My Research

I primarily conduct incentivized randomized control trials (economic experiments) to generate new insights. In that regard, I flexibly apply either laboratory, online, or field experimental methods, so as to best capture the essence of the underlying research question in a wide range of institutional settings. Examples for the different experimental tools include:

Lab Experiments

• Consumer product search under informational time lags
• Incentive contracts in principal-agent situations
• Coordination under time pressure
• Information defaults and information cost in public good provision
• Endogenous institutions: How democratic institutions can mitigate the disincentive effect of taxation

Online Experiments (including lab/online hybrids)

• Accountability at the workplace
• The role of reminders for charitable giving

Field Experiments

• Evaluation of soft measures to promote study success
• Poster campaign to help tobacco merchants to check the legal age of customers
• Behavioral interventions to balance labor demand over time
• Improving school children’s perceptions of MINT subjects

Thought experiments (situational stated response surveys)

• Estimating the price elasticity of fuel demand with stated preferences

A full listing of my work can be found under publications.

Besides other things, I am particularly interested in research on topics with a connection to public policy, broadly defined. My research currently ranges from papers on measures to improve the perceived fairness of taxation, how to increase social mobility or how to reduce dropouts from higher education.

Taxation

• Empowering consumers to reduce corporate tax avoidance
• Disincentives and redistribution: Experimental evidence on a dividend of democracy

Education

• Evaluation of soft measures to promote study success

Social Mobility

• Meritocracy and social mobility

Public Health

• Smoking adolescents – a behavioral analysis

Environmental policy

• Estimating the price elasticity of fuel demand with stated preferences derived from a situational approach
• Choosing between technological options in climate policy: Pitfalls in assessing their effciency
• Input-output-analysis as a holistic approach to evaluate and rank energy
  policy actions

A full listing of my work related to public economics and public policy can be found under publications.

I am also interested in shedding light on the effects of behavioral dimensions in organizational contexts. I am particularly enthusiastic about investigating the impact of different informational settings in a variety of institutional enrivonments such as collaborators at the workplace. In other projects I investigate how payoff relevant information can most effectively be transmitted to tax payers.

Information management

• Information defaults and information cost in public good provision
• Accountability at the workplace
• The role of reminders for charitable giving
• Institutional Authority and Collusion
• Transparent payslips

Incentive schemes

• Incentive contracts in principal-agent situations

Decision time

• Consumer product search under informational time lags
• Economic coordination under time pressure

A full listing of my work related to behavioral management can be found under publications.