econ 278

experimental economics

Professors Ryan Oprea & Sevgi Yuksel, Fall 2021

Economics Department, UC Santa Barbara

http://www.ryanoprea.com/econ278

The aim of this course is to introduce Ph.D. students to the major themes and motivations of modern experimental economics and to provide a strong foundation in experimental design and methodology.

vital information

• • Schedule: Monday and Wednesday 2:00-3:15.

  • Room: NH 2212.

  • Office hours: By appointment.

  • Office: 3028 North Hall.

  • Email: roprea@gmail.com & sevgi.yuksel@ucsb.edu

the course

In this course we will trace the evolution of two prominent literatures -- the experimental markets literature and the experimental cooperation literature -- and use these stories to motivate the most important topics and open questions in modern experimental and behavioral economics.

One major goal of the course is to show how seemingly dissimilar topics in the field are in fact linked by common behavioral and psychological questions and methodological principles (methodology). Another major goal is to show how literatures advance from simple model testing to in-depth investigations concerning fundamentals of human behavior (mechanisms).

grades and assignments

Each five-week section will have two graded components:

1. Problem Set (50% of grade): Each of the three sections will feature a problem set that will require you to carry out data analysis. You will learn techniques for completing the problem set in the part of the section labeled "Application." Problem sets are due at the very end of the five week section.

2. Referee Reports (50% of grade): In each section, you will write referee reports on three of the papers assigned as readings in the section. These referee reports should be 3-6 pages and should (i) summarize the paper and its motivation, (ii) judge the paper's merits, providing criticism where necessary and (iii) discuss interesting extensions of the work.