The Promises of Web-based Social Experiments

Tuesday, February 21, 12:30 pm
Berkman Center, 23 Everett Street, Second Floor

The advent of the internet provides social scientists with a fantastic tool for conducting behavioral experiments online at a very large-scale and at an affordable cost. It is surprising, however, how little research has leveraged the affordances of the internet to set up such social experiments so far. 

In this talk, Jerome Hergueux will introduce the audience to one of the first online platforms specifically designed for conducting interactive social experiments over the internet to date. He will present the preliminary results of a randomized experiment that compares behavioral measures of social preferences obtained both in a traditional University laboratory and online, with a focus on engaging the audience in a reflection about the specificities, limitations and promises of online experimental economics as a tool for social science research.

About Jerome

Jerome is a PhD candidate in Economics at Sciences Po Paris and the University of Strasbourg. He is a Fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, where he works with Professor Yochai Benkler to develop new interactive survey methods to uncover the foundations and dynamics of interactions and behavior in online social spaces.

Jerome is mainly interested in applying economics' analytical tools to the understanding of the evolution of culture, broadly defined as any set of norms of cooperation shared by a group of individuals trying to overcome particular collective action issues (be it in online or offline settings). He then tries to assess the relevance of those norms for determining a wide range of economic outcomes at the community level.

Jerome originates from the French region of Alsace, near the German border. He holds an MA in Finance from the University of Strasbourg and a Master in International Relations and International Economics from Sciences Po Paris. Jerome speaks French, English and Arabic, and is heavily interested in the Middle East's politics and culture.

Download media from this event here.