Abstract:

The main purpose of this study is to contribute to the relatively new field of experimental economics in Turkish literature, serving as a reference for the historical development of the controlled experiments in economics. It is undeniably essential for researchers studying experimental economics to understand the historical progression of this method. By learning about the history of the experimental method in economics, researchers can analyze past challenges and gain insights into current and future research directions. Although economists resisted the use of controlled experiments in economics for a long time, it is observed today that studies employing controlled experiments are frequently published in the field of economics. The testing of game theoretical models through experiments during the Cold War period served as the initial driving force behind the widespread adoption of the experimental method. Additionally, the experiments conducted by behavioral economists since the 1980s to explain human behavior have further popularized this method among economists. The awarding of the Nobel Prize in Economics to Vernon L. Smith in 2002 for his research on the market mechanism through controlled laboratory experiments and his contributions to the field of experimental economics, can be considered as a recognition of the fact that experimental methods have now become one of the mainstream approaches in economics. There are certain difficulties related to the writing of the history of experimental economics. One of them is the interdisciplinary nature of the method, while the other is that information about the early period of experimental method mostly relies on personal recollections and stories. When examining the historical development of experimental economics, it is observed that experiments were primarily conducted to test individual preferences, market functioning, and the theoretical predictions of game-theoretic models. Therefore, in this study, the historical development is categorized under these three main subjects. Additionally, significant theoretical developments and individuals that influenced the historical development of experimental economics are also discussed.

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