Course 2026-2027 a.y.

The course is organized around two macro-blocks.

Foundations of experimental social science:

• Evolutionary perspectives on human behavior.
• Methods for establishing causality in the social sciences: laboratory experiments, randomized field experiments, and quasi-experimental approaches.
• Early landmark experiments in economics — ultimatum, dictator, and public goods games — and what they reveal about cooperation, fairness, altruism, and reciprocity.

Modern applications of experimental economics:

• Social norms and signaling: how norms shape individual behavior, status goods, misperceived norms, and the role of social image in information transmission (e.g. political correctness).
• Social media: experimental evidence on the effects of platform use on well-being, mental health, news consumption, political polarization, and the emergence of collective traps.
• Discrimination: field-experimental methods for documenting bias (e.g. audit studies in the labor market), taste-based vs. statistical theories, implicit stereotypes, and interventions based on contact and integration aimed at reducing discrimination.
• Political behavior: experimental studies of voting, media consumption and cross-cutting exposure, censorship, and how history education shapes political ideology.

Each topic is taught through seminal and recent research papers, emphasizing the link between the substantive question, the underlying theoretical framework, and the experimental design used to test it.

• Describe the main methodological approaches used in experimental economics and psychology, including laboratory experiments, field experiments, and randomized controlled trials.
• Explain how randomization and experimental control enable causal inference in the social sciences.
• Identify the key results of classic experimental games (ultimatum, dictator, public goods) and discuss their implications for cooperation, fairness, altruism, and reciprocity.
• Recognize the main theoretical frameworks used to interpret experimental evidence on social norms, signaling, and social image.
• Summarize recent experimental findings on the effects of social media on well-being, mental health, news consumption, and political polarization.
• Distinguish between taste-based and statistical theories of discrimination, and between explicit and implicit forms of bias.
• Describe the experimental evidence on political behavior, including voting, media exposure, cross-cutting contact, and the role of education and information in shaping political attitudes.

• Critically read and evaluate empirical research papers in experimental economics and psychology.
• Distinguish credible causal claims from purely associational or correlational evidence when assessing empirical work.
• Identify the strengths, limitations, and potential threats to validity of a given experimental design.
• Formulate an original research question that can be meaningfully addressed through an experiment.
• Design the core elements of an experimental study, including sample, treatment conditions, outcome measures, and identification strategy.
• Apply experimental reasoning to real-world problems in policy and business, including those related to social media, discrimination, and political behavior.
• Communicate empirical results clearly and persuasively, both in written form and through oral presentations.
• Work effectively in a team to develop, execute, and present a research project.

• Lectures
• Collaborative Works / Assignments

Students self-organize into small groups and work together on a team assignment devoted to an experimental study. Each group chooses one of the following two options:

1. Propose an original research question suitable for an experimental study and produce a structured review of the relevant literature; or
2. Propose an original research question and design a full experiment to address it, detailing sample, treatment conditions, outcome measures, and identification strategy.

The assignment is developed over the course of the semester. Around the middle of the term, one class meeting is dedicated to one-on-one discussions of the project proposals between each group and the instructor, so that groups can receive targeted feedback on the feasibility, originality, and design of their projects before finalizing them.

In the final weeks of the course, each group delivers a 25-minute in-class presentation of its work, followed by questions from the instructor and the rest of the class. All members of a group receive the same grade on the assignment.

This collaborative component is designed to develop students' ability to formulate research questions, apply the methodological tools discussed in class, work effectively in a team, and communicate empirical ideas clearly to an audience of peers.

ATTENDING STUDENTS

The final grade is determined on a 100-point scale as the weighted sum of two components:

• Team assignment with in-class oral presentation — 40%
• General written exam with open-answer questions — 60%

Collaborative Works / Assignment + Evaluation of oral presentation in class (40% — continuous assessment)

Students self-organize into groups of two or three and work on a team assignment devoted to an experimental study. Each group either (i) proposes an original research question and produces a structured review of the relevant literature, or (ii) proposes an original research question and designs a full experiment to address it. The output is delivered as a 25-minute in-class oral presentation in the last weeks of the course, followed by Q&A with the instructor and peers. All members of a group receive the same grade on this component.

This assessment verifies students' ability to formulate meaningful research questions, engage critically with the experimental literature, design (or plan) an experiment rigorously, collaborate effectively in a team, and communicate empirical ideas clearly to an informed audience — directly targeting the "applying knowledge and understanding" outcomes of the course.

General written exam — open-answer questions (60% — general exam)

The final exam is an individual written exam of 60 minutes. It consists of open-answer questions combining quantitative and non-quantitative content drawn from the lectures and assigned research papers. Questions are designed to test students' understanding of the methodological foundations of experimental economics and psychology, their knowledge of the key results covered in class, and their ability to reason critically about experimental designs and causal claims.

This component primarily verifies the "knowledge and understanding" outcomes of the course, as well as the student's ability to apply experimental reasoning to new settings.

NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS

The assessment scheme for non-attending students mirrors that of attending students, with the single difference that the oral presentation is delivered remotely via Zoom rather than in class. The final grade is determined on a 100-point scale as the weighted sum of two components:

• Team assignment with oral presentation via Zoom — 40%
• General written exam with open-answer questions — 60%

Collaborative Works / Assignment + Evaluation of oral presentation on Zoom (40%)

Non-attending students work (individually or in groups of two or three, following the same rules as attending students) on a team assignment devoted to an experimental study. The assignment takes one of two forms: (i) an original research question with a structured review of the relevant literature, or (ii) an original research question accompanied by a full experimental design. The output is delivered as a 25-minute oral presentation held on Zoom with the instructor, followed by Q&A.

This component verifies students' ability to formulate research questions, critically engage with the experimental literature, design experiments rigorously, and communicate empirical ideas clearly — targeting the "applying knowledge and understanding" outcomes of the course.

General written exam — open-answer questions (60%)

Non-attending students sit the same written exam as attending students: an individual written exam of 60 minutes consisting of open-answer questions combining quantitative and non-quantitative content drawn from the lectures and assigned research papers. The exam verifies the "knowledge and understanding" outcomes and students' ability to apply experimental reasoning to new settings.

The course does not rely on a single textbook. Teaching materials consist of:

• Lecture slides, which are the main source of course material. Slides are posted on the Bocconi Blackboard site after each class.
• Research papers, which constitute the backbone of the lectures. The full list of required readings is provided in the syllabus and will be made available on Blackboard. Students are expected to read the assigned papers; mathematically involved theoretical sections can be read at a high level rather than in detail.
• Book chapters, used occasionally to complement specific topics. The relevant chapters will be uploaded to Blackboard in advance of the corresponding class.

All teaching materials will be distributed through the course's Blackboard site. Any additional or updated readings will be communicated to students during the semester via Blackboard announcements.