Prof. Dr. Jeannette Brosig-Koch
Universität Duisburg-Essen
Essen Laboratory for Experimental Economics
& Essen Center for Health Economics CINCH
Swiss School of Public Health+: International Doctoral Courses in Health Economics and Policy
Experimental Health Economics
4-8 April 2016, Basel
Concept:
The course is intended for PhD students and other researchers interested in applying
the experimental method in health economics. Economic experiments allow to implement ceteris paribus conditions and, thus, to investigate behavior in a highly controlled way. The course introduces the method of experimental economics, explores
major subject areas that have been addressed through laboratory experiments, and
helps to develop hands-on experience in designing experiments in health economics.
It consists of five days of lectures and presentations.
Objectives:
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
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Evaluation
and Credits:
Three (3) credits (ECTS) can be obtained for this course. Students are assessed on
To give students an understanding of the experimental method
To make students competent in applying this method in health economics
To motivate students to conduct their own research in the field of experimental
health economics
(i) their presentation and discussion of papers during the course,
(ii) their submission of a research idea in the field of experimental health economics (including review of related literature, behavioral hypotheses, and a description of the intended experimental design)
Outline:
1. Introduction to Experimental Economics
2. Individual Decision-Making
3. Bargaining
4. Competition
5. Concluding Remarks and Perspectives
Schedule:
On each day, the course will start at 9 a.m. and end at about 4 p.m (note that on Friday the course
will end at about 1 p.m.).
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Course Description:
The experimental method has become an important tool for research in health economics. The
course introduces the method of experimental economics and then focuses on three selected topics,
which are at the core of current research in experimental health economics (i.e., individual decisionmaking, bargaining, and competition). For each topic, the lecture gives an overview of major findings
that have been obtained through laboratory experiments. With the help of presentations, more detailed aspects of experimental health economics will be discussed. Participants should be familiar
with game theory at least at a basic level.
An introduction to the method of experimental economics is provided by the Handbook of Experimental Economic Methodology, edited by Guillaume R. Frechette and Andrew Schotter, Oxford University Press (2015).
An overview of experimental economics research is provided by the Handbook of Experimental Economics, edited by Alvin E. Roth and John H. Kagel, Princeton University Press (1995).
Besides the two textbooks, the course relies on the presentation of research papers (see below).
Assignments:
Topic 1.
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Topic 2.
Introduction to Experimental Economics (Monday)
Each student is required to present an own idea for an experimental study in health economics. The presentation (about ten minutes) should refer to the following questions: What
should be investigated and why?
Individual Decision-Making (Tuesday)

Each student is required to mention three research papers (including theoretical and/or empirical and/or experimental evidence) which are closely related to the own research idea presented the day before. The three research papers should provide the starting point for further search of related literature.

The following research papers should be presented by students:
Schram, A., Sonnemans, J. (2011): How individuals choose health insurance: an experimental
analysis. European Economic Review 55(6), 799-819.
Krieger, M., Felder, S. (2013): Can decision biases improve insurance outcomes? An experiment on status quo bias in health insurance choice. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 10(6), 2560-2577.
Kairies-Schwarz J., Kokot J., Vomhof M., Wessling J. (2014): How do consumers choose health
insurance? – An experiment on heterogeneity in attribute tastes and risk preferences.
Ruhr Economic Papers Nr. 537.
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Topic 3.
Bargaining (Wednesday)

Each student is required to present the hypotheses for the intended experimental study.
These hypotheses should be based on previous theoretical and/or empirical and/or experimental research on this topic.

The following research papers are presented by students:
Hennig-Schmidt, H., Selten, R., Wiesen, D. (2011): How payment systems affect physicians’
provision behavior – an experimental investigation. Journal of Health Economics 30(4),
637-646.
Brosig‐Koch, J., Hennig‐Schmidt, H., Kairies‐Schwarz, N., Wiesen, D. (2015): The effects of introducing mixed payment systems for physicians: Experimental evidence. Forthcoming
in: Health Economics.
Brosig-Koch, J., Hennig-Schmidt, H., Kairies-Schwarz, N., Wiesen, D. (2015): Using artefactual
field and lab experiments to investigate how fee-for-service and capitation affect medical service provision. Forthcoming in: Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization.
Topic 4.
Competition (Thursday)
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Each student is required to provide a sketch of the experimental design intended to test the
hypotheses presented on Wednesday.
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The following research papers should be presented by students:
Kesternich, I., Schumacher, H., Winter, J. (2015): Professional norms and physician behavior:
homo oeconomicus or homo hippocraticus? Journal of Public Economics 131, 1-11.
Huck, S., Lünser, G. K., Spitzer, F., Tyran, J. R. (2014): Medical insurance and free choice of
physician shape patient overtreatment: A laboratory experiment. Working Paper.
Brosig‐Koch, J., Hehenkamp, B., Kokot, J. (2015): The effects of competition on medical service provision, Working Paper.
Topic 5.
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Concluding Remarks and Perspectives (Friday)
Each student is required to present a final version of the own research idea including a review of related literature, behavioral hypotheses, and a description of the intended experimental design. Please prepare and submit a set of slides for the presentation.
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