<p>Check out <a href="https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/rzeckhauser/files/online_laboratory.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Horton et al. (2011)</a>—<span class="math-container">`</span>The online laboratory: conducting experiments in a real labor market.'</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-07T19:51:03.787Z
2022-10-10T18:01:26.900Z
2022-10-10T18:01:26.900Z
Hemanth B
<p>I have been searching for papers that conduct lab experiments simulating a labour market, that means for a minimum there are both participants taking the role of firms, and participants taking the role of job searchers, and these two parties form work contracts. The focus should be on the contract formation, not the principal agent / effort provision part. The more macro the setup the better. The only references I found are <a href="https://academic.oup.com/qje/article-abstract/121/4/1347/1855227" rel="noreferrer">Falk, Fehr, and Zehnder (2006)</a>, and (although less relevant than the first) also <a href="https://academic.oup.com/ej/article-abstract/114/497/684/5085681" rel="noreferrer">Brandts and Charness (2004)</a>. Both very interesting papers. If anybody knows further similar experimental setups (especially more recent ones), it would be really helpful.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-07T09:25:50.190Z
Charness and his co-authors have a series of papers in this field
Bertrand
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-07T10:41:55.473Z
+1, although looking at the other labour experiments of Charness, I only saw ones that feature the effort - wage as in the micro principal agent literature. I am more interested in macro setups that care about the matching process.
Papayapap
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-07T17:24:16.320Z
What makes a labor market in the lab a labor market?
Michael Greinecker
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-08T08:53:11.673Z
Very thoughtful question. The experiments I saw look very similar to the classic gift exchange games to me. Differences are the framing, the choices with which agents and principal to engage, and the effort Level possibly being framed as real-effort task rather than monetary contribution.
Papayapap
<reference-request><labor-economics><experimental-economics>
Lab experiments of labour markets
Papayapap
# Lab experiments of labour markets

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-05-07)

I have been searching for papers that conduct lab experiments simulating a labour market, that means for a minimum there are both participants taking the role of firms, and participants taking the role of job searchers, and these two parties form work contracts. The focus should be on the contract formation, not the principal agent / effort provision part. The more macro the setup the better. The only references I found are [Falk, Fehr, and Zehnder (2006)](https://academic.oup.com/qje/article-abstract/121/4/1347/1855227), and (although less relevant than the first) also [Brandts and Charness (2004)](https://academic.oup.com/ej/article-abstract/114/497/684/5085681). Both very interesting papers. If anybody knows further similar experimental setups (especially more recent ones), it would be really helpful.

**Tags:** reference-request, labor-economics, experimental-economics

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Charness and his co-authors have a series of papers in this field  
> **username_0**: +1, although looking at the other labour experiments of Charness, I only saw ones that feature the effort - wage as in the micro principal agent literature. I am more interested in macro setups that care about the matching process.  
> **username_2**: What makes a labor market in the lab a labor market?  
> **username_0**: Very thoughtful question. The experiments I saw look very similar to the classic gift exchange games to me. Differences are the framing, the choices with which agents and principal to engage, and the effort Level possibly being framed as real-effort task rather than monetary contribution.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2022-10-07. Score: 1

Check out [Horton et al. (2011)](https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/rzeckhauser/files/online_laboratory.pdf)—`The online laboratory: conducting experiments in a real labor market.'


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