International Foundation for Research in Experimental Economics

“Vernon l. Smith and candace c. Smith are husband and wife.”

“Ifree's form 990 is prepared by an independent cpa and provided to the treasurer for review. The treasurer reviews the detail and goes over any questions with the cpa. A copy is then provided to all board members via email for any comments before finalizing.”

“The conflict of interest policy requires that an interested person disclose the existence of any financial interest and be given the opportunity to disclose all material facts to the directors and members of committees with powers delegated by the board considering the proposed transaction or arrangement. The interested person may submit facts and participate in discussion, but must leave the meeting while the determination of a conflict of interest is discussed and voted upon by the remaining board or committee members. The policy states that each director, principal officer and member of a committee with powers delegated by the board shall annually sign a statement that affirms such person: has received a copy of ifree's conflict of interest policy; has read and understood ifree's policy; has agreed to comply with ifree's policy; and understands ifree is a nonprofit corporation, and in order to maintain its federal tax exemption, it must engage primarily in activities that accomplish one or more of its tax-exempt purposes. An annual statement is provided to and signed by the directors and officers.”

“The organization makes its governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and financial statements available to the public upon request.”

“About ifree: ifree's priorities and responsibilities are to: * highlight the pioneering approach to economic understanding and the unique approach to education that grew out of the development of experimental methods in economics; * support research and education that continues that development; and * conduct educational outreach into broader communities of people in business and government. Ifree's long run vision is to change the way people think about economics. Characteristic principles underlying ifree-supported activity: * decentralized knowledge and efficient coordination require free choice among individuals governed by rules respecting limited resources and constrained by the freedom of choice of others. * "know-how" knowledge in society is dispersed across individuals in all social systems. * diversity of preferences, knowledge, and skills is the hallmark of all markets and social systems. * free choice allows human social systems to explore and discover the opportunities through which all can achieve increasing gains from exchange through the specialization enabled by exchange. * personal and impersonal exchange systems that have co-evolved with knowledge/skill specialization are the only known engines of wealth creation, but details are critical. Market experiments enable us to better understand how institutions matter because the rules matter, and how rules matter because incentives matter. * personal social exchange systems importantly complement market exchange systems. Both share the ancient principle of mutual giving and receiving, but are differently expressed as reciprocity in social exchange, and property rights supported by the rule of law in market exchange. * product and service markets are far more effective than standard economic theory predicts. In both laboratory market experiments, and in the development of new field applications, dispersed private information is sufficient for rule-guided action. The important research question is how should the rules vary with circumstances? * markets can be structured so that they are self-regulating and self-ordering to create new long term value, but the structure of (property) rights to take action must honor technical features that vary across different industries and physical environments. This requires "test bedding" (try it before you fly it) in both the laboratory and the field to understand new applications. What ifree supports: laboratory and field research: * study of exchange systems, both personal and social, which have evolved in families and small groups and in the impersonal market institutions of the world. * study and extension of decentralized market solutions to the design of new resource management systems and eventually policies that improve the effectiveness of economic performance. * study and use of new and evolving tools of brain science for making more visible certain aspects of brain function that affect human sociality and performance, but that have previously been inaccessible to experiment and direct observation. Education and outreach: * apprenticeship-based, hands-on learning in markets and group decision processes using laboratory technology for students at all levels from the u.s. And other countries that are a part of team research projects working with faculty at chapman university. * workshops in hands-on experimental learning methods for high school students and teachers, undergraduate and graduate students at chapman and elsewhere around the u.s and the world, and for practitioners in industry and government. * development of educational software and transferable learning modules for use in the classroom, outreach demonstrations and undergraduate and graduate student workshops. * speaker seminars in experimental economics held at chapman for students, faculty, visiting scholars, and other interested parties. * conferences and events which promote the timely understanding of the application of experimental economics to real”