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In this section you will find all you need to know before running your classroom experiments. Make sure you review the materials before implementing the experiment.
If you have any questions, get in touch with us at themissionlab@uloyola.es
Why economic experiments?
Economic experiments are situations under controlled conditions in which participants are assigned specific roles and given incentives to make choices. Experiments have been broadly used in the field of behavioral economics to observe and analyze human behavior in economic decision-making.
In educational settings, economic experiments have great potential for experiential learning as an alternative to “chalk-and-talk” lectures. They can improve student engagement, motivation, attendance, and academic performance. Experiments can also enhance teacher performance by improving course evaluations.
Behaviors and decision-making processes elicited in economic classroom experiments can involve moral and ethical dimensions. For example, an experimental setting can raise reflection on how to trade off efficiency for fairness/equality, or how to balance individual versus community benefits.
This toolkit focuses on the Mini-Dictator Game (MDG), a standardized experiment in the literature used to explore concepts such as altruism, fairness, and generosity in economic interactions.
The Mini-Dictator Game (MDG)
The MDG is a simple two-player game involving: a “dictator” and a “recipient”. Dictators are asked to make six sequential (and randomized) decisions in which they must choose between an equal and an unequal distribution, where the latter may benefit them or the recipient (chosen at random), who has no input or influence over the dictator's decision. As an example, the Figure below shows one of the six decisions that participants make.
Equal distribution
Equal distribution
Unequal distribution
Unequal distribution
As a result of the experiment, we can compute the following types among participants:
Altruistic
Maximize other’s payoff and joint payoff
Antisocial
Minimize other's payoff or maximize inequality
Egalitarian
Minimize inequity
Selfish
Maximize their own payoff
The table below presents the six different game scenarios where two options, A and B, are offered. The table categorizes these choices into four types of decision-makers: Altruist, Egalitarian, Selfish, and Antisocial.
Let's do it!
Before running the experiment, make sure you read all the instructions.
Want to know more?
Check out these academic references:
Alfonso, A. (2024). Taking risks by flying paper airplanes. Frontiers in Education, 9, Article 1301952. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2024.1301952
Balkenborg, D., & Kaplan, T. (2009). Economic classroom experiments. Economics.
Brañas-Garza, P. (2024). Young teens at play: Girls are egalitarian, boys are generous. Personality and Individual Differences, 226, 112703. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2024.112703
Caballer-Tarazona, M., García-Gallego, A., & Rodrigo-González, A. (2016). Promoting trust and reciprocity in the classroom. In EDULEARN16 Proceedings (pp. 3698-3705). IATED.
Cárdenas, J. C., & Ramos, P. A. (2006). Manual de juegos económicos para el análisis del uso colectivo de los recursos naturales.
Cartwright, E., & Stepanova, A. (2012). What do students learn from a classroom experiment: Not much, unless they write a report on it. The Journal of Economic Education, 43(1), 48-57.
Chaudhuri, A. (2008). Experiments in economics: Playing fair with money. Routledge.
Durham, Y., McKinnon, T., & Schulman, C. (2007). Classroom experiments: Not just fun and games. Economic Inquiry, 45(1), 162-178.
Emerson, T. L., & English, L. K. (2016). Classroom experiments: Teaching specific topics or promoting the economic way of thinking? The Journal of Economic Education, 47(4), 288-299.
Grol, R., Sent, E. M., & de Vries, B. (2017). Participate or observe? Effects of economic classroom experiments on students’ economic literacy. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 32, 289-310.
Kahneman, D., & Tversky, A. (1979). Prospect theory: An analysis of decision under risk. Econometrica, 47(2), 263-292.
Lin, T. C. (2018). Using classroom gameplay in introductory microeconomics to enhance business student learning and lecture attendance. Journal of Education for Business, 93(7), 295-303.
Picault, J. (2019). The economics instructor’s toolbox. International Review of Economics Education, 30, Article 100154.
Rodrigo-González, A., & Caballer-Tarazona, M. (2015). A model to assess students’ social responsibility behavior within a classroom experiment. International Review of Economics Education, 18, 62-82.
Smith, V. L. (1982). Microeconomic systems as an experimental science. American Economic Review, 72(5), 923-955.
Stodder, J. (1998). Experimental moralities: Ethics in classroom experiments. The Journal of Economic Education, 29(2), 127–138. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220489809597946
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