This funding will support the creation of a state-of-the-art Experimental Macroeconomics Laboratory (EML), led by Professor Isabelle Salle. The EML will enable cutting-edge research on how people form economic expectations and make decisions, as well as improving public understanding of macroeconomic policies. This innovative facility will combine laboratory experiments and large-scale population surveys to create and test targeted communication tools for economic policies.
Established with co-funding from Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and the Ontario Research Fund, the Experimental Macroeconomics Laboratory (EML) will be a cornerstone of Professor Salle's research program, which aims to bridge critical gaps in our understanding of economic decision-making and policy communication. The EML will pursue three key research objectives: advancing methodologies by comparing lab and survey experiment findings, collecting comprehensive data on macroeconomic literacy through surveys and lab studies, and testing innovative economic communication tools. These goals aim to enhance our understanding of economic decision-making, improve public comprehension of macroeconomic policies, and develop more effective ways for policymakers to communicate with diverse audiences.
The Experimental Macroeconomics Lab (EML) will feature advanced technology, enabling a variety of experimental setups to study both individual and group decision-making. Professor Salle's research, conducted at the EML, aims to bridge microeconomic and macroeconomic insights, offering empirical evidence to enhance economic models and policy design. This research holds the potential to significantly influence both academic understanding and practical policy implementation, particularly in improving how economic information is communicated and understood by the public, thereby increasing the effectiveness of monetary and fiscal policies in an era of economic challenges.
Moreover, the EML's location in Ottawa, near key policymaking institutions like the Bank of Canada, positions it to foster strong collaborations between academic researchers and policymakers. This proximity could accelerate the translation of research findings into practical policy applications.
The research program also aligns with the University of Ottawa’s strategic goals of fostering innovative research with real-world impact and promoting interdisciplinary collaboration, as the EML will be available for use by researchers from various social science disciplines.
Professor Isabelle Salle is an Associate Professor of Behavioral Macroeconomics at the Faculty of Social Sciences’ Department of Economics and Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Macroeconomics. Her expertise spans theoretical frameworks, experimental methods, and empirical analysis in the field of behavioral macroeconomics. Professor Salle's research focuses on understanding how people form expectations about their personal economic situations and future economic outlooks, and how these expectations influence their economic and financial decisions.
Prior to joining the University of Ottawa, Professor Salle held positions at the Bank of Canada and Utrecht University. She is also a research fellow at the School of Economics of the University of Amsterdam and serves as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination and the Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control.
Professor Salle's work has been published in top-tier economics journals, including the Journal of Monetary Economics, the Journal of Economic Theory and the American Economic Journal: Microeconomics. Her innovative approach to combining theoretical models with empirical evidence from laboratory experiments and surveys has positioned her as a leading researcher in the rapidly growing field of behavioral macroeconomics.
To learn more about Professor Isabelle Salle's work in behavioral macroeconomics research, visit the Faculty of Social Sciences research webpage. Visit Collabzium to discover how research at the Faculty of Social Sciences is shaping the future of economic policy communication.