Research

Our main research can be split in two parts. On the one hand we study the basics of economic theory and try to understand how people behave and why. On the other hand we study the application of theory, especially in the topic of public goods. In the following we composed some questions, which engage us, to offer you a better insight in the work of our chair.

In addition we study the question of how economic models work and how we can learn anything about the real world from such models.

Basics

Psychology / Behavioural Economics

What motivates people? Is it always about money? Is it predictable which people react to a certain kind of incentive? How can you determine procedural aspects of decisions in the description of motives?

Game theory / Modeling of bounded rationality

What are plausible predictions of strategic interactions, if equilibrium analysis provides multiple solutions?
On the assumption that we know the motives of single agents, how can you technically model their effort?
How to consider major abilities like the differentiation of diverse, but similar, situations or the handling of probabilities?

Philosophy of economics

How do economic models work? How can models based on (empirically) wrong assumptions be helpful in understanding the world?

Application

Public good / environmental economics

Global warming progresses but (nearly) nobody wants to react first. How can you improve this situation, for example by a suitable design of institutions? What role play the agents’ different motives and their restricted understanding of the situation?

Migration

What are the driving forces behind worries about over-foreignisation? What is the role of anxiety in that? And what would be a fruitful approach to resulting problems?