Research Symposium

BIO

Ian Steiger is a first-year student at Florida State University studying economics and applied mathematics. In addition to UROP he works as a research assistant for Dr. Norton in the Department of Economics. Ian also serves as the Professional Development Chair for the College of Social Science and Public Policy Student Leadership Council. He plans to pursue a PhD in economics with a focus on industrial organization and hopes to build a career in academia. His research interests center on industrial organization, and he hopes his work will contribute to a deeper understanding of market competition and help promote competitive markets while reducing collusion and corruption within industry.

Experimental Economics Effect on Industrial Organization

Abstract

Experimental economics is a field where researchers induce incentives onto human participants using rewards based on actions within experiments. The field has impacted industrial organization, forming many institutions we are familiar with today. My project intends to synthesize experimental studies to answer the question what has the impact of experimental economics been on industrial organization. This project demonstrates the benefits of experimental methods and shed light on the effect it has had. This will allow future researchers to get a better understanding of uses for experimental economics which can branch far beyond testing basic economic theory. For this project I underwent the CITI certification for using human subjects in experiments. This allowed me to help recruit people to join the XS:FS Experimental Lab’s human database. On top of this I read and examined existing literature on experimental economics within the industrial organization field. This method brought me the understanding that experimental economics has been detrimental to the current understanding of industrial organization. It has ensured that markets remain competitive by testing what conditions allow for collusion within markets. Experimental economics has been able to develop ideas of how antitrust laws will truly affect businesses, beyond what is expected. This has changed the implementation of many policies which could’ve had destructive side effects if it weren’t for experimental economics exposing their dangerous underbelly. This research helps to understand the positive impact of experimental economics and the ways in which it can continue to be used in the future.

Keywords: Economics, Industrial Organization, Experimental Economics