Virtual Reality Experiments in Economics

The paper provides a critical review of research using virtual reality as a tool in experimental economics. It addresses the question of whether behavior in virtual environments is a valuable source of evidence for economists. It is argued that virtual reality experiments are proper framed field experiments, which allow testing the effect of contextual cues on economic decisionmaking under the strict control of the experimenter. This feature enhances replicability and attenuates the context-free illusion that represents an important limitation of the standard laboratory approach