A Laboratory Science Approach to Teaching in the Agricultural Economics Curriculum

We argue that economic laboratory experiments can facilitate active learning of theory in the agricultural economics curriculum by placing students in decision-making roles. Three types of experimental protocols are described, along with a discussion of the costs and benefits of experiments. The Double Auction Experiment provides a platform for demonstrating concepts of equilibrium, price discovery, externalities, excess supply, surplus, and speculation. The Monopoly Experiment is a platform for demonstrating concepts of advance production, inventory carryover, monopoly pricing, and search strategies. The Oligopoly Experiment is a platform for demonstrating concepts of thin markets, coordination, and imperfectly competitive equilibria. Copyright 2009 Agricultural and Applied Economics Association