Smith, Vernon Lomax (1927-…), is an American economist and professor who won the 2002 Nobel Prize in economic sciences. He shared the award with the Israeli-born economist Daniel Kahneman for their use of experimental methods and psychological research in the study of economics.
Smith’s research has contributed greatly to the field of experimental economics, a branch of economics based on laboratory experiments. Smith has conducted a number of “wind-tunnel tests.” In such tests, new market strategies—such as the deregulation of a utilities market—are tested in the laboratory before being put into practice in the real world. He has also used experiments to test several economic theories involving auctions. Smith’s experiments have increased understanding of how markets operate. His work has also established a number of standards for controlled experimental studies relating to economic analysis.
Smith was born on Jan. 1, 1927, in Wichita, Kansas. He earned an bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the California Institute of Technology in 1949. In 1955, he received a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University. He has taught at a number of universities, including Purdue University, Brown University, the University of Massachusetts, and the University of Arizona. He became a professor of economics and law at George Mason University in Arlington, Virginia, in 2001. Smith has written numerous articles and books on finance, economic theory, and experimental economics.
