Research
Research Interests
I am an applied microeconomist with a keen interest in the dark side of human behavior. My work primarily delves into topics such as discrimination, corruption, power abuse, tax evasion, experiences of war, spiteful behavior, etc. One of the central themes in my research is examining how morals intersect with economic systems. For instance, I investigate how discrimination impacts the formation of job networks, what factors contribute to the abuse of power, how polarization leads to destructive behaviors, the effects of war experiences on religiosity, the consequences of social exclusion on both victims and perpetrators, and how individuals' spiteful preferences can predict their economic behavior. To address these questions, I employ empirical methods, typically utilizing experiments, as a primary tool. Additionally, I supplement my research with insights from game theory to provide a richer understanding of the underlying dynamics.
More broadly, my research interests are:
Experimental and behavioral economics
Applied microeconomics
Economic ethics
Economics of Crime
Labor economics
Publications
Mill, W., Morgan, J. (2022). Competition between friends and foes. European Economic Review. 147, 104171.
Brunner, F., Gamm, F., Mill, W. (2022). The IKEA-effect in Finance. Journal of Banking and Finance. forthcoming.
Kirchkamp, O., Mill, W. (2021). Spite vs. Risk: Explaining overbidding - A theoretical and experimental investigation. Games and Economic Behavior. 130, 616-635.
Mill, W., Morgan, J. (2021). The cost of a divided America: an experimental study into destructive behavior. Experimental Economics. 25, 974–1001.
Kirchkamp, O., Mill, W. (2020). Conditional cooperation and the effect of punishment. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization. 174, 150-172.
Mill, W., Theelen, M. (2019). Social Value Orientation and group size uncertainty in public good dilemmas. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics. 81, 19-38.
Mill, W. (2017). The spite motive in third-price auctions. Economics Letters. 161, 71-73.
Hoeft, L., Mill, W. (2017). Selfish punishers: An experimental investigation of designated punishment behavior in public goods. Economics Letters. 157, 41-44.
Farjam, M., Mill, W., Panganiban, M. (2016). Ignorance Is Bliss, But for Whom? The Persistent Effect of Good Will on Cooperation. Games. 7(4), 33.
Working Papers
LinkedOut -- discrimination in job network formation (with Yulia Evsyukova and Felix Rusche)
We examine the causal effect of racial discrimination on job-network formation by creating more than 400 fictitious profiles on LinkedIn. We vary race using A.I. generated pictures, and we contact more than 20.000 users in a two-stage experiment. We find considerable discrimination and are able to identify individual-level correlates of discrimination.Abuse of Power – An Experimental Investigation of the Effects of Power and Transparency on Centralized Punishment (under review, with Leonard Hoeft)
We investigate power abuse of a single punisher in a public-goods-game subject to variations in punishment power and contribution transparency. We find a high amount of abuse across all conditions. More power leads to more abuse over time, while transparency could only curb abuse in the high power conditions. These findings highlight the dangers of power centralization, but suggest a more complex relation of power and transparency.
Normative Perception of Power Abuse (under review, with Alexander Vostroknutov and Leonard Hoeft)
We study how the powerful perceive power abuse, and how negative experience related to it influences the appropriateness judgments of the powerless. Punishers who abuse their power rationalize their behavior by believing that free-riding, while forcing others to contribute, is not inappropriate. More importantly, victims of such abuse also start to believe that punishers’ free-riding and punishment are justifiable.
Moneyball: Inducing situations of actual social exclusion (under review, with Benedikt Werner and Wasilios Hariskos)
Little is known about potential effects of social exclusion on excluders. To address this, we developed the "Moneyball" paradigm, which employs monetary incentives to create situations of inclusion and exclusion. In a laboratory experiment, excluders perceived some benefit in their senses of belonging, meaningful existence and control, yet suffered in self-esteem and mood. We conclude that the usually detrimental consequences of social exclusion should be further examined for excluded and excluders alike.
Spite in litigation: The benefit of the British rule (under review, with Jonathan Stäbler)
We study theoretically and experimentally which fee-shifting rule is most robust towards other regarding preferences.
Desired Cheating (with Cornelius Schneider)
We study whether the lost tax revenue from cheating might be offset by increased labor supply and paid penalties.
Norms as Obligations (under review, with Michael Kurschilgen and Leonard Hoeft)
We investigate how authority affects information search, and we show that authority cuts off information search and autonomous decision making.Cultural Differences in the Beauty Premium (under review, with Benjamin Kohler)
We explore the universal nature of the beauty premium using language as a cultural mechanism and provide new evidence that the beauty premium may be universal, with considerable heterogeneity across cultures.
Work in progress
Bargaining under the threat of a nuclear option (with Franziska Heinicke and Henrik Orzen) [Working paper coming soon]
The causal effect of War on Religion (with Tobias Ebert and Jana Berkessel) [Working paper coming soon]
The causal effect of noise pollution on trading behavior (with Sabine Bernard and Fabian Gamm) [Working paper coming soon]
Collective vs. individual punishment (with Rainer Rielke) [Planning the experiments]
Bargaining through Agency: How to curb role-induced bias (with Sven Hoeppner) [Planning the experiments]
The empirical advantage of video instructions (with Mike Farjam)