Experimental Economics: Method and Applications

Description

Over the past two decades, experimental economics has moved from a fringe activity to become a standard tool for empirical research. With experimental economics now regarded as part of the basic tool-kit for applied economics, this book demonstrates how controlled experiments can be a useful in providing evidence relevant to economic research. Professors Jacquemet and L'Haridon take the standard model in applied econometrics as a basis to the methodology of controlled experiments. Methodological discussions are illustrated with standard experimental results. This book provides future experimental practitioners with the means to construct experiments that fit their research question, and new comers with an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of controlled experiments. Graduate students and academic researchers working in the field of experimental economics will be able to learn how to undertake, understand and criticise empirical research based on lab experiments, and refer to specific experiments, results or designs completed with case study applications.

Nicolas Jacquemet is a full professor at University Paris-1 Pantheon Sorbonne and the Paris School of Economics. His research combines experimental methods and econometrics to study discrimination, the effect of personality traits on economic behaviour, the role of social pre-involvement in strategic behaviour and experimental game theory. His research has been published in Econometrica, Management Science, Games and Economic Behavior, the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, the Journal of Health Economics, and the Journal of Economic Psychology. Olivier L'Haridon is a full professor at the Universite de Rennes I, France. His research combines experimental methods and decision theory, applied in the study of individual decision making as affected by uncertainty. His work has been published in American Economic Review, Management Science, the Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Theory and Decision, Experimental Economics, the Journal of Health Economics, and the Journal of Economic Psychology.

'A must-read primer for anyone who needs to be convinced of the importance of using experimental methods for testing economic theory and designing policies. Anyone willing to learn how to design an experiment will treasure this book because it provides a comprehensive coverage of laboratory techniques for economists and of the econometrics of experimental data. No doubt this book will induce students and young scholars to invest in this exciting field.' Marie Claire Villeval, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Groupe d'Analyse et de Theorie Economique, Universite de Lyon 'This book is a must for every experimental economist. It scrutinizes the methodological background of many aspects of experiments in economics that are taken for granted by many others. At the same time it provides superb didactical accounts of these aspects, convenient recipes for actually doing experiments, and the main implications that experiments can have. Carefully elaborated case studies illustrate the methodological issues discussed, but at the same time are of central interest to the field by themselves. Readers will find their knowledge both broadened and deepened by this magnificent book.' Peter P. Wakker, Erasmus University Rotterdam 'This is a great book. It lays out the whys, what fors, and hows of experimental economics. It takes us through the econometric skills we need and describes the steps one has to take in designing and running an experiment. It is destined to be the go-to teaching and reference book for the field.' Andrew Schotter, Director, Center for Experimental Social Science, New York University