June 15-21, 2014 The Economic Science Institute hosted a one week-long International Foundation for Research in Experimental Economics (IFREE) and Thomas W. Smith Foundation sponsored workshop on experimental economics for high school students from all over the nation. Taught by a visiting instructor, Kyle Hampton, Ph.D., assistant professor of economics and director of the Center for Economic Education at the University of Alaska, Anchorage, the workshop is both a rigorous academic experience and an opportunity for high school students to meet other students with the same interest in economic experiments and behavioral economics.

For those high school students who might not have had the opportunity to study economics in their high schools, the objective of this workshop is to expose them to and get them interested in the foundations of economic analysis using experimental economics. A subset of the students may have already taken economics classes, and for those students, the goal is to cultivate their interest in economics and introduce them to economics as an observational science with new topics, problems, and experiments. This workshop does not assume any previous study in economics.

Topics covered in the program included game theory, prisoner’s dilemma, social dilemmas, Coasian bargaining, public goods, trust and reciprocity, auctions, innovation and market design. Students learned how to apply the scientific method to economic behavior and work with their peers in forming solutions to specific economic problems. In addition, students participated in experiments and earned cash.

Here is what some students had to say about the workshop:

  • “My interest in economics has been rekindled.”
  • “Kyle is a great teacher! No other teacher has as much charisma or personality. Highly recommend this workshop and am grateful that I w
    as able to participate in it.”

For more information on conferences, graduate and high school level workshops, and the Summer Scholar program hosted at the Economic Science Institute, please visit the Economic Science Institute’s home page.