experimental economics
From The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, Second Edition, 2008
Edited by
Steven
N.
Durlauf
and
Lawrence
E.
Blume
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Abstract
Experimental methods have features in common across all the sciences. All tend to use the framework of falsification, but there is inherent ambiguity in knowing which of the many hypotheses necessary to construct a test are negated by observations contrary to predictions. This ambiguity tends to engender much discussion, contestability and the design of new experiments that attempt to resolve the open qsts. This social process is not part of the logic of scientific testing, but it explains what scientists do and how new results become established.
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Keywords
bounded rationality; Brownian motion; constructivist rationality; dictator games; double auction; Duhem–Quine problem; ecological rationality; equilibrium; excess demand; experimental economics; experimental knowledge; extensive form games; falsificationism; first-price auctions; Friedman, M.; Hayek, F. A.; Internet, economics of; market power; mechanism design; neuroscience; perfect competition; perfect information; positive economics; prediction; private information; repeated games; risk neutrality; strategic games; subjective probability; subjective utility; testing; ultimatum gamesHow to cite this article
Smith, Vernon L. "experimental economics." The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Second Edition. Eds. Steven N. Durlauf and Lawrence E. Blume. Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics Online. Palgrave Macmillan. 19 January 2012 <http://www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/article?id=pde2008_E000277> doi:10.1057/9780230226203.0527
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