The Experimental Economics Laboratory (LabSi) was founded in 1999 with the initial aim of organising and promoting the use and diffusion of experimental methods in economics. Objectives and methodologies were developed from the start in collaboration with visiting professors from the Department of Political Economics of the University of Siena. In 2000 direct experimentation began, which developed and broadened the activity performed in previous years in the Department of Political Economics. These experiments allowed researchers to refine techniques for experimental analysis, as the publications available on the Laboratory’s website show. It has also gained knowledge in the use of the platform for simulation software development Z-Tree created by the Institute for Empirical Research in Economics of the University of Zurich.
The experimental programme of LABSI is currently focused on the analysis of how strategic interaction influences economic behaviours through the application of experimental methodologies and the use of game theory models. This programme is interdisciplinary, and involves scientific skills from the fields of economics, cognitive psychology, business organisation and information technology. Experts in information technology and statistics from outside the University offer consultation and collaboration for the configuration and processing of experimental data.