Handbook

In this course, we will discuss how to do economics experiments "right" and show why "the way one does an experiment is unbelievably important", as a famous behavioural economist once noted. We thus will talk about the experimental method in economics (and how it differs from methods in other social sciences) and will do so by reading widely cited articles. We shall discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the experimental method relative to other empirical social science methods such as analysis of administrative data, and will document how it can be used to explore the robustness of the "homo economicus" assumption of a rational, selfish decision-maker used in many economic models. We will find that economic theory does a good job in many applications but that there are also important behavioural deviations from the model of “homo economicus”. The topics covered in this course include: the experimental method, the empirical reality of the selfishness assumption, individual decision making and risky choices, collective decision making, cooperation and competition, provision of public goods, punishment of norm violations, coordination problems, and many others. See the course schedule for more information.