MPhil Experimental Economics 2025-26

The topics for this course change every year.
The course takes place in both terms 1 and 2: in term 1, Michael Thaler and I cover a variety of topics in experimental economics; in term 2, students present selected papers and discuss research ideas.

In this course, we will discuss an overview of several topics in experimental economics. The goal is not to cover all the active research, but to get students a background of experimental economics, and to get to the frontier on a selection of topics. Each year the topics change, with the goal that most of the material will be new for students who have previously taken the course.

This year, I will be focusing on experiments on information and choice process (time, search, and attention); I describe the topics I cover in more detail below. Course Description

How do people actually make decisions when faced with limited attention, costly search, or cognitive costs? Traditional economic models often assume that individuals weigh all options effortlessly and act optimally. But a growing body of theoretical experimental research reveals a more nuanced picture, whereby the process by which people gather and use information – on prices, the stock market, inflation, competitors, politicians, etc. – plays a central role in shaping their choices.

In this course, we focus on experiments that open up the black box of decision-making. We study how individuals explore alternatives, how time pressure affects behaviour, how attention is allocated, and how these frictions interact with incentives and beliefs. This line of research bridges several fields within economics and beyond (cognitive sciences and computer science) and draws on methods from decision theory, behavioural economics, and information theory. It has deep implications for policy and for theory alike: if people fail to learn optimally or ignore relevant information, how should we model their behaviour—and how should we design institutions in response?

Our aim is to understand the state of the art, examine key findings, critique methods, and develop research ideas that bring us closer to understanding how people actually choose.

Meeting Times and Location
Tuesday, 13:30-15:30 (TBC)
Meeting Dates: 2-9 December 2025.

Topics

1. Time and other choice process data in experiments.
   Lecture(s): 30 September.
   References: TBD.
2. Experiments on information acquisition.
   Lecture(s): TBD.
   References: TBD.

Materials will be posted below as the course progresses.