Experimental Economics at Brown

Over the last few decades, economists have begun to re-evaluate their once-held assumption that the experimental method is not a live research option in the discipline of economics.  Laboratory experiments have become an increasingly common way of testing economic theories.  These days, research papers using the experimental method appear frequently in the leading professional journals.  There is a professional society, the Economic Science Association, that holds several well-attended meetings annually and sponsors its own journal, Experimental Economics.  The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics was awarded in 2002 to Vernon Smith, a pioneer of experimental economics, and to experimentalist-economic-psychologist Daniel Kahnemann.

Experimental economics has been a growing research and teaching field at Brown since the late 1990s.  Talbot (Toby) Page, who retired in Dec. 2005, taught an undergraduate course on the topic, EC1720.  Experimental economics is an important part of EC2180 (Game Theory), EC2190E (Economics and Psychology) and EC2530 (Behavioral and Experimental Economics), and experiments have been used in class as a pedagogical device in EC1470 (Bargaining Theory and Applications) and EC0110.

Economics experiments resulting in publications in peer-reviewed journals have been an ongoing feature of the research landscape at Brown since 1998.  In 2005, a permanent recruiting mechanism was set up at the initiative of Pedro dal Bó, designating the experimental research program of our faculty as the Brown University Social Science Experimental Laboratory (BUSSEL).  Students interested in the possibility of being invited to participate in future experiments as decision-making subjects can click on the BUSSEL registration link here.

Four members of the Brown Economics Department have active research programs involving laboratory experiments:

Pedro Dal Bó, who joined the department in 2002, has conducted economics experiments at UCLA and at Brown. His experimental research focuses on the determinants of cooperation among humans. For information and links to his papers, go to dal Bó.

Kfir Eliaz joined the faculty in 2007, having previously taught at New York University. For more information, click Eliaz.

Toby Page, who became Professor Emeritus in 2006, conducted experiments at CalTech  with Richard McKelvey (see McKelvey and Page). Between 1998 and 2004 he co-designed a series of experiments with Louis Putterman, resulting in seven published papers and two papers in progress (see Page and Putterman on Cooperation).

Louis Putterman, who has been at Brown since 1980, has, in addition to the projects with Page, engaged in research on reciprocity and trust with Avner Ben-Ner of the University of Minnesota (see Ben-Ner and Putterman),  research on preferences regarding taxation and redistribution at Brown, as well as current collaborations with Jean-Robert Tyran of the University of Copenhagen and Bettina Rockenbach of the University of Erfurt. For more information, please, click here

The Department and the University are interested in talking with donors who may have an interest in helping to establish Brown as a leading center in this dynamic field.  Those interested are encouraged to contact the Chair of the Department of Economics, Andrew Foster.