Experimental Economics Overview

Principles

Definition

Experimental economics is a research field and methodological approach within economics that utilizes controlled laboratory and field experiments to investigate economic phenomena and human decision-making. This empirical method enables the rigorous testing of economic theories, the identification of causal relationships, and the generation of insights into behavioral regularities relevant for economic analysis and policy.

Ontological type

Core Methods

Theoretical Foundations

Key Application Areas

Key developments

Key Figures

Laboratory Foundations era

Martín Sefton [1] has associations with University of Iowa [3] and University of Manchester [4] during the Laboratory Foundations era. His key contribution, exemplified by the 1994 paper Fairness in Simple Bargaining Experiments [7], helped establish fairness as a measurable ingredient in laboratory bargaining experiments and spurred standardized protocols for studying bounded rationality and reciprocity. Ernst Fehr [2], affiliated with University of Zurich [5] and TU Wien [6], has been a central figure shaping laboratory studies of reciprocity and social norms. His works—Reciprocity as a Contract Enforcement Device: Experimental Evidence [8], When Social Norms Overpower Competition: Gift Exchange in Experimental Labor Markets [9], and Gift exchange and reciprocity in competitive experimental markets [10]—collectively clarified how reciprocity and gift exchange enforce contracts and alter competitive market outcomes in controlled experiments.

Design and Field Scaling era

Urs Fischbacher [1] was active across University of Zurich [3] and Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg [4] in this era of scaling experimental economics (2001–2014). His work on z-Tree: Zurich toolbox for ready-made economic experiments [6] and Are people conditionally cooperative? Evidence from a public goods experiment [7] helped establish reproducible digital platforms and benchmark behavioral regularities essential for scaling field and cross-site experiments in the era. Simon Gächter [2] was active at University of Zurich [3] and University of Nottingham [5] in this era. His contributions include Are people conditionally cooperative? Evidence from a public goods experiment [7], The effects of (incentivized) belief elicitation in public goods experiments [8], and The science of experimental economics [9], which advanced understanding of conditional cooperation, belief elicitation, and methodological rigor for scalable, policy-relevant experiments in 2001–2014.

Replication and Credibility era

Magnus Johannesson [1] is associated with Erasmus University Rotterdam [3] and the University of Toronto [4] in this era. His key contribution through Evaluating replicability of laboratory experiments in economics [7] (2016) advanced systematic replication scrutiny and underscored the importance of credible inference in experimental economics. Colin F. Camerer [2] is associated with California Institute of Technology [5] and Columbia University [6] in this era. His work on evaluating the replicability of laboratory experiments in economics, as reflected in Evaluating replicability of laboratory experiments in economics [7], contributed to transparency and credible inference by highlighting replication challenges and guiding methodological reforms in experimental economics.