Experimental economy: individual, strategic and social behaviours — Introduction ; Économie expérimentale : comportements individuels, stratégiques et sociaux - Introduction

Abstract

The last 25 years have seen a revival of empirical methods in many areas of economic analysis. Among these, more and more emphasis has been placed on the use of experimental methods, in particular as a preferred empirical tool for exploring the new opportunities offered by behavioural economics. The expansion of the empirical methods that followed this trend, the accumulation of a number of significant results has led the Economic News to propose an overview of this literature, not only to present its premisses and to draw an interim review, but also to present its prospects. In the strict sense, experimental economy methods use the principles of the experimental method, inspired by natural sciences, to assess predictions of economic models with a particular focus on individual behaviours. Traditionally, there are three pillars on which this method is based. The first pillar consists of monitoring the environment in which individual choices are made. In laboratory experience, the researcher shall try to monitor as much as possible the context in which economic agents make their decisions, in order to isolate the effect of a particular treatment. Typically, the experimental method makes it possible to specify precisely and precisely the exchange institutions and the form of social interaction, the ways in which choices are presented and the response scales in order to control the environment of choice as effectively as possible. The second pillar is the control of random assignment of participants in different treatments. This second pillar is fundamental for the identification of treatment effects and the expected underlying empirical assessment. The third, most contested pillar, is based on the existence of monetary incentives to ensure that laboratory choices are associated with real economic consequences. ; International audience ; The last 25 years have seen a revival of empirical methods in many areas of economic analysis. Among these, more and more emphasis has been placed on the use of experimental ...