Master 2024/2025

Experimental Economics

Type: Elective course (Economics and Economic Policy)

Area of studies: Economics

Delivered by: Department of Theoretical Economics

Where: Faculty of Economic Sciences

When: 1 year, 4 module

Mode of studies: offline

Open to: students of all HSE University campuses

Instructors: Soubhagya Sahoo

Master’s programme: Economics and Economic policy

Language: English

ECTS credits: 3

Contact hours: 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. The course will be in three sections. In the first section, the course will introduce behavioral economics with an overview of essential concepts in this field, such as bounded rationality, social preferences, prospect theory, and heuristics. The second section will cover the methodological foundation of running experiments to study economic behavior. This includes the principles of economics experiments, experimental design, subjects, data analysis, applications of experimental economics, and the ethical considerations involved in conducting experiments with human subjects. In the final section, we will delve deep into different types of field experiments to study preference, market, and discrimination. We will explore the application of field experiments (RCTs) in improving human capital and designing effective social programs.