Bart Wilson is an experimental economist

Experimental economics

Experimental economics is the application of experimental methods to study economic questions. Data collected in experiments are used to estimate effect size, test the validity of economic theories, and illuminate market mechanisms. Economic experiments usually use cash to motivate subjects, in...

 and currently holds Donald P. Kennedy Endowed Chair of Economics and Law in the Chapman University, Argyros School of Business and Economics

Chapman University, Argyros School of Business and Economics

The Chapman University Argyros School of Business and Economics is a private research and academic institution at Chapman University in Southern California...

. His work has been widely published in both the popular and academic press.

Work History

Before coming to Chapman University

Chapman University

Chapman University is a private, non-profit university located in Orange, California affiliated with the Christian Church . Known for its blend of liberal arts and professional programs, Chapman University encompasses seven schools and colleges: Lawrence and Kristina Dodge College of Film and Media...

, Dr. Wilson worked at George Mason University

George Mason University

George Mason University is a public university based in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, south of and adjacent to the city of Fairfax. Additional campuses are located nearby in Arlington County, Prince William County, and Loudoun County...

. Prior to his academic career, Wilson worked as an economist in the Division of Economic Policy Analysis at the Federal Trade Commission

Federal Trade Commission

The Federal Trade Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1914 by the Federal Trade Commission Act...

. He is also a guest lecturer at the Institute for Humane Studies

Institute for Humane Studies

The Institute for Humane Studies is a classical liberal non-profit organization whose stated mission is “to support the achievement of a freer society by discovering and facilitating the development of talented students, scholars, and other intellectuals who share an interest in liberty and in...

.

Thought and Work

• Wilson argues that economists often force "ordinary human behavior to fit their models." For Wilson, this can confuse objective economic analysis.

• After research and experimentation Wilson and Vernon L. Smith
  Vernon L. Smith
  Vernon Lomax Smith is professor of economics at Chapman University's Argyros School of Business and Economics and School of Law in Orange, California, a research scholar at George Mason University Interdisciplinary Center for Economic Science, and a Fellow of the Mercatus Center, all in Arlington,...
  
   conclude that "a history of unenforced property rights hinders our subjects' ability to develop the requisite personal social arrangements to support specialization and effectively exploit impersonal long-distance trade."

• Wilson argues that capacity constrained firms have a vested interest in not lowering their prices for new competitive markets.

Partial List of Scholarly Work

• Geography and Social Networks in Nascent Distal Exchange

• Social Preferences aren't Preferences

• Exchange and Specialisation as a Discovery Process

• Justice and Fairness in the Dictator Game

• Incremental Approaches to Establishing Trust

• Language Games of Reciprocity

• Experimental Gasoline Markets

• Fixed Revenue Auctions

• Historical Property Rights, Sociality, and the Emergence of Impersonal Exchange in Long-distance Trade

• An Experimental Investigation of Hobbesian Jungles

• Economics Works! Experiments in High School Classrooms

External links

• http://ices.gmu.edu/people.php/79157.html?menuid=
• http://www1.chapman.edu/~bjwilson/index.htm