Field Experiments in a Course on Behavioral Economics: Nudging Students Around Campus

Abstract

In experiential education, the student learns through experience by observing a concept or phenomenon and applying this knowledge in a real-world context. A research project conducted by undergraduate students at a U.S. private liberal arts college is described in this article. The project provided opportunity for students to think about their decision-making processes, compare them to existing literature, and apply this knowledge in examining their own hypotheses through primary data collection on campus. While the research design's simplicity ensured that the project could be completed in time for a final grade and sacrificed lecture material in favor of feedback opportunities, this behavioral field experiment was a rewarding experience because of students’ enthusiasm and their ability to defend and think critically of their own ideas.

Keywords:

• field experiment
• nudge
• teaching behavioral economics

JEL codes:

• A12
• A22
• D03

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author benefited from feedback from Nicole Simpson, Prakarsh Singh, Michael O’Hara, Benjamin Anderson, and Robert Turner in writing this article. The author acknowledges the students whose projects are described in this article: Payne Hadden, Konrad Thallner, Tobias Lescht, Samantha Wilhelm, Sarah Chandler, Mary Claire Manfred, Caroline Wardlow, Laura West, and Michael McClutsky.

Notes

¹For the rest of the semester, Kahneman's (2011) Thinking, Fast and Slow and Thaler's (1992) The Winner's Curse were used for assigned readings. The lecture material on rationality and behavioral decision-making was based on Angner (2012).

²For instance, 300 subjects, which would constitute a good sample size, could represent 10 percent of the student population.

³The team randomly selected a sample of subjects that made a purchase during lunch time by using a random number generator.