Alexander Smith

Assistant Professor of Economics

Department of Social Science and Policy Studies (SSPS)

Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI)

asmith_portrait

Areas of Expertise

Research

Teaching

Education

Contact

Experimental Economics Laboratory

Athletic Endeavors


Areas of Expertise

Behavioral and Experimental Economics; Applied Microeconomics

Research

Publications

Smith, Alexander (2012). "Estimating the Causal Effect of Beliefs on Contributions in Repeated Public Good Games." Experimental Economics, forthcoming. http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10683-012-9345-5

Smith, Alexander (2012). "The Changing Effects of Community Characteristics on Volunteering in Canada." Canadian Public Policy, 38(3), 361-373. http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/canadian_public_policy/v038/38.3.smith.pdf

Smith, Alexander (2012). "Comment on Social Preferences, Beliefs, and the Dynamics of Free Riding in Public Good Experiments." Economics Bulletin, 32(1), 923-931. http://www.accessecon.com/Pubs/EB/2012/Volume32/EB-12-V32-I1-P87.pdf

Smith, Alexander (2011). "Group Composition and Conditional Cooperation." Journal of Socio-Economics, 40(5), 616-622. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.socec.2011.04.018

Smith, Alexander (2011). "Identifying In-Group and Out-Group Effects in the Trust Game." B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, 11(1)-Topics, Article 38. http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/bejeap.2011.11.issue-1/bejeap.2011.11.1.2878/bejeap.2011.11.1.2878.xml

Smith, Alexander (2011). "Income Inequality in the Trust Game." Economics Letters, 111(1), 54-56. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2011.01.008

Working Papers

"Farmers, Bandits, Soldiers: A Model for Addressing Peace Agendas." With Khalid Saeed, Oleg Pavlov and Jeanine Skorinko. Revise and resubmit at System Dynamics Review.

"On the Dynamics of Beliefs and Contributions in Repeated Public Good Games." Under review.

"Income Inequality and Conditional Charitable Giving." Under review.

"Reciprocity Effects in the Trust Game." Under review.

Work in Progress

"Can Cognitive Dissonance Affect Social Preferences?" With Robert J. Oxoby.

"Optimism in a Taking Game."

"Information Overload and Message Dynamics: A Study Combining Economic Experiments and System Dynamics Modeling." With Oleg Pavlov.

"Using Psychology to Promote Saving."

Teaching

WPI

ECON 1110 - Introductory Microeconomics, C and D Terms, 2011; D Term, 2012; C Term, 2013.

ECON 2110 - Intermediate Microeconomics, C Term, 2012.

ECON 211X - Behavioral Economics, B Term, 2010; B Term, 2012.

ECON 2155 - Experimental Economics, A Term, 2011.

University of Calgary

ECON 301 - Intermediate Microeconomics, Spring and Summer, 2008; Spring and Summer, 2009.

ECON 341 - Money and Banking, Spring and Summer, 2007.

IQP Project Center Experience

Windhoek, Namibia, D Term, 2013. With Creighton Peet.

Education

PhD in Economics, University of Calgary, 2010

MA in Economics, University of Toronto, 2004

BA in Economics, York University, 2003

Contact

Email: adksmith@wpi.edu

Web: http://users.wpi.edu/~adksmith/

Phone: 508-831-6543

Fax: 508-831-5896

Office: Salisbury Labs, 310B

Address: Department of Social Science and Policy Studies (SSPS), Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA 01609

Experimental Economics Laboratory

I am the Director of the WPI SSPS Experimental Economics Laboratory. The facility is designed for conducting computerized economics experiments with up to 14 participants at a time, and is located in Salisbury Labs, 223A. For more information about the Lab, visit: http://users.wpi.edu/~adksmith/lab.html

Athletic Endeavors

asmith_running_halfmarathon

Half Marathon (13.1 miles/21.1 km):

1:42:49 (7:51 per mile); September 30, 2012

5k (3.1 miles):

22:29 (7:15 per mile); September 13, 2012