This dissertation includes three essays using the methodology of experimental economics in order to analyze three separate topics: (1) rate of return dominance, (2) the effect of non-monetary punishment in the voluntary contribution mechanism, and (3) futures contracts in multi-period asset...

This thesis includes three essays that examine issues on two different topics: (1) trading behavior in financial markets, and (2) economic growth. In Essay 1, we report the results of an experiment designed to study the role of speculation in the formation of bubbles and crashes in laboratory...

We conduct a field experiment to measure cooperation among groups of recreational fishermen at a privately owned fishing facility. The parameters are chosen so that group earnings are greater when group members catch fewer fish, as in the Voluntary Contributions Mechanism (VCM). In a manner...

We report a framed field experiment, in which we study the effectiveness of punishment and reward in sustaining cooperation in a social dilemma. Punishments tend to be directed at non-cooperators and rewards are assigned by those who are relatively cooperative. In contrast to the results...