Experiments in Economics: A Survey

Abstract

Application of experimental methods in Economics, over the last few decades, has given researchers in the field access to hitherto unobtainable data that can be used to validate or refute theoretical propositions. This field has grown exponentially during this time but is still rather new to the average academic. This article is in the nature of a survey of more recent literature. It begins with the early beginnings in the area and goes on to discuss recent advances, thematically, with special emphasis on artefactual and framed field experiments as well as natural experiments. The discussion is by no means exhaustive and is intended to bring to the interested reader a flavor of experimental methods.