sections, each of which features a set of chapters and a set of comments on those chapters. The book offers a place where ideas about methodology could be discussed and even argued. Some of the chapters are contentious—a healthy sign of a dynamic discipline—while others lay out a vision for thought on how experimental economics should be pursued.

Personal account

• Sign in with email/username & password
• Get email alerts
• Save searches
• Purchase content
• Activate your purchase/trial code
• Add your ORCID iD

Institutional access

Sign in with a library card.

• Sign in with username/password
• Recommend to your librarian
• Institutional account management
• Get help with access

Access to content on Oxford Academic is often provided through institutional subscriptions and purchases. If you are a member of an institution with an active account, you may be able to access content in one of the following ways:

IP based access

Typically, access is provided across an institutional network to a range of IP addresses. This authentication occurs automatically, and it is not possible to sign out of an IP authenticated account.

Choose this option to get remote access when outside your institution. Shibboleth/Open Athens technology is used to provide single sign-on between your institution’s website and Oxford Academic.

• Click Sign in through your institution.
• Select your institution from the list provided, which will take you to your institution's website to sign in.
• When on the institution site, please use the credentials provided by your institution. Do not use an Oxford Academic personal account.
• Following successful sign in, you will be returned to Oxford Academic.

If your institution is not listed or you cannot sign in to your institution’s website, please contact your librarian or administrator.

Enter your library card number to sign in. If you cannot sign in, please contact your librarian.

Society Members

Society member access to a journal is achieved in one of the following ways:

Sign in through society site

Many societies offer single sign-on between the society website and Oxford Academic. If you see ‘Sign in through society site’ in the sign in pane within a journal:

• Click Sign in through society site.
• When on the society site, please use the credentials provided by that society. Do not use an Oxford Academic personal account.

If you do not have a society account or have forgotten your username or password, please contact your society.

Sign in using a personal account

Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members. See below.

A personal account can be used to get email alerts, save searches, purchase content, and activate subscriptions.

Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members.

Viewing your signed in accounts

Click the account icon in the top right to:

• View your signed in personal account and access account management features.
• View the institutional accounts that are providing access.

Signed in but can't access content

Oxford Academic is home to a wide variety of products. The institutional subscription may not cover the content that you are trying to access. If you believe you should have access to that content, please contact your librarian.

For librarians and administrators, your personal account also provides access to institutional account management. Here you will find options to view and activate subscriptions, manage institutional settings and access options, access usage statistics, and more.

Our books are available by subscription or purchase to libraries and institutions.

• About Oxford Academic
• Publish journals with us
• University press partners
• What we publish
• New features  
• Open access
• Rights and permissions
• Accessibility
• Advertising
• Media enquiries
• Oxford University Press
• Oxford Languages
• University of Oxford

Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide

• Copyright © 2024 Oxford University Press
• Cookie settings
• Cookie policy
• Privacy policy
• Legal notice

This Feature Is Available To Subscribers Only

Sign In or Create an Account

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

For full access to this pdf, sign in to an existing account, or purchase an annual subscription.

• Scholarly Community Encyclopedia
• Log in/Sign up

Video Upload Options

• MDPI and ACS Style
• Chicago Style

Experimental economics is the application of experimental methods to study economic questions. Data collected in experiments are used to estimate effect size, test the validity of economic theories, and illuminate market mechanisms. Economic experiments usually use cash to motivate subjects, in order to mimic real-world incentives. Experiments are used to help understand how and why markets and other exchange systems function as they do. Experimental economics have also expanded to understand institutions and the law (experimental law and economics). A fundamental aspect of the subject is design of experiments. Experiments may be conducted in the field or in laboratory settings, whether of individual or group behavior. Variants of the subject outside such formal confines include natural and quasi-natural experiments.

1. Experimental Topics

One can loosely classify economic experiments using the following topics:

• Games [ 1 ] [ 2 ]
• Evolutionary game theory
• Decision making
• Coordination
• Social Preferences
• Field Experiments

Within economics education, one application involves experiments used in the teaching of economics. An alternative approach with experimental dimensions is agent-based computational modeling. It is important to consider the potential and constraints of games for understanding rational behavior and solving human conflict. [ 3 ]

1.1. Coordination Games

Coordination games are games with multiple pure strategy Nash equilibria. There are two general sets of questions that experimental economists typically ask when examining such games: (1) Can laboratory subjects coordinate, or learn to coordinate, on one of multiple equilibria, and if so are there general principles that can help predict which equilibrium is likely to be chosen? (2) Can laboratory subjects coordinate, or learn to coordinate, on the Pareto best equilibrium and if not, are there conditions or mechanisms which would help subjects coordinate on the Pareto best equilibrium? Deductive selection principles are those that allow predictions based on the properties of the game alone. Inductive selection principles are those that allow predictions based on characterizations of dynamics. Under some conditions at least groups of experimental subjects can coordinate even complex non-obvious asymmetric Pareto-best equilibria. This is even though all subjects decide simultaneously and independently without communication. The way by which this happens is not yet fully understood. [ 4 ]

1.2. Learning Experiments

Economic theories often assume that economic incentives can shape behavior even when individual agents have limited understanding of the environment. The relationship between economic incentives and outcomes may be indirect: The economic incentives determine the agents’ experience, and these experiences may then drive future actions.

Learning experiments can be classified as individual choice tasks or games, where games typically refer to strategic interactions of two or more players. Oftentimes, the general patterns of learning behavior can be best illustrated with individual choice tasks. [ 5 ]

In games of two players or more, the subjects often form beliefs about what actions the other subjects are taking and these beliefs are updated over time. This is known as belief learning. Subjects also tend to make the same decisions that have rewarded them with high payoffs in the past. This is known as reinforcement learning.

Until the 1990s, simple adaptive models, such as Cournot competition or fictitious play, were generally used. In the mid-1990s, Alvin E. Roth and Ido Erev demonstrated that reinforcement learning can make useful predictions in experimental games. [ 6 ] In 1999, Colin Camerer and Teck-Hua Ho introduced Experience Weighted Attraction (EWA), a general model that incorporated reinforcement and belief learning, and shows that fictitious play is mathematically equivalent to generalized reinforcement, provided weights are placed on past history.

Criticisms of EWA include overfitting due to many parameters, lack of generality over games, and the possibility that the interpretation of EWA parameters may be difficult. Overfitting is addressed by estimating parameters on some of the experimental periods or experimental subjects and forecasting behavior in the remaining sample (if models are overfitting, these out-of-sample validation forecasts will be much less accurate than in-sample fits, which they generally are not). Generality in games is addressed by replacing fixed parameters with "self-tuning" functions of experience, allowing pseudo-parameters to change over the course of a game and to also vary systematically across games.

Modern experimental economists have done much notable work recently. Roberto Weber has raised issues of learning without feedback. David Cooper and John Kagel have investigated types of learning over similar strategies. Ido Erev and Greg Barron have looked at learning in cognitive strategies. Dale Stahl has characterized learning over decision making rules. Charles A. Holt has studied logit learning in different kinds of games, including games with multiple equilibria. Wilfred Amaldoss has looked at interesting applications of EWA in marketing. Amnon Rapoport, Jim Parco and Ryan Murphy have investigated reinforcement-based adaptive learning models in one of the most celebrated paradoxes in game theory known as the centipede game.

1.3. Market Games

Edward Chamberlin is thought to have conducted "not only the first market experiment, but also the first economic experiment of any kind." [ 7 ] Vernon Smith, drawing on Chamberlin's work, but also modifying it in key respects, conducted pioneering economics experiments on the convergence of prices and quantities to their theoretical competitive equilibrium values in experimental markets. [ 7 ] Smith studied the behavior of "buyers" and "sellers", who are told how much they "value" a fictitious commodity and then are asked to competitively "bid" or "ask" on these commodities following the rules of various real world market institutions (e.g., the Double auction as well the English and Dutch auctions). Smith found that in some forms of centralized trading, prices and quantities traded in such markets converge on the values that would be predicted by the economic theory of perfect competition, despite the conditions not meeting many of the assumptions of perfect competition (large numbers, perfect information).

Over the years, Smith pioneered – along with other collaborators – the use of controlled laboratory experiments in economics, and established it as a legitimate tool in economics and other related fields. Charles Plott of the California Institute of Technology collaborated with Smith in the 1970s and pioneered experiments in political science, as well as using experiments to inform economic design or engineering to inform policies. In 2002, Smith was awarded (jointly with Daniel Kahneman) the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences "for having established laboratory experiments as a tool in empirical economic analysis, especially in the study of alternative market mechanisms".

1.4. Finance

Experimental finance studies financial markets with the goals of establishing different market settings and environments to observe experimentally and analyze agents' behavior and the resulting characteristics of trading flows, information diffusion and aggregation, price setting mechanism and returns processes. Presently, researchers use simulation software to conduct their research.

For instance, experiments have manipulated information asymmetry about the holding value of a bond or a share on the pricing for those who don't have enough information, in order to study stock market bubbles.

1.5. Social Preferences

The term "social preferences" refers to the concern (or lack thereof) that people have for each other's well-being, and it encompasses altruism, spitefulness, tastes for equality, and tastes for reciprocity. Experiments on social preferences generally study economic games including the dictator game, the ultimatum game, the trust game, the gift-exchange game, the public goods game, and modifications to these canonical settings. As one example of results, ultimatum game experiments have shown that people are generally willing to sacrifice monetary rewards when offered low allocations, thus behaving inconsistently with simple models of self-interest. Economic experiments have measured how this deviation varies across cultures.

1.6. Contracts

Contract theory is concerned with providing incentives in situations in which some variables cannot be observed by all parties. Hence, contract theory is difficult to test in the field: If the researcher could verify the relevant variables, then the contractual parties could contract on these variables, hence any interesting contract-theoretic problem would disappear. Yet, in laboratory experiments it is possible to directly test contract-theoretic models. For instance, researchers have experimentally studied moral hazard theory, [ 8 ] adverse selection theory, [ 9 ] exclusive contracting, [ 10 ] deferred compensation, [ 11 ] the hold-up problem, [ 12 ] [ 13 ] flexible versus rigid contracts, [ 14 ] and models with endogenous information structures. [ 15 ]

1.7. Agent-Based Computational Modeling

Agent-based computational modeling is a relatively recent method in economics with experimental dimensions. [ 16 ] Here the focus is on economic processes, including whole economies, as dynamic systems of interacting agents, an application of the complex adaptive systems paradigm. [ 17 ] The "agent" refers to "computational objects modeled as interacting according to rules," not real people. [ 16 ] Agents can represent social and/or physical entities. Starting from initial conditions determined by the modeler, an ACE model develops forward through time driven solely by agent interactions. [ 18 ] Issues include those common to experimental economics in general [ 19 ] and by comparison [ 20 ] as well as development of a common framework for empirical validation and resolving open questions in agent-based modeling. [ 21 ]

2. Methodology

2.1. guidelines.

Experimental economists generally adhere to the following methodological guidelines:

• Incentivize subjects with real monetary payoffs.
• Publish full experimental instructions.
• Do not use deception.
• Avoid introducing specific, concrete context.

2.2. Critiques

The above guidelines have developed in large part to address two central critiques. Specifically, economics experiments are often challenged because of concerns about their "internal validity" and "external validity", for example, that they are not applicable models for many types of economic behavior, so the experiments simply aren't good enough to produce useful answers. However, none of the critiques towards this methodology are specific to it, as they are immediately applicable to either theoretical or empirical approaches or both. [ 22 ]

3. Software Tools

The most famous software for conducting experimental economics research is z-Tree , which is developed by Urs Fischbacher from 1998 on. [ 23 ] It had about 9460 citation results counted on Google Scholar in February 2020. [ 24 ] It transcripts as Zurich Toolbox for Readymade Economic Experiments and was one of the reasons for the Joachim Herz Research prize for "Best research work" awarded to Fischbacher in Dezember 2016. [ 25 ] z-Tree is a software, which runs on a network of computers in a research lab. [ 26 ] One of the computers is used by experimenters and the other computers are used by the subjects of experiment. The setup of an experiment is variable and can be defined in the imperative language z-Tree programming language . [ 27 ] This language allows the experimenter to set up a variety of experiments and additional surveys.

Alternatively, there is a big number of competing alternative software. [ 28 ] Following table presents a growing list of software tools for experimental economics:

• • Vernon L. Smith, 1992. "Game Theory and Experimental Economics: Beginnings and Early Influences," in E. R. Weintraub, ed., Towards a History of Game Theory, pp. 241– 282.   • _____, 2001. "Experimental Economics," International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, pp. 5100–5108. Abstract per sect. 1.1 & 2.1.   • Charles R. Plott and Vernon L. Smith, ed., 2008. Handbook of Experimental Economics Results, v. 1, Elsevier, Part 4, Games, ch. 45–66 preview links.   • Vincent P. Crawford, 1997. "Theory and Experiment in the Analysis of Strategic Interaction," in Advances in Economics and Econometrics: Theory and Applications, pp. 206–242. Cambridge. Reprinted in Colin F. Camerer et al., ed. (2003). Advances in Behavioral Economics, Princeton. 1986–2003 papers. Description, contents, and preview., Princeton, ch. 12. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=9CHY2Gozh1MC&oi=fnd&pg=PA241&ots=onepage&q&f=false#v=onepage&q&f=false
• Martin Shubik, 2002. "Game Theory and Experimental Gaming," in Robert Aumann and Sergiu Hart, ed., Handbook of Game Theory with Economic Applications, Elsevier, v. 3, pp. 2327–2351. Abstract. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1574000502030254
• Rapoport, A. (1962). The use and misuse of game theory. Scientific American, 207(6), 108–119. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24936389
• Gunnthorsdottir Anna, Vragov Roumen, Seifert Stefan and Kevin McCabe 2010 "Near-efficient equilibria in contribution-based competitive grouping," Journal of Public Economics, 94, pp. 987–994. [1]
• Erev, Ido; Haruvy, Ernan (2016). "Learning and the economics of small decisions.". Handbook of Experimental Economics 2: 638–716. 
• "Predicting how people play games: Reinforcement learning in experimental games with unique, mixed strategy equilibria", Ido Erev, Alvin E Roth, The American Economic Review, September 1998, 848–881 JSTOR 117009 https://www.jstor.org/stable/117009
• Ross Miller (2002). Paving Wall Street: experimental economics and the quest for the perfect market. New York: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 73–74. ISBN 978-0471121985.  https://archive.org/details/pavingwallstreet00mill/page/73
• Hoppe, Eva I.; Schmitz, Patrick W. (2018). "Hidden action and outcome contractibility: An experimental test of moral hazard theory". Games and Economic Behavior 109: 544–564. doi:10.1016/j.geb.2018.02.006. ISSN 0899-8256.  https://dx.doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.geb.2018.02.006
• Hoppe, Eva I.; Schmitz, Patrick W. (2015). "Do sellers offer menus of contracts to separate buyer types? An experimental test of adverse selection theory". Games and Economic Behavior 89: 17–33. doi:10.1016/j.geb.2014.11.001. ISSN 0899-8256.  https://dx.doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.geb.2014.11.001
• Landeo, Claudia M.; Spier, Kathryn E. (2016). "Stipulated Damages as a Rent-Extraction Mechanism: Experimental Evidence" (in en). Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics 172 (2): 235–273. doi:10.1628/093245616x14534707121162. ISSN 0932-4569. https://sites.ualberta.ca/~econwps/2015/wp2015-10.pdf. 
• Huck, Steffen; Seltzer, Andrew J; Wallace, Brian (2011). "Deferred Compensation in Multiperiod Labor Contracts: An Experimental Test of Lazear's Model" (in en). American Economic Review 101 (2): 819–843. doi:10.1257/aer.101.2.819. ISSN 0002-8282.  https://dx.doi.org/10.1257%2Faer.101.2.819
• Hoppe, Eva I.; Schmitz, Patrick W. (2011). "Can contracts solve the hold-up problem? Experimental evidence". Games and Economic Behavior 73 (1): 186–199. doi:10.1016/j.geb.2010.12.002. ISSN 0899-8256.  https://dx.doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.geb.2010.12.002
• Morita, Hodaka; Servátka, Maroš (2013). "Group identity and relation-specific investment: An experimental investigation". European Economic Review 58: 95–109. doi:10.1016/j.euroecorev.2012.11.006. ISSN 0014-2921.  https://dx.doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.euroecorev.2012.11.006
• Fehr, Ernst; Hart, Oliver; Zehnder, Christian (2014). "How do Informal Agreements and Revision Shape Contractual Reference Points" (in en). Journal of the European Economic Association 13 (1): 1–28. doi:10.1111/jeea.12098. ISSN 1542-4766. https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/95543/1/How_do_Informal_Fehr.pdf. 
• Hoppe, Eva I.; Schmitz, Patrick W. (2013). "Contracting under Incomplete Information and Social Preferences: An Experimental Study" (in en). The Review of Economic Studies 80 (4): 1516–1544. doi:10.1093/restud/rdt010. ISSN 0034-6527. https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/44240/1/MPRA_paper_44240.pdf. 
• Scott E. Page, 2008. "agent-based models," The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd Edition. Abstract. http://www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/article?id=pde2008_A000218&edition=current&q=agent-based%20computational%20modeling&topicid=&result_number=1
• Leigh Tesfatsion, 2003. "Agent-based Computational Economics: Modeling Economies as Complex Adaptive Systems," Information Sciences, 149(4), pp. 262–268. Abstract. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0020025502002803
• • Leigh Tesfatsion, 2006. "Agent-Based Computational Economics: A Constructive Approach to Economic Theory," ch. 16, Handbook of Computational Economics, v. 2, pp. 831–880. Abstract/outline. 2005 prepublication version.  • Kenneth Judd, 2006. "Computationally Intensive Analyses in Economics," Handbook of Computational Economics, v. 2, ch. 17, pp. 881– 893.  • Leigh Tesfatsion and Kenneth Judd, ed., 2006. Handbook of Computational Economics, v. 2. Description & and chapter-preview links. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1574002105020162
• Vernon L. Smith, 2008b. "experimental economics," The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd Edition. Abstract. http://www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/article?id=pde2008_E000277&q=experimental%20&topicid=&result_number=2
• John Duffy, 2006. "Agent-Based Models and Human Subject Experiments," ch. 19, Handbook of Computational Economics, v.2, pp. 949–1011. Abstract. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1574002105020198
• • Leigh Tesfatsion, 2006. "Agent-Based Computational Economics: A Constructive Approach to Economic Theory," ch. 16, Handbook of Computational Economics, v. 2, sect. 5. Abstract and pre-pub PDF.   • Akira Namatame and Takao Terano (2002). "The Hare and the Tortoise: Cumulative Progress in Agent-based Simulation," in Agent-based Approaches in Economic and Social Complex Systems. pp. 3– 14, IOS Press. Description.   • Giorgio Fagiolo, Alessio Moneta, and Paul Windrum, 2007 "A Critical Guide to Empirical Validation of Agent-Based Models in Economics: Methodologies, Procedures, and Open Problems," Computational Economics, 30(3), pp. 195–226. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1574002105020162
• Camerer, Colin F. (2011-12-30). The Promise and Success of Lab-Field Generalizability in Experimental Economics: A Critical Reply to Levitt and List. Working Paper Series. 
• "UZH – z-Tree – Zurich Toolbox for Readymade Economic Experiments" (in en). https://www.ztree.uzh.ch/en.html. 
• "Google Scholar z-Tree Citations". https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cites=8856089967929663202. 
• "Southwest Press, in 8 December 2016". http://www.swp.de/ulm/nachrichten/suedwestumschau/joachim-herz-wirtschaftspreis-geht-nach-konstanz-14111797.html. 
• Fischbacher, Urs. "z-Tree 4.1 TutorialandReferenceManual". https://www.ztree.uzh.ch/static/doc/manual_v4.pdf. 
• Altman, Morris (2015). Real-world decision making : an encyclopedia of behavioral economics. p. 141. ISBN 978-1440828157. 
• Balietti, Stefano (18 November 2016). "nodeGame: Real-time, synchronous, online experiments in the browser". Behavior Research Methods 49 (5): 1696–1715. doi:10.3758/s13428-016-0824-z. PMID 27864814.  https://dx.doi.org/10.3758%2Fs13428-016-0824-z
• "PsycNET" (in en). https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2000-00446-000. 
• Reips, Ulf-Dietrich; Neuhaus, Christoph (May 2002). "WEXTOR: A Web-based tool for generating and visualizing experimental designs and procedures". Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers 34 (2): 234–240. doi:10.3758/BF03195449. PMID 12109018.  https://dx.doi.org/10.3758%2FBF03195449
• Cox, James C.; Swarthout, J. Todd (2006). "Econport: Creating and Maintaining a Knowledge Commons". Andrew Young School of Policy Studies Research. 
• Chilton, Lydia B. (2009). Seaweed : a Web application for designing economic games (Thesis). Massachusetts Institute of Technology. hdl:1721.1/53094. //hdl.handle.net/1721.1%2F53094
• Tagiew, Rustam (2009). Filipe, Joaquim; Fred, Ana; Sharp, Bernadette. eds. Towards a framework for management of strategic interaction. Porto, Portugal. pp. 587–590. ISBN 978-9898111661. https://www.scitepress.org/Papers/2009/15365/15365.pdf. 
• Hawkins, Robert X. D. (1 October 2014). "Conducting real-time multiplayer experiments on the web". Behavior Research Methods 47 (4): 966–976. doi:10.3758/s13428-014-0515-6. PMID 25271089.  https://dx.doi.org/10.3758%2Fs13428-014-0515-6
• Pettit, James; Friedman, Daniel; Kephart, Curtis; Oprea, Ryan (8 January 2014). "Software for continuous game experiments". Experimental Economics 17 (4): 631–648. doi:10.1007/s10683-013-9387-3. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/92h1b2br. 
• Chen, Daniel L.; Schonger, Martin; Wickens, Chris (March 2016). "oTree—An open-source platform for laboratory, online, and field experiments". Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance 9: 88–97. doi:10.1016/j.jbef.2015.12.001.  https://dx.doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.jbef.2015.12.001
• Lakkaraju, Kiran; Medina, Brenda; Rogers, Alisa N.; Trumbo, Derek M.; Speed, Ann; McClain, Jonathan T. (2015). "The Controlled, Large Online Social Experimentation Platform (CLOSE)" (in en). Social Computing, Behavioral-Cultural Modeling, and Prediction. Lecture Notes in Computer Science (Springer International Publishing) 9021: 339–344. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-16268-3_40. ISBN 978-3319162676.  https://dx.doi.org/10.1007%2F978-3-319-16268-3_40
• "Breadboard". http://breadboard.yale.edu/. 

• Terms and Conditions
• Privacy Policy
• Advisory Board