20th Visiting Graduate Student Workshop in Experimental Economics

Jan. 6th-10th
, the
Economic Science Institute
, with a generous grant from the 
International Foundation for Research in Experimental Economics (IFREE)
, hosted 23 doctoral students from universities all over the world for the 20th Visiting Graduate Student Workshop in Experimental Economics.

In a series of 11 sessions, the students first participated in an economic experiment as a naive subject would and then afterwards discussed with the faculty member the research questions and methods of the project. Presenting faculty, from Chapman except where noted, included:
Gabriele Camera
,
Brice Corgnet
, Alan Gelder,
Dan Kovenock
, Kevin McCabe (George Mason University),
David Porter
, Ryan Oprea (University of California, Santa Barbara),
Jared Rubin
,
Timothy Shields
,
Vernon Smith
,
Nathaniel Wilcox
,
Bart Wilson
, and
Abel Winn
.

The topics of the modules covered a broad range of applications, including principal agency, virtual worlds, and game theory of contests and monetary policy. Vernon Smith and Bart Wilson, the workshop director, also led Socratic roundtable discussions for which the students had in advance read essays and selections of writings by W.S. Jevons, F.A. Hayek, and Vernon Smith.

The students left the workshop with a deeper appreciation for the philosophy of economic science, insights into the practical skills for conducting experimental research, and a broader exposure to new questions that researchers are exploring with economic experiments.


Here is what participants had to say about the workshop:

•  ”I would definitely recommend it to others because it provides a great opportunity to interact with other experimentalists. It definitely opened my eyes to some research areas I haven’t thought about before. Also, it is valuable to know how a participant feels in an experiment. I think this experience will affect the ways I design my own experiments in the future.”
• “The topics and the intensely hands-on approach make the workshop much, much different than others I’ve attended. I really feel like this workshop provided me with experiences that no other one would be able to. I will certainly recommend the workshop to PhD students behind me.”
• “The one-week experience in this workshop is simply fantastic! I have learned a lot more than I expected. I met a group of people who are all genuinely interested in experimental and behavioral economics. I really appreciate the faculties’ enthusiasm in teaching and communicating with us. I’m looking forward to working with professors and other graduate students I met here. Also, there is a chance to make some money through the experiments!”

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.



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