Description
The Handbook of Experimental Economic Methodology, edited by Guillaume R. Fréchette and Andrew Schotter, aims to confront and debate the issues faced by the growing field of experimental economics. For example, as experimental work attempts to test theory, it raises questions about the proper relationship between theory and experiments. As experimental results are used to inform policy, the utility of these results outside the lab is questioned, and finally, as experimental economics tries to integrate ideas from other disciplines like psychology and neuroscience, the question of their proper place in the discipline of economics becomes less clear.This book contains papers written by some of the most accomplished scholars working at the intersection of experimental, behavioral, and theoretical economics talking about methodology. It is divided into four sections, each of which features a set of papers and a set of comments on those papers. The intention of the volume is to offer a place where ideas about methodology could be discussed and even argued. Some of the papers are contentious---a healthy sign of a dynamic discipline---while others lay out a vision for how the authors think experimental economics should be pursued.This exciting and illuminating collection of papers brings light to a topic at the core of experimental economics. Researchers from a broad range of fields will benefit from the exploration of these important questions.
Table of Contents
PART ONE: IS EXPERIMENTAL ECONOMICS LIVING UP TO ITS PROMISE?1. Is Experimental Economics Living Up to Its Promise?Alvin E. RothPART TWO: THE RELATIONSHIP OF ECONOMIC THEORY TO EXPERIMENTS2. The Relationship of Economic Theory to ExperimentsDavid K. Levine and Jie Zheng3. On the Relationship Between Economic Theory and ExperimentsAndrew Schotter4. Enhanced Choice ExperimentsAndrew Caplin and Mark Dean5. Intelligent Design: The Relationship of Economic Theory to Experiments: Treatment driven ExperimentsMuriel NiederleShorter Papers and Comments:6. The Interplay between Theory and ExperimentsLeeat Yariv7. Maxims for ExperimentersMartin Dufwenberg8. What is an Economic Theory That Can Inform Experiments?Uri Gneezy and Pedro Rey-BielPART THREE: PSYCHOLOGY AND ECONOMICS: A COMPARISON OF METHODS9. The 1-800 Critique, Counter-Examples, and the Future of Behavioral EconomicsIdo Erev and Ben Greiner10. A General Model for Experimental Inquiry in Economics and Social PsychologyJ. Keith Murnighan11. Psychology and Economics: Areas of Convergence and DifferenceTom R. Tyler and David AmodioShorter Papers and Comments:12. The Hammer and the ScrewdriverGary Charness13. Discussion of "Psychology and Economics: Areas of Convergence and Difference"Theo OffermanPART FOUR: THE LAB AND THE FIELDReprint: What Do Laboratory Experiments Measuring Social Preferences Reveal About the Real World?Steven D. Levitt and John A. List14. The Promise and Success of Lab-Field Generalizability in Experimental Economics:A Critical Reply to Levitt and ListColin F. Camerer15. Theory, Experimental Design and Econometrics Are Complementary (And So Are Lab and Field Experiments)Glenn W. Harrison, Morten Lau, and E. Elisabet Rutström16. Laboratory Experiments: The Lab in Relationship to Field Experiments, Field Data and Economic TheoryJohn H. Kagel17. Laboratory Experiments: Professionals versus StudentsGuillaume R. FréchetteShorter Papers and Comments:18. The External Validity of Laboratory Experiments: The Misleading Emphasis on Quantitative EffectsJudd Kessler and Lise Vesterlund19. The Lab and the Field: Empirical and Experimental EconomicsDavid Reiley20. On the Generalizability of Experimental Results in EconomicsOmar Al-Ubaydli and John A. List
