1st Edition
The Art of Experimental Economics Twenty Top Papers Reviewed
Applying experimental methods has become one of the most powerful and versatile ways to obtain economic insights, and experimental economics has especially supported the development of behavioral economics. The Art of Experimental Economics identifies and reviews 20 of the most important papers to have been published in experimental economics in order to highlight the power and methods of this area, and provides many examples of findings in behavioral economics that have extended knowledge in the economics discipline as a whole.
Chosen through a combination of citations, recommendations by scholars in the field, and voting by members of leading societies, the 20 papers under review – some by Nobel prize-winning economists – run the full gamut of experimental economics from theoretical expositions to applications demonstrating experimental economics in action. Also written by a leading experimental economist, each chapter provides a brief summary of the paper, makes the case for why that paper is one of the top 20 in the field, discusses the use made of the experimental method, and considers related work to provide context for each paper. These reviews quickly expose readers to the breadth of application possibilities and the methodological issues, leaving them with a firm understanding of the legacy of the papers’ contributions.
This text provides a survey of some of the very best research in experimental and behavioral economics and is a valuable resource for scholars and economics instructors, students seeking to develop capability in applying experimental methods, and economics researchers who wish to further explore the experimental approach.
Chapter 1: Introducing 20 Top Papers and their Reviewers
Gary Charness and Mark Pingle
Chapter 2: An Experimental Study of Competitive Market Behavior (by Vernon L. Smith)
Reviewed by Charles A. Holt
Chapter 3: The Strategy Method as an Instrument for the Exploration of Limited Rationality in Oligopoly Game Behavior (by Reinhard Selten)
Reviewed by Claudia Keser and Hartmut Kliemt
Chapter 4: An Experimental Analysis of Ultimatum Bargaining (by Werner Güth, Rolf Schmittberger and Bernd Schwarze)
Reviewed by Brit Grosskopf and Rosemarie Nagel
Chapter 5: The Winner’s Curse and Public Information in Common Value Auctions (by John H. Kagel and Dan Levin)
Reviewed by Gary Charness
Chapter 6: Group Size Effects in Public Goods Provision: The Voluntary Contributions Mechanism (by R. Mark Isaac and James M. Walker)
Reviewed by James Andreoni
Chapter 7: Rational Expectations and the Aggregation of Diverse Information in Laboratory Security Markets (by Charles R. Plott and Shyam Sunder)
Reviewed by R. Mark Isaac
Chapter 8: Experimental Tests of the Endowment Effect and the Coase Theorem (by Daniel Kahneman, Jack L. Knetsch, Richard H. Thaler)
Reviewed by John A. List
Chapter 9: Bargaining and Market Behavior in Jerusalem, Ljubljana, Pittsburgh and Tokyo: An Experimental Study (by Alvin E. Roth, Vesna Prasnikar, Masahiro Okuno-Fujiwara and Shmuel Zamir)
Reviewed by Armin Falk
Chapter 10: Unraveling in Guessing Games: An Experimental Study (by Rosemarie Nagel)
Reviewed by John H. Kagel and Antonio Penta
Chapter 11: Trust, Reciprocity, and Social History (by Joyce Berg, John Dickhaut, and Kevin McCabe)
Reviewed by Vernon L. Smith
Chapter 12: Cooperation and Punishment in Public Goods Experiments (by Ernst Fehr and Simon Ga ̈chter)
Reviewed by Yan Chen
Chapter 13: A Fine is a Price (by Uri Gneezy and Aldo Rustichini)
Reviewed by Alex Imas
Chapter 14: Giving according to GARP: An Experimental Test of the Consistency of Preferences for Altruism (by James Andreoni and John Miller)
Reviewed by Catherine Eckel
Chapter 15: Risk Aversion and Incentive Effects (by Charles Holt and Susan Laury)
Reviewed by Kevin McCabe
Chapter 16: Does market experience eliminate market anomalies? (by John A. List)
Reviewed by Matthias Sutter
Chapter 17: Promises and Partnership (by Gary Charness and Martin Dufwenberg)
Reviewed by Urs Fischbacher and Franziska Föllmi-Heusi
Chapter 18: The Hidden Costs of Control (by Armin Falk and Michael Kosfeld)
Reviewed by Laura Razzolini and Rachel Croson
Chapter 19: Do Women Shy Away from Competition? Do Men Compete Too Much? (by Muriel Niederle and Lise Vesterlund)
Reviewed by Katherine B. Coffman and Alvin E. Roth
Chapter 20: Group Identity and Social Preferences (by Yan Chen and Sherry X. Li)
Reviewed by Marie Claire Villeval
Chapter 21: Lies in Disguise—An Experimental Study on Cheating (by Urs Fischbacher and Franziska Föllmi-Heusi)
Reviewed by Uri Gneezy and Marta Serra-Garcia
Biography
Gary Charness is a Professor of Economics and the Director of the Experimental and Behavioral Economics Laboratory at the University of California, Santa Barbara, USA.
Mark Pingle is a Professor of Economics at the University of Nevada, Reno, USA.
"This is a terrific book. Gary Charness and Mark Pingle have selected 20 landmark papers in experimental economics. Experts wrote essays about these papers, in which they summarize, contextualize, and position the papers. This book is a delight for both newcomers who want to learn quickly about the highlights of the field and for seasoned experimenters who will discover interesting new facts and insights on their favorite papers."
Theo Offerman, Professor of Behavioral Game Theory, University of Amsterdam
"What are some of the greatest papers in experimental economics and why? By having experienced researchers reevaluate highly cited and highly influential papers, this book offers insights into experimental research that no other book has provided."
Jordi Brandts, Research Professor, Barcelona Graduate School of Economics and Institut d ìAnàlisi Econòmica – Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas
"This book provides clear summaries of 20 classic economic experiments, along with interesting discussions of their impact and subsequent work. It is a great way for economists to get a sense of what experimental economics is about, and it will be a great supplement to any class on the topic. Highly recommended!"
Drew Fudenberg, Paul A. Samuelson Professor of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
