A Witness Seminar on the Emergence of Experimental Economics -- The Very Beginnings -- The Growth of a Community -- Funding -- Knowledge and Skills -- Laboratories -- History and Future -- Episodes from the Early History of Experimentation in Economics -- Biographies of Participants.

This book is the transcript of a witness seminar on the history of experimental economics, in which eleven high-profile experimental economists participated, including Nobel Laureates Vernon Smith, Reinhard Selten and Alvin Roth. The witness seminar was constructed along four different topics: skills, community, laboratory, and funding. The transcript is preceded by an introduction explaining the method of the witness seminar and its specific set-up, and resuming its results. The participants' contribution and their lively discussion provide a wealth of insights into the emergence of experimental economics as a field of research. .