Experimental Economics (實驗經濟學)

NTU (Spring 2009)

Time: Friday, 12:35-3:25pm, at 經大講堂   

Office Hour: Friday 3:25-5:10pm (after class) or by Email appointment

Syllabus and Reading List

Textbooks and References:
    1. Markets, Games and Strategic Behavior (by Charles Holt) [雙葉代理] (undergraduate textbook)
    2. Economics Lab: An Intensive Course in Experimental Economics (by Daniel Friedman and Alessandra Cassar) (graduate textbook)
    3. Behavioral Game Theory (by Colin F. Camerer) (graduate textbook)
    4. Handbook of Experimental Economics, Vol.1 (by John Kagel and Alvin Roth) and selected Vol.2 chapters (graduate reference)

Class Topics:

[ 2 /20] Introduction (Part I): Market Experiments (EL, Ch.2, MGS, Ch.1-2) [Intro]
               Experiment 1: The Pit Market

[ 2 /27] Guest Lecture: Online Field Experiments (by Yan Chen, University of Michigan)
                  (You are also encouraged to go to her other talks, as well as Kariv's talks.)

[ 3 / 6 ] Introduction (Part II): Behavioral Game Theory (BGT, Ch.1; EL, Ch.2, MGS, Ch.3) [Intro]
               Experiment 2: p-Beauty Contest
               Experiment 3: LUPI game
               [Lecture Notes 1: Introduction]

[ 3 /13] Basic Principles of Experimental Design (BGT, A1.2; EL, Ch.3-4) [Methods 1]
               Risk and Time Preferences (EL, Ch.14; MSG, Ch.4, 27-29) [Preferences 1]
               Experiment 4: Decision under Uncertainty (A), (B), (C)

[ 3 /20] Social Preferences (BGT, Ch.2; EL, Ch.14; MGS, Ch.12-14; Other regarding preferences chapter of the new Handbook of Experimental Economics Vol.2) [Preferences 2]
               Experiment 5: Pull or Push

[ 3 /27] Bargaining (BGT, Ch.4; MGS, Ch.23) [Market Structure 1]
               Experiment 6: Bargaining

[ 4 / 3 ] No Class (Holiday)

[ 4 /10] Auctions (EL, Ch.9; MGS, Ch.19-22; Auction chapter of the new Handbook of Experimental Economics Vol.2) [Market Structure 2]
               Experiment 7: The Take Over Game

[ 4 /17] Asset Bubbles and Prediction Markets (EL, Ch.8; MGS, Ch.11, Ch.34) [Market Structure 3]
               Experimental Design, Procedure and Analysis (EL, Ch.5-7) [Methods 2]
               Experiment 8: Asset Market Experiment

[ 4 /24] Nash Equilibrium and QRE [old slides] (BGT, Ch.3; MGS, Ch.5, 24) [Strategic Interaction 1]
               Experiment 9: MSE
               Student Presentation 1: The Right and the Good: Distributive Justice and Neural Encoding of Equity and Efficiency
                   Hsu, Anen and Quartz (2008), Science 320 (5879), 1092-1095. [SOM]
               Student Presentation 2: The Neural Basis of Altruistic Punishment
                   De Quervain, Fischbacher, Treyer, Schellhammer, Schnyder, Buck, and Fehr (2004),  Science 305, 27 August 2004, 1254-1258.

[ 5 / 1 ] Initial Response and Level-k Thinking [old slides] (BGT, Ch.5 and lecture notes by Vincent Crawford) [Strategic Interaction 2]
               Experiment 10: Hide and Seek Game
               Student Presentation 3: Oxytocin increases Trust in Humans
                   Kosfeld, Heinrichs, Zak, Fischbacher and Fehr (2005),  Nature 435, 2 June 2005, 673-676.

[ 5 / 8 ] Guest Lecture: Experiments (Laboratory and Field) on Growth and Development [Market Structure 4]
               [old slides on field experiments] (Harrison and List, 2004, Macro chapter of the new Handbook of Experimental Economics Vol.2)
               (by Vivian Lei, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee)

[ 5 /15] General Equilibrium [Market Structure 5]
               Experiment 11: The Edgeworth Box
               Student Presentation 4: Sequential Equilibrium in Monotone Games: Theory-Based Analysis of Experimental Data
                    Choi, Gale and Kariv (2008), Journal of Economic Theory, 143(1), 302– 330.

[ 5 /20] Teaching Experiment Conference  (Note special time and place: 5/20 (Wed) 1-5pm at 東吳大學城中校區 2123會議室)

[ 5 /22] Learning [old slides] (BGT, Ch.6; Learning chapter of the new Handbook of Experimental Economics Vol.2) [Strategic Interaction 3]
               Experiment 12: Presidential Nomination Game
               Experiment 13: Minimum Effort Game
               Student Presentation 5: How Communication Improves Efficiency in Bargaining Games
                    Valley, Thompson, Gibbons and Bazerman (2002), Games and Economic Behavior, 38(1), 127-155.
               Student Presentation 6:  Pinocchio's Pupil: Using Eyetracking and Pupil Dilation To Understand Truth-telling and Deception in Sender-Receiver Games
                    Wang, Spezio and Camerer (2009), American Economic Review, accepted subject to minor revision.

[ 5 /29] No Class (Holiday) - However, you are encouraged to attend the two special lectures:

[ 5 /25] Special Lecture (I): Introduction to z-Tree by Filip Vesely
                (Note special time and place: 5/25 (Mon) 2:10-5pm at Sinica - 經研所B110會議室)

[ 5 /26] Special Lecture (II): Voluntary Separation as a Discipline Device for Long-Term Cooperation: Theory and Experiment by Filip Vesely
                (Note special time and place: 5/26 (Tue) 9:10am-12pm at Sinica - 經研所B110會議室)

[ 6 / 5 ] (Special Classroom: 社法27) Equilibrium Selection and Coordination [old slides] (BGT, Ch.7) [Strategic Interaction 4]
               Experiment 14: Price/Quantity Market
               Student Presentation 7: Consistency and Heterogeneity of Individual Behavior under Uncertainty
                    Choi, Fisman, Gale and Kariv (2007), American Economic Review, 97(5), 1921-1938.
               Student Presentation 8: The Paradox of Voter Participation? A Laboratory Study
                    Levine and Palfrey (2007), American Political Science Review, 101(1), 143-158.

[ 6 /12] Signaling, Reputation, and Cheap Talk [old slides] (BGT, Ch.8) [Strategic Interaction 5]
               Experiment 15: Cheap Talk
               Student Presentation 9: Thar' She Blows: Rekindling Bubbles with Experienced Subjects
                    Hussam, Porter and Smith (2008), American Economic Review,98(3), 924-937.
               Student Presentation 10: Incremental Commitment and Reciprocity in a Real-Time Public Goods Game
                    Kurzban, McCabe, Smith and Wilson (2001), Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27(12), 1662-1673.