Vernon L. Smith - Environment Quotes

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Parallelism: Propositions about the behavior of individuals and the performance of institutions that have been tested in laboratory microeconomies apply also to nonlaboratory environments where similar ceteris paribus conditions prevail.

Vernon L. Smith
One of the most intriguing discoveries of experimental economics is that (1) as we have seen, people invariably behave non-cooperatively in small and large group 'impersonal' market exchange institutions; (2) many (up to half in single play; over 90% in repeat play) cooperate in 'personal' exchange (two-person extensive form games); (3) yet in both economic environments all interactions are between anonymous players.

Vernon L. Smith
In defining a microeconomic system two distinct component elements will be identified: an environment and an institution. The environment consists of a list of N economic agents {l,..., N}, a list of K + 1 commodities (including resources) {O, l,..., K}, and certain characteristics of each agent … Hence, a microeconomic environment is defined by the collection of characteristics e = (e',..., e).

Vernon L. Smith
When the theory performs well you also think, Are there parallel results in naturally occurring field data? You look for coherence across different data sets because theories are not specific to particular data sources. Such extensions are important because theories often make specific assumptions about information and institutions which can be controlled in the laboratory, but which may not accurately represent field data generating situations. Testing theories on the domain of their assumptions is sterile unless it is part of a research program concerned with extending the domain of applications of theory to field environments

Vernon L. Smith