Vernon Smith
The Father of Experimental Economics
Intro
Raised on a farm in Kansas and having done his undergraduate degree in electrical engineering, Vernon Smith didn’t necessarily expect to be called the forefather of a new type of economics. A keen interest in his senior year economics course at Caltech University, however, led Smith to pursue an MA in economics, if only to help him decide if it was where he wanted to continue his life’s work. Like many others, Smith’s path took unique twists and turns, which eventually led him to the field of experimental economics. Experimental economics uses real people, under controlled conditions, to test economic theories and hypotheses, in order to help policymakers make more accurate predictions about how economic concepts play out in practice. Since its introduction, experimental economics has helped economists, psychologists, and policymakers make more informed decisions about how different economic models might affect individuals and society.
I gradually became persuaded that the subjects, without intending to, had revealed to me a basic truth about markets that was foreign to the literature of economics.
– Vernon L. Smith
About the Authors
Dan Pilat
Dan is a Co-Founder and Managing Director at The Decision Lab. He is a bestselling author of Intention - a book he wrote with Wiley on the mindful application of behavioral science in organizations. Dan has a background in organizational decision making, with a BComm in Decision & Information Systems from McGill University. He has worked on enterprise-level behavioral architecture at TD Securities and BMO Capital Markets, where he advised management on the implementation of systems processing billions of dollars per week. Driven by an appetite for the latest in technology, Dan created a course on business intelligence and lectured at McGill University, and has applied behavioral science to topics such as augmented and virtual reality.
Dr. Sekoul Krastev
Sekoul is a Co-Founder and Managing Director at The Decision Lab. He is a bestselling author of Intention - a book he wrote with Wiley on the mindful application of behavioral science in organizations. A decision scientist with a PhD in Decision Neuroscience from McGill University, Sekoul's work has been featured in peer-reviewed journals and has been presented at conferences around the world. Sekoul previously advised management on innovation and engagement strategy at The Boston Consulting Group as well as on online media strategy at Google. He has a deep interest in the applications of behavioral science to new technology and has published on these topics in places such as the Huffington Post and Strategy & Business.
