Banking Game

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Banking Game
Of the 6 other firms in your group, the number that choose 2 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Your profits if you choose 2 and are in a green group. 0 8 13 16 18 19 20
Your profits if you choose 1 and are in a green group. 9 10 10 10 10 10 10
Your profits if you choose 2 and are in a white group. 0 0 0 0 0 4 12
Your amount if you choose 1 and are in a white group 6 6 7 8 8 9 10
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Classroom experiment
credit crunch
Credit crunch
Normal
Normal
Normal conditions
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Dont Panic!

• A Hitchhikers Guide to Computerized Economic
  Teaching Experiments

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• by
• Dieter Balkenborg
• Todd Kaplan
• Tim Miller

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Types of Classroom Experiments

• HandRun.
• Quick raise hands (symmetric prisoners dilemma).
• Sampling paper collection (22 games, currency
  attack).
• More sophisticated (Pit market, Slomans Trade
  Game).
• Computerized.
• Web based PhP or Java (Bertrand, Double
  Auction).
• Locally based/installed (z-tree).
• Homework.
• Simple QA with feedback in class (Rubinsteins
  site).
• More advanced Individual Choice experiments with
  some immediate feedback (Monty Hall).
• Play against a fictitious/robot/prior human
  player (Holt Travelers dilemma).
• Students play each other at designated time.

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Why Using Computerized Experiments

• Free ride on existing resources
• Little preparation
• speedy
• Automatic tabulation of results
• Some are difficult to do hand-run
• Limitations
• Class size
• Computing facilities
• Time constraints

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FEELE veconlab, econport,

• Three new names to learn
• Easy to google for
• We will spend some time on each site and learn
  how to use them
• We start with a visit to
• http//en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Economic_Classroom_
  Experiments
• Please add your experience!

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On our wikiversity site

• Google ECONOMIC CLASSROOM EXPERIMENTS
• 1 Why use experiments in teaching economics
• 2 List of Experiments
• 3 Hints for running economic classroom
  experiments
• 4 Useful Links and Related Literature
• Now, lets google for FEELE

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FEELE web pages

• Google FEELE
• experiments
• Handbook
• Under construction

FDTL5 Grant for Bringing Experimental Economics
into the Classroom Register using codeword
ESA2006
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FEELE Laboratory

• is mainly a research lab so look for
• Access our Website of Teaching Experiments
• View list of experiments (short descriptions)
• Experimenter access (thats soon you)
• Participant access (enter now)

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Now register as experimenter

• Code word deadsea
• Next time login with your assigned password (your
  initials number) and password (4-digit number
  e-mailed to you, KEEP ACCESSIBLE)

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Set up experiment

• New, different suffix for each session you run,
  your username suffix access code for students
  
• Name Bertrand complements, DEE
• Select type of experiment from drop-down box
  (Bertrand)

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Add session

• Press add session
• View instructions
• Configure initially make minimal adjustments
  complementary, number of subjects, number of
  rounds, number of players, fixed partners
• View instructions
• (Run session, View and save results)

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Veconlab (Charlie Holt)

• FEELE copies this design
• Similar registration procedure and setting up of
  experiment
• One website for students, one for participants
• Dont miss the bubble experiment!!!!!

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Testing a new experiment

• I demonstrate here how I can learn about a new
  experiment by
• Setting it up with a minimal number of
  participants
• Open a new window for each participant and
  register as participant
• Play against myself by switching between the open
  windows (use ALT-TAB to switch)
• See the results in the instructors window

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Denise Hazlett's Classroom Experiments in
Macroeconomics

• http//marcus.whitman.edu/hazlett/econ/
• List of Experiments1. Federal Funds Market
  Experiment.2. Consumer Price Index Experiment3.
  Unemployment Compensation Experiment.4.
  Investment Coordination Experiment5. Money as a
  Medium of Exchange Experiment6. The Effects of
  Real vs. Nominal Interest Rates on Investment

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Charlie HoltU. of Virginia

• Creator of Veconlab
• Has written textbook on teaching experiments.
• Book explains both handrun and computerized

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Theodore C. Bergstrom, John H. Miller

• Experiments with Economic Principles
  Microeconomics

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Rubinsteins Game Theory Site

• http//gametheory.tau.ac.il/instructor/
• Short questions with
• immediate feedback

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EconPort (James Cox)

• The Best for
• Vernon Smiths double auction (graphs! Adding
  excise taxes!)
• Charlie Plotts asset market
• General normal form games
• Extensive games
• Also handbook, resources

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How to use EconPort 1

• Java must be installed, testing necessary!
• First Configurations ADD A NEW GROUP (No
  changes in group public configurations)
• DO NOT CREATE NEW CONFIGURATION YOURSELF!!

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How to use EconPort 2

1. Now go via tab to Experiments
2. Choose documentation, e.g. on marketlink or check
   the teaching module sections.
3. In the documentation you find standard
   configurations, e.g. for excise taxes in a
   competitive market, which you can add to your
   newly created configuration group. This
   configuration can then be edited.
4. Create a new group in your experiments
5. There you add the configuration as often as you
   want to run a new session. Per group you can only
   have one experiment at a time running.
6. It is a great software!!!

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Sample result Bertrand
Two Firms Fixed Partners
Five Firms Random Partners
Two Firms Random Partners
I learnt that collusion can take place in a
competitive market even without any actual
meeting taking place between the two parties.
Some people are undercutting bastards!!!
Seriously though, it was interesting to see how
the theory is shown in practise.
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Challenges for Classroom Experiments

• Students
• Lecturers
• Module (Course) Structure

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Challenges

• Students
• They have limited time too (both inside and
  outside the classroom).
• Maintain attention (negative externality of both
  data and speed).
• Assess performance/motivation (earnings is noisy,
  attendance has problems).
• How can we write test (or homework) questions
  that require student to attend experiment?
• Some may (correctly/incorrectly) resent being
  used for research experiments at a sacrifice of
  their studies.

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Challenges

• Lecturers
• 4 types Eager, Interested but need support,
  hesitant, unwilling.
• Need to want to try something new.
• Need to sacrifice course time.
• Need to think experiments are of value.

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Challenges

• Classes
• Many courses dont have experiments that fit
  directly into them (macro / finance).
• Same experiments for different courses (avoid
  repeat).
• Some experiments may require students to be in
  two courses. (Run an experiment in micro
  economics and analyze it for the statistics
  course.)

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Rewards

• Students
• Enjoyable, Interactive
• Better grades (Emerson Taylor, 2004)
• Concrete learning experience (rather than
  abstract/mathematical formulas).
• Some students do well in experiments but poor on
  tests (such as those with poor math skills).
• Lecturers
• Richer teaching style -gt evaluations
• Promote experimental economics (preach what we
  practice).

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How to use experiments

• Size can determine how
• Big lectures (gt100) use short hand-run, homework
• Large Lectures (40ltlt100) make use of
  computerized experiments in tutorials.
• Small Lectures (lt40). Possible to use
  computerized experiments in place of lectures
• Experiments seem to work well for all levels of
  students (even high school)
• Hints
• Usually do experiments before covering the
  material in the course.
• Let students participate in preparation,
  execution and evaluation. (Especially in an
  experimental class.)
• Relate some exam questions to experiments.
• Dont be too obsessed with preserving a research
  environment.

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Using ExeterGames

• (Link from www.ex.ac.uk/feele)
• On purpose same style as Veconlab.
• Goal is to complement selection of experiments.
• 11 (soon to be expanded) computerized experiments
  (some are beta-versions).
• Types are a mix of individual choice (homework)
  and interactive games.