Announcements.
Please fill out the Peer Review form below and turn it in at noon Monday, March 14 in Room 417 E2.
Also, at your early convenience, please fill out the class/professor evaluation for this class at http://its.ucsc.edu/evaluations/
Economics as Experimental Science
This course introduces modern laboratory experimental methods to students with well-developed interests in economics and with an intermediate-level knowledge of microeconomics and statistics. Students participate in classroom demonstration experiments, study lab techniques, survey recent applications in many fields, and (as part of a team) design an original experiment.
The primary text is
Economics Lab by Friedman and Cassar, Routledge, 2004 (FC04 for short)
Additional readings are posted below.
Optional texts on reserve at the Science & Engineering library include
Behavioral Game Theory: Experiments in Strategic Interactions by Colin Camerer, (RSF/Princeton University Press, 2003);
Statistics for Experimenters, by Box, Hunter and Hunter, (Wiley, 1978)
Experimental Economics, by Davis and Holt (Princeton University Press 1993).
Handbook of Experimental Economics, Kagel and Roth (eds), Princeton University Press, 1995
Handbook of Experimental Economic Results, Plott and Smith (eds), North-Holland, 2008 Link
Grades are based on class participation and homework (25%), exams (50%), and a group term project (25%).
The class meets Tu Th 10-11:45am in 136 P Sci.
Instructor is Dan Friedman. His office hours are W 1:30-3:30pm in 417 Engineering 2, and by appointment.
Due dates. The final paper is due noon Monday, March 14. Please turn in two paper copies and email one electronic copy to dan@ucsc.edu
Readings
- Experimental Economics Syllabus Collection // Posted on March 18, 2016
- A large collection of syllabi for upper division experimental economics classes.
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- Peer Review form // Posted on March 8, 2016
- Please print out and fill out this form, and turn it in (under the door) at 417 E2 by noon Monday, March 14. Thanks!
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- IRB exemption // Posted on Feb. 24, 2016
- Completed form requesting exempt status from IRB (human subjects committee)
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- Sample Instructions // Posted on Feb. 24, 2016
- Actual instructions for Habib et al paper
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- Simpler Instructions // Posted on Feb. 24, 2016
- For an experiment similar to the matrix game played in class
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- Checklist // Posted on Feb. 24, 2016
- Sample checklist once used in LEEPS lab. Your own checklist may be a bit different.
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- syllabus // Posted on Feb. 22, 2016
- Updated syllabus and class schedule, including readings and presentation dates.
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- guidelines for term project // Posted on Feb. 22, 2016
- Helpful tips on conducting your term project and writing it up.
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- RockPaperScissors in the lab // Posted on Feb. 10, 2016
- As an example of how to present a background paper, Dan will discuss this paper in class Thurs Feb 11. Please spend 10 minutes skimming it before class.
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- Slides for RPS paper // Posted on Feb. 10, 2016
- Example slides presented in class Thursday Feb 11.Your own presentation of a background paper will be a bit shorter, and your presentation of your own work may be a bit longer.
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- Presentation Schedule // Posted on Feb. 9, 2016
- Look at the schedule attached, and let Dan know if groups agree to trade presentation dates, or if any other corrections are in order.
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- Answer key to practice problems // Posted on Feb. 8, 2016
- Many different good answers are possible, but here is a brief selection.
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- Bouchez chapter in HEER // Posted on Feb. 3, 2016
- Nicole Bouchez summarizes experiments testing the ability of Nash equilibrium to predict outcomes of simple bimatrix games.
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- Ten Treasures and Ten Contradictions // Posted on Jan. 29, 2016
- This paper reports laboratory data for games that are played only once. These games span the standard categories: static and dynamic games with complete and incomplete information. For each game, the treasure is a treatment in which behavior conforms nicely to predictions of the Nash equilibrium or relevant refinement. In each case, however, a change in the payoff structure produces a large inconsistency between theoretical predictions and observed behavior. These contradictions are generally consistent with simple intuition based on the interaction of payoff asymmetries and noisy introspection about others’ decisions.
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- Viotti article // Posted on Jan. 27, 2016
- The article was written for political scientists, but you can get the gist quickly by looking at Summary of Experimental Design on p. 12.
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- Peer effects article // Posted on Jan. 27, 2016
- A short article from Science magazine on the impact of social preferences.
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- Habib Et Al 2016 article // Posted on Jan. 21, 2016
- Look for the statistical techniques used in this article, and the design techniques.
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- nudge article // Posted on Jan. 20, 2016
- Background article on policy for choosing defaults, also known as Nudges.
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- Kahneman and Tversky 1979 article // Posted on Jan. 19, 2016
- The most cited article in economics, and a cornerstone of behavioral economics. Skim the whole thing. In class we will discuss some of the evidence cited early in the paper (e.g., in Problems 1-12) and will go over the Value function and the Probability Weighting function (figures 3 and 4).
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- Assignment #2 // Posted on Jan. 13, 2016
- Group assignment due in class Tues Jan 12.
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- Haggling vs Posted Price Markets // Posted on Jan. 12, 2016
- This paper was published in International Journal of Industrial Organization, 21(2), 223-251 (February 2003). Reading it is optional. It is relevant to class discussions about other ways of organizing markets besides the CDA.
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- Monty Hall paper // Posted on Jan. 12, 2016
- Read this paper to prepare for discussion Thursday Jan 14. The first half is required, the second half is optional.
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- LabMethods1 // Posted on Jan. 9, 2016
- First set of lecture notes, covers a bit of philosophy and history.
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