Experimental Economic Research

Experimental economics research offers the opportunity to reproduce theoretical model structures in the laboratory, to observe real human behavior and to test the validity of theories. For this purpose, an experimental laboratory was set up at the Institute in 2002 in collaboration with the Department of Economics. Surprisingly often, participants in the experiments choose strategies leading to complex equilibria and this behavior supports the results of the theoretical models. However, frequently courses of action are found that consistently deviate from the theoretical predictions. By integrating the identified deviations into existing models, the understanding of economic processes, such as developments on the stock market or the motivation of decision makers, increases. In the department, the experimental method is applied in numerous PhD projects and other research projects.