Die Rolle von Verhaltensökonomik und experimenteller Forschung in Wirtschaftswissenschaft und Politikberatung

Laboratory experiments in innovation research: a methodological overview and a review of the current literature

“…We thus argue that laboratory experiments should be used if they yield additional evidence unattainable by other methods in a particular field of study. This resonates with the arguments by Falk and Heckman (2009);Chetty (2015); Madrian (2014);and Weimann (2015), who propose a pragmatic approach concerning the use of evidence derived from experimental methods, arguing that all empirical methods should be viewed as complementary (Falk and Heckman 2009). In this paper, we aim to contribute to the growing field of experimental innovation research, firstly by outlining the advantages and limitations of different methodological approaches in innovation research and more specifically laboratory experiments.…”

“…Figure 1 provides an overview of these methodological approaches and their features in a Venn diagram. The figure shows that none of the existing methods is able to fulfill all three features identified by Weimann (2015) but can only meet one or two criteria.…”

“…Nevertheless, this methodological approach to innovation research has strongly improved its data availability, methods, and research designs in the past 25 years, implementing methods such as difference-in-difference estimators, sample selection models, instrumental variables, and non-parametric matching methods (Angrist and Pischke 2010;Zúñiga-Vicente et al 2014). Overall, this Weimann (2015) approach entails a high level of external validity and applicability but often only a low level of causality.…”

“…Furthermore, due to improved methodological approaches, causal relations have substantiated in recent years. However, the applicability is often low, since it is difficult to find appropriate control groups that could enable a clear comparison (Weimann 2015).…”

“…Overall, a mix of complementary empirical methods might thus be the most promising approach (Weimann, 2015). In the following, we focus on laboratory experiments, which are the most recent addition to the methodological toolbox of innovation research, including discussing their limitations and advantages.…”