Behavioral and Experimental Economics

Experimental methods are widely used in many fields, including but not limited to labor, development, and public economics. Economists use experiments to answer wide-ranging questions, from testing economic theories to studying applied questions such as the role of bias in elections in India, or the impact of cognitive behavior therapy in reducing violent crime in the US. Experiments are increasingly being used in diverse ways within economics: to generate convincing causal evidence on the impact of social programs, to identify key parameters in structural models, or to reveal fundamental features of human preferences.

Economists at Michigan – both within and outside the department – are actively engaged in experimental economics. Many experimental economists are also doing research in behavioral economics, a field that uses insights from psychology to inform study of decision-making. Courses such as the Development field course feature dedicated segments to training students in experimental methods, and faculty often collaborate with graduate students on experimental research. Faculty at the School of Information regularly teach doctoral courses focused on experimental methods. These courses are regularly taken by Economics Department doctoral students who are interested in using experimental methods in their research. Economics students have also taken ad hoc field exams in the behavioral and experimental field.