Virtual economic experiments

In this chapter we outline how synthetic networked environments such as multiplayer online games and virtual social worlds have recently been deployed as experimental platforms by behavioural economists. We rst provide the background to behavioural economics before describing the rationale behind their use of virtual worlds for experimentation.We then develop a typology of virtual economic experiments from a survey of the main ways in which behavioural economists have used virtual worlds to conduct studies. We close with an assessment of this burgeoning area.