Handbook of Experimental Economics Results

在线阅读本书Experimentalmethodsineconomicsrespondtocircumstancesthatarenotcompletelydictatedbyacceptedtheoryoroutstandingproblems.Whilethefieldofeconomicsmakessharpdistinctionsandproducesprecisetheory,theworkofexperimentaleconomicssometimesappearblurredandmayproduceresultsthatvaryfromstrongsupporttolittleorpartialsupportoftherelevanttheory.Atarecentconference,aquestionwasaskedaboutwhereexperimentalmethodsmightbemoreusefulthanfieldmethods.Althoughmanycannotbeansweredbyexperimentalmethods,therearequestionsthatcanonlybeansweredbyexperiments.Muchoftheprogressofexperimentalmethodsinvolvestheposingofoldornewquestionsinawaythatexperimentalmethodscanbeapplied.Thetitleofthebookreflectsthespiritofadventurethatexperimentalistsshareandfocusesonexperimentsingeneralratherthanforcinganorganizationintotraditionalcategoriesthatdonotfit.Theemphasisreflectsthefactthattheresultsdonotnecessarilydemonstrateaconsistenttheme,butinsteadreflectbitsandpiecesofprogressasopportunitiestoposequestionsbecomerecognized.Thisbookisaresultofaninvitationsentfromtheeditorstoabroadrangeofexperimentersaskingthemtowritebriefnotesdescribingspecificexperimentalresults.Thechallengewastoproducepicturesandtablesthatwereself-containedsothereadercouldunderstandquicklytheessentialnatureoftheexperimentsandtheresults.