Lab Labor: What Can Labor Economists Learn from the Lab?
This chapter surveys the contributions of laboratory experiments to labor economics. We begin with a discussion of methodological issues: why (and when) is a lab experiment the best approach; how do laboratory experiments compare to field experiments; and what are the main design issues? We then summarize the substantive contributions of laboratory experiments to our understanding of principal-agent interactions, social preferences, union-firm bargaining, arbitration, gender differentials, discrimination, job search, and labor markets more generally.
Published Versions
“Lab Labor: What Can Labor Economist s Learn from the Lab?” (with Gary Charness), in Orley Ashenfelter and David Card, eds., Handbook of Labor Economics , volume 4 A . Amsterdam : North Holland, 2011, pp. 229 - 330.
Related
Programs
Working Groups
More from NBER
In addition to working papers, the NBER disseminates affiliates’ latest findings through a range of free periodicals — the NBER Reporter, the NBER Digest, the Bulletin on Retirement and Disability, the Bulletin on Health, and the Bulletin on Entrepreneurship — as well as online conference reports, video lectures, and interviews.
