The experimental study of market behavior

Over the past two decades, experimental methods have entered the mainstream as one of the empirical methodologies of economic science. Early experimental work focused on issues in individual decision-making and industrial organization, but in recent years economists have applied laboratory methods to study topics in macroeconomics, international economics, information economics, finance, and other fields. Applied economists have also conducted experiments to gather data expressly for use in policy debates. The broadening of the domain of experimental economics has created several clearly identifiable branches of the field. The focus of this volume is one of these branches, the study of the behavior of markets. The papers in this volume represent several current directions of research on experimental markets.