2025/2026
Экспериментальная экономика
Статус:
Маго-лего
Кто читает:
Департамент теоретической экономики
Где читается:
Факультет экономических наук
Когда читается:
4 модуль
Охват аудитории:
для всех кампусов НИУ ВШЭ
Преподаватели:
Саху Собхагья
Язык:
английский
Кредиты:
3
Контактные часы:
36
Course Syllabus
Abstract
Experimental economics is a field of economics that aims to study economic behaviors by conducting controlled experiments. It involves setting up a controlled environment to observe how individuals behave under specific conditions and then using this information to test economic theories. Researchers and policymakers can benefit from the findings of experimental economics studies by gaining a deeper understanding of human decision-making, market dynamics, and policy formulation. This course prioritizes student-led paper presentations and discussions, structured into two segments. First, it focuses on methodological foundations, including experimental design (lab, field, and natural experiments), ethical considerations, randomization techniques, and data analysis. Second, it examines applications of experiments to study preferences, market dynamics, and discrimination, with case studies on policy-relevant topics such as nudges, market interventions, and behavioral insights in institutional design. Students will develop skills in designing, critiquing, and replicating experiments while engaging with both foundational and contemporary research, preparing them to contribute to academic inquiry and evidence-based policy solutions.
Learning Objectives
- Understand the principles and methodologies of experimental economics
- Develop proficiency in designing, implementing, and analyzing controlled experiments
- Critically evaluate experimental studies
- Explain how experimental methods have contributed to economics.
- Explain the overall importance of field experiments to the discipline of economics.
Expected Learning Outcomes
- Synthesize insights across papers to trace the evolution of experimental economics and identify future research directions.
- Design a basic experimental protocol to test a behavioral hypothesis, with clear treatments and ethical safeguards.
- Apply key concepts from prospect theory, reference dependence, and narrow bracketing to interpret observed behavior in laboratory and field settings, including labor markets, judicial decisions, and competitive environments.
- Assess the external validity of experimental findings by comparing lab and field evidence.
- Synthesize insights across multiple papers to articulate how experimental economics has evolved - from early tests of expected utility to recent work on belief formation, mental models, and relative thinking - and identify promising directions for future research.
- Distinguish normative theory from behavioral economics in explaining economic decisions.
- Trace the historical development of experimental methods, from game theory foundations to modern applications.
- Evaluate the roles of internal and external validity in designing and interpreting experiments.
- Apply the induced value method to design incentive-compatible experiments (monotonicity, salience, dominance).
- Assess trade-offs in subject selection, including student pools, cultural diversity, and the rejection of deception.
- Mitigate experimenter demand effects through neutral framing, double-blind protocols, and careful instruction design.
- Choose appropriate experimental designs (within- vs. between-subject, real-effort tasks) based on research questions and validity concerns.
Assessment Elements
- Paper PresentationEach student will deliver a 60 minute presentation on an assigned paper, concisely summarizing its research question, methodology, key findings, and critical contributions, followed by a 15-20 minute Q&A session where peers and the instructor pose clarifying or probing questions. The presentation is a mandatory component of the course. All students must complete a presentation to successfully fulfill the course requirements. 1. Rescheduling: Students who are unable to attend their assigned presentation date must obtain prior approval from the instructor and reschedule in consultation with them. The presentation by each student must complete before the exam week of Module 4. 2. There will be no retake for this component.
- Examination
- ParticipationParticipation reflects your active engagement in the course. Regular attendance is expected, and students are encouraged to contribute meaningfully to class discussions by asking questions, sharing insights, or building on peers' ideas during sessions they attend.
- EssaySubmit a review of the paper presented including all the important aspects of the paper. It should be brief and very simple in language such as the reader gets an idea about the important research question, experimental method, results and discussion.
Interim Assessment
- 2025/2026 4th module0.25 * Examination + 0.15 * Participation + 0.2 * Essay + 0.4 * Paper Presentation
Bibliography
Recommended Core Bibliography
- An introduction to behavioral economics, Wilkinson, N., 2012
- Methods in experimental economics : an introduction, Weimann, J., 2019
Recommended Additional Bibliography
- Nudge : improving decisions about health, wealth and happiness, Thaler, R. H., 2009
- The handbook of experimental economics, , 1995
- The handbook of experimental economics. Vol.2: ., , 2015