An Experimental Test of an Optimal growth Model

摘要

This paper describes the design and behavior of an experimental economy with the structure of the Ramsey-Cass-Kopmans model of optimal growth. The experiment includes three different implementations of the model: a decentralized implement- tation with multiple agents and a market for capital, a treatment where individual subjects are placed in the role of social planners, an a treatment where the social planner consists of five agents making a joint decision. The findings highlight the role of market institutions in facilitating convergence to the optimal steady state.