Llicenciatura en Economia (3322)
Llicenciatura en Administració i Direcció d'Empreses (3323)

Economia Experimental (11867) 

Students in the Experimental Economics course will be instructed on the experimental method and its applications, and will have to design, perform and analyse two experiments, one of them original.

The course will be dividen in two parts. During the first part Antoni Bosch, Rosemarie Nagel and an occasional invited lecturer will show you how economist use the laboratory tools. For that purpose we will focus on some particular series of experiments in markets and industrial organisation, bargaining, public goods, coordination and individual decision making. Students eill be grouped in teams and every team will have to replicate and analize in class one classical 3experiment. The presentation of the experiment shyould include a motivation, a complete description of the related literature and a careful comparative analysis of the results obtained in class. An exam may be prepared to test the students' knowledge of the experimental literature.

During the second part of the course, every team will chose, in coordination with the course instructor, a topic to be experimentally explored. The experiment, this time an original one, will be again run adn discussed in class. A complete paper on the experiment, with a motivated introductins a description of the literature, results and conclusions with an indication of further research, plus an appendix with instructions eill have to be presented on the official date of the exam (No exam will take place).

We expect that this course will help you to think of economics as an experimental science and to provide you with a working knowledge of techniques for conducting laboratory experiments in economics. Yor grade will be based on your performance as an experimentalist, on your class presentations adn on the term paper.

You should be aware that we will assume that you are familiar with the contents of Experimental Methods: A Primer for Economist, by Friedman and Sunder (1994). This is a short and basic book, vety informative and esasy to read. Some copies of the book are available in the UPF library.

The following is a more detailed program of the course lectures. The rest of the scheduled time is devoted to your experiments and your analysis of your experiments as is described in the accompanying timetable.

Title: The Rules of the Game.

• Reporting.
• 1.7 The Emergence of Experimental Economics.

 

A quiz may be conducted after two weeks of classes.

Segona Part

Replicating Experimental Research (4 weeks)

During these four weeks, students will form 8 research groups of 3-4 students. They will replicate one classic experiment in class, for one hour, and they will discuss the results of their experiment in comparison with the classical results for another hour.

Tercera Part

Conceiving, Designing, Conducting and Analyzing an Original Experiment (4 weeks)

Again, during four weeks the 8 research groups will perform an original experiment for one hour, and will discuss the results obtained in the context of the existing experimental literature, for another hour. They will have to submit their research in a paper format.

Grades will be based on quiz results, class presentation and research paper.

Bibliografia

FRIEDMAN, D.; SUNDER, S. Experimental Methods. Nova York: Cambridge University Press, 1994.

ROTH, A. "Introduction to Experimental Economics". A: ROTH, A.; KAGEL, J. The Hand book of Experimental Economics. Nova York: Princeton University Press, 1995.

SMITH, V. "Microeconomics Systems as an Experimental Science". American Economic Review, 1082. P. 923-55.