Experimental Economics

2024/2025

Academic Year

ENG

Instruction in English

3

ECTS credits

Delivered at:

Department of Theoretical Economics

Course type:

Elective course

When:

1 year, 4 module

Instructor

Sahoo, Soubhagya

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.