Dr. Özgür Gürerk
Senior Research Associate
at the Seminar of Corporate Development and Business Ethics, University of Cologne
Research
In my research, I focus on how to enhance and sustain cooperation in social dilemmas, for example in the context of climate change. I also study cooperation in the context of work teams and leadership.
I investigate the potential of virtual reality (VR) technology as an experimental tool. Unlike conventional labs, immersive virtual environments enable researchers to conduct experiments in naturalistic, context-rich settings, that participants perceive as real.
Teaching
At the University of Cologne, I will soon give a seminar on Ethics Experiments in Virtual Reality.
At the RWTH Aachen University, I regularly give a summer school course on lab and VR experiments for master and PhD students.
Publications
DeHoratius, N., Gürerk, Ö., Honhon, D., & Hyndman, K. (2024). Execution Failures in Retail Supply Chains - A Virtual Reality Experiment. Chicago Booth Research Paper No. 15-47. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2676628. Forthcoming in: Production and Operations Management.
Gürerk, Ö., Braun, L., & Irlenbusch, B. (2023). Experimental Economics in Immersive Virtual Environments. Forthcoming in: Chapter in Edward Elgar Encyclopedia of Behavioural and Experimental Economics, (eds. Hoffmann, R., Neelim, A., & Chuah, S.).
Bohné, T., Heine, I., Gürerk, Ö., Rieger, C., Kemmer, L., Cao, L.Y. (2021). Perception Engineering Learning with Virtual Reality, IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies, 14 (4).
Gürdal, M. Y. Gürerk, Ö., & Yahşi, M. (2021). Culture and Prevalence of Sanctioning Institutions, Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, 92.
Böhm, R.; Gürerk, Ö.; Lauer, T. (2020). Nudging Climate Change Mitigation: A Laboratory Experiment with Inter-Generational Public Goods. Games, 11, 42.
Gürerk, Ö., Bönsch, A., Kittsteiner, T, & Staffeldt, A. (2019). Virtual Humans as Co-Workers: A Novel Methodology to Study Peer Effects. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, 78, 17-29.
Gürerk, Ö., Irlenbusch, B., & Rockenbach, B. (2018). Endogenously Emerging Gender Diversity in an Experimental Team Work Setting. Games, 9, 98.
Gürerk, Ö., Lauer, T., & Scheuermann, M. (2018). Leadership with Individual Rewards and Punishments. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, 74, 57-69.
Bönsch, A., Wendt, J., Overath, H., Gürerk, Ö., Harbring, C., Grund, C., Kittsteiner, T., & Kuhlen, T. (2017) Peers at work: Economic real-effort experiments in the presence of virtual co-workers. Virtual Reality (VR), IEEE, 301-302.
Böhm, R., Rusch, H., & Gürerk, Ö. (2016). What makes people go to war? Defensive intentions motivate retaliatory and preemptive intergroup aggression. Evolution and Human Behavior, 37, 29–34.
Gürerk, Ö., Irlenbusch, B., & Rockenbach, B. (2014). On Cooperation in Open Communities. Journal of Public Economics, 120, 220-230.
Gürerk, Ö. (2013). Social learning increases the acceptance and the efficiency of punishment institutions in social dilemmas. Journal of Economic Psychology, 34, 229-239.
Gürerk, Ö., & Selten, R. (2012). The Effect of Payoff Tables on Experimental Oligopoly Behavior. Experimental Economics, 15, 499-509.
Gürerk, Ö., Irlenbusch, B., & Rockenbach, B. (2009). Motivating Teammates: The Leader’s Choice of Positive and Negative Incentives. Journal of Economic Psychology, 30, 591-607.
Gürerk, Ö., Irlenbusch, B., & Rockenbach, B. (2006). The Competitive Advantage of Sanctioning Institutions. Science, 312, 108-111.
Working Papers
Gürdal, M.Y., Gürerk, Ö., Kacamak, Y. & Kart, E. (2022). How to Increase and Sustain Cooperation in Public Goods Games: Conditional Commitments via a Mediator. https://ssrn.com/abstract=4340558. Revise & Resubmit, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization.
Leder, J., Schütz A., Chapkovski, P., Lauer, T., & Gürerk, Ö. (2021/24). Background Uncertainty Does Not Increase Risk Aversion in Decision Making. Revise & Resubmit, Scientific Reports.
Gürerk, Ö., Bohné T., & Alvarez Alonso, G. (2023). Longitudinal Productivity Effects of Augmented Reality Head-Mounted Displays. Under review.
Gürerk, Ö., & Kasulke, A. (2018/21). Does Virtual Reality Increase Charitable Giving? An Experimental Study. Under Review.
Kunter, M, & Gürerk, Ö. (2018). The Helpfulness of External Reference Prices and How They Affect Customers’ Pay-What-You-Want Payments for Services. Paper available upon request.
Gürerk, Ö., Lauer, T., & Scheuermann, M. (2019). Leader Legitimacy and Team Performance. Paper available upon request.
Gürerk, Ö, Bönsch, A., Harbring, C., Grund, C., Kittsteiner, T., & Staffeldt, A. (2016). Experimental Economics in Virtual Reality. Available at Munich Personal RePEc Archive: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/71409/
Work in Progress
How Leaders Reduce Cheating in Self-Reports & Increase Team Performance, with Thomas Lauer and Mark Pigors
A Trust Game in Virtual Reality, with Lucas Braun and Christine Harbring