It is a pleasure to present to our readers this special issue on Issues in the Methodology of Experimental Economics. While there are no headings to delineate them, this issue consists of three sections. The first consists of a target article by Vernon Smith that is based on a talk given by him...

In March 1981 the British Columbia government partially deregulated the pricing of beer in the province. This study explores the impacts of this policy change on pricing and competition in the British Columbia brewing industry. It examines price movements since the partial deregulation,...

A theory of utility customer-class pricing is developed, and a firm's pricing incentives under various objectives are derived. Rate of return regulation is shown to motivate non-optimal prices in an output counterpart to the Averch-Johnson effect

Many economists and biologists view cooperation as anomalous: animals (including humans) that pursue their own self-interest have superior survival odds to their altruistic or cooperative neighbors. However, in many situations there are substantial gains to the group that can achieve cooperation...

The ultimatum game is a standard instrument for laboratory experimentalists. It had been replicated in a large number of environments and points to special considerations for fairness. Although it has been popular in the experimental community, researchers have not harnessed all the statistical...

The Nash equilibrium predictions of standard game theory often fail in experimental test. While innumerable refinements to Nash equilibrium have been suggested, they too fail in empirical tests. What seems apparent is that humans rely on a rich mixture of contextual cues and signals to determine...

We report the results of experiments conducted over the internet between two different laboratories. Each subject at one site is matched with a subject at another site in a trust game experiment. We investigate whether subjects believe they are really matched with another person, and suggest a...

Classroom experiments are becoming increasingly popular as active-learning exercises for courses in economics. There are many situations where technology is needed to facilitate the effective use of classroom experiments. This article examines how computers and wireless handheld devices are...

Much recent innovation in teaching economics has focused on active learning strategies and on the use of technology. At the same time, budget realities make large lecture classes a fact of life for principles of economics courses at many universities. Unfortunately, neither active learning...

This research examines one mechanism by which people decide whether to trust strangers. Using a laboratory setting that provides subjects with controlled information about their counterparts, we test whether attractive subjects gain a “beauty premium” in a game involving trust and...