The Economic Science Institute has paid just under $7,000 to about 200 students for participating in an experiment to determine how trustworthy people are when handling other people’s money.

This experiment, for which students are paid a minimum of $7, began Sept. 8. It is just one of many that the institute will be conducting at Chapman throughout the school year.

The experiments will allow professors from the institute to develop business theories and practices that will keep economies healthy and avert crises like the one the United States is currently experiencing, according to professor John Dickhaut.

“The reason I went in the first place was because I wanted to make a couple bucks. It was cool to see how they go into the field and test their theories,” said junior Anthony Simonetti.

Nobel laureate Vernon Smith was one of the driving forces in the creation of the Economic Science Institute. Smith helped establish institutes similar to Chapman’s at George Mason University and the University of Arizona, his former employers.

As of press time, Smith could not be reached for comment.

Professors Stephen Rassenti, David Porter, and Dickhaut helped Smith in establishing similar institutes. Doctorate and graduate students from universities including UC Irvine, George Mason and University of Connecticut are helping with the institute’s research. All of the institute’s members contribute their expertise in the various areas of economics to help with one other’s research.

Chapman offered to establish the institute last year so that top experts in economics could do research like this here. The first floor of Wilkinson Hall was renovated last year to house computer laboratories, classrooms, and offices.

Dickhaut, a professor of accounting and economics at Chapman, is in charge of conducting the “trustworthiness” experiment. Dickhaut specializes in the area of personal exchange experiments, which tests how people act in business deals in the real world economy.

“We take the rules from the outside world and put them into a lab setting,” said Dickhaut.

The institute’s research will help improve Chapman’s visibility to prospective students and future faculty, according to Chancellor Daniele Struppa in an e-mail.

“I knew it was an economics experiment but it was more of a psychological one,” said Simonetti.

According to Struppa, these kinds of experiments will get the Chapman community involved as well as enhance teaching in economics courses and lectures.


Contact this reporter: daniel.langhorne@thepantheronline.com