Welcome

I am a Professor of Economics at the University of Essex and a Visiting Professor at Erasmus University Rotterdam.  I am also a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (UK).  My research area is Behavioural Economics. Much of my research is on (Evolutionary) Game Theory and Learning with a particular interest in learning across games and categorization.  A big focus of my research is the study of social networks. I have studied opinion dynamics in networks, the emergence of social norms as well as social influence in networks. I also work on social identity, bounded rationality and discrimination and how they are linked. On the left panel you will find links to the project pages for recent research grants.

I teach (or have been teaching) courses on Microeconomic Theory, Game Theory, Mathematics and Behavioural Economics. More information about teaching can be found on the webpage of the Department of Economics. We created an MSc in Behavioural Economics at Essex. Information can be found here. My google scholar page can be found here.

Current Working Papers/ Work in Progress

• Uncertainty Attitudes, Subjective Expectations and Decisions under Uncertainty, joint with A. Delavande and J. Ganguli {r+r Management Science}
• Personal Relative Position,  Attribution and Social Trust, joint with A. Albertazzi and P. Lown.

• Diversity in Committees, joint with N. Hughes and Z. UH Khan.
• Performance Thresholds, Effort and Risk-Taking, joint with P. Campos-Mercade, S. Currarini and C. Marchiori.
• Influence in Social Networks, joint with D. Friedman and J. Kovarik
• Social Influence and Mitigation, joint with J. Ganguli
• Innovator Networks within the Firm and the Quality of Innovation, joint with M. Gibbs and C. Siemroth.

Publications (by topic, for chronological list see CV)

Learning and Diffusion in Networks

• Compliance Behavior in Networks: Evidence from a Field Experiment (joint with F. Drago and C. Traxler),  American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 12(2), (2020), 1-40.
• Experiments on Belief Formation in Networks (joint with V. Grimm), Journal of the European Economic Association 18(1), (2020), 49-82.
• Learning in Network Games (joint with J. Kovarik and J.G. Romero), Quantitative Economics 9(1) (2018), 85-139. [Online Appendix] [Data] [Best Paper Award]

Learning Across Games, Categorization and Behavioural Spillovers

• Extrapolation and Structural Similarity in Games (joint with E. Sciubba), Economics Letters 125(3), (2014), 381-385. [Replication Data]
• An Experiment on Learning in a Multiple Games Environment,(joint with V. Grimm), Journal of Economic Theory 147(6), (2012), 2220-2259. [Replication Data]
• On the Evolution of Coarse Categories, Journal of Theoretical Biology, 307 (2012), 117-124.
• Learning Across Games, Games and Economic Behavior, 74(2), (2012), 601-619.

Social Identity and Discrimination

• Non-Bayesian Statistical Discrimination, joint with P. Campos-Mercade, Management Science 70(4) (2024), 2549-2567. [Replication Data]
• Gender Bias in Opinion Aggregation, International Economic Review 62(3) (2021), 1055-1080. 
• Gender Differences in Networking, Economic Journal, 130 (630) (2020), 1842-1873. [Replication Data]
• Gender Bias in Teaching Evaluations, joint with J. Sauermann and U. Zoelitz, Journal of the European Economic Association 17(2) (2019), 535-566. [Online Appendix] 

• Identity,Homophily and In-Group Bias, joint with S. Currarini., European Economic Review 90 (SI: Social Identity and Discrimination) 2016, 40-55.  [Replication Data]     

Learning and Strategies in Repeated Games

• Match Length Realization and Cooperation in Indefinitely Repeated Games, joint with L. Orlandi and S. Weidenholzer, Journal of Economic Theory 200 (2022), 105416.
• Strategy Revision Opportunities and Collusion (joint with M. Embrey and R. Peeters), Experimental Economics 22(4), (2019),834-856.
• Learning by (limited) forward looking players, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 108 (2014), 59-77.
• Strategic Behavior in Repeated Voluntary Contribution Experiments, (joint with Ronald Peeters), Journal of Public Economics 95(1), (2011), 143-148. [Replication Data]

Evolution of Cooperation: Social Structure and Social Networks

• Cooperation through collective punishment and participation, joint with D. Duell, E. Mohlin and S. Weidenholzer, Political Science and Research Methods 12(3) (2024), 494-520.
• Risk and Temptation: A Meta-Study on Social Dilemma Games, Economic Journal 128 (2018), 3182-3209. [Online Appendix] [Replication Data]
• Growth and Inequality in Public Good Provision, joint with S. Gaechter, E. Tsakas and A. Vostroknutov, Journal of Public Economics 150 (2017), 1-13. [Online Appendix] [Replication Data]
• Natural Disasters and Social Cohesion, joint with A. Calo-Blanco, J. Kovarik and J.G. Romero, Plos ONE 12(6) (2017), e0176885.
• Limited Memory can be Beneficial for the Evolution of Cooperation (joint with G. Horvath and J. Kovarik), Journal of Theoretical Biology 300, (2012), 193-205.
• Cooperation through Imitation and Exclusion in Networks (joint with Constanza Fosco), Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, 35 (2011), 641-658.  [Online Material]
• Matching Technology and Choice of Institutions in a Prisoner's dilemma (joint with V. Grimm), Journal of Econ. Behavior and Organization 78 (2011),  333-348. 
• Cooperation in Viscous Populations – Experimental Evidence, (joint with Veronika Grimm), Games and Economic Behavior 66(1) (2009), 202-220. [Replication Data]
• Conformism and Cooperation in a Local Interaction Model, Journal of Evolutionary Economics 19 (3), (2009), 397-415.
• Matching Structure and the Cultural Transmission of Social Norms, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 67 (2008), 608-623.
• The Evolution of Function-Valued Traits for Conditional Cooperation, Journal of Theoretical Biology 245 (2007), 564-575.

Covid 19, WFH

• Innovation in Office, Home or Hybrid Work Modes: Evidence from a Tech Firm, (joint with M. Gibbs and C. Siemroth), Scientific Reports 14 (2024), 17117.
• Work from Home & Productivity: Evidence from Personnel and Analytics Data on IT Professionals, (joint with M. Gibbs and C. Siemroth), Journal of Political Economy: Microeconomics 1 (1), (2023), 7-14.

• Extension of the SEIR Model for the Analysis of Tailored Social Distancing and Tracing Approaches to Cope with Covid19 (joint with V. Grimm and M.Schmidt), Scientific Reports 11:4214, (2021).  [Media: Die Welt, Trierischer Volksfreund]. [Code and Replication Data]

Other: Behavioural Economics, Political Economy, Learning;

• Benchmarking Information Aggregation in Experimental Markets (joint with A. Albertazzi and R. Peeters), Economic Inquiry 59(4) (2021), 1500-1516. [Code and Replication Data]
• Do Markets Encourage Risk Seeking Behaviour?, (joint with R. Peeters), European Journal of Finance 28 (2022) (WEHIA special issue), 1474-1480.
• Common Value Elections with Informative Priors- Theory and Evidence (joint with J. Rivas), Games and Economic Behavior 104 (2017), 190-221. [Data] [Media: The Conversation]
• Past Experience of Uncertainty Affects Risk Preferences (joint with E. Tsakas and A. Vostroknutov), Experimental Economics 19(1), (2016), 151-176.  (Supplementary Material); [Data] [Blogs: Plaintext]
• An Axiomatization of Simple Learning Rules when Counterfactuals are not observed (joint with J. Rivas), BE-Journal of Theoretical Economics 12, (2012).
• Let me sleep on it: Delay reduces Rejection Rates in Ultimatum Games (joint with V. Grimm), Economics Letters 111(2), (2011), 113-115.  [Replication Data]; [Media: Scientific American; Il Sole 24 Ore; Blogs: Muriel Niederle's Exp Econ, Kevin Lewis' National Affairs, Stirling Beh. Science Group.]
• An Evolutionary Analysis of Buyer Insurance and Seller Reputation in Online Markets, (joint with W. Güth and A. Ockenfels), Theory and Decision 63(3) (2007), 265-282.

Book chapters and Surveys

• Experimental Research on Discrimination, prepared for EE Encyclopedia of Experimental Social Science (2024).
• Gender Differences in Networking - A Survey, prepared for EE Handbook on Experimental Economics of Gender (2024).
• Learning in Social Networks - A Survey of Literature, prepared for EE Encyclopedia of Behavioural Economics (2024).
• Preferences for Redistribution (joint with E. Weidenholzer), Journal of Economic Surveys 37(5), (2023), 1660-1677.
• Explaining Variation in Cooperative Behavior – Perspectives from the Economics Literature (joint with J. Van der Weele), In: Investors and Exploiters in Ecology and Economics: Principles and Applications, ed. L-A. Giraldeau, P. Heeb, and M. Kosfeld. Strüngmann Forum Reports, vol. 21, J. Lupp, series editor. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, May 2017.
• The Ecological and Economic Conditions of Parasitic Strategies (joint with M. Burton-Chellew, A. Kacelnik, M. Arbilly, M. Dos Santos, K.J. Mathot, J. Mc Namara, J. Van der Weele and B. Vollan), In: Investors and Exploiters in Ecology and Economics: Principles and Applications, ed. L-A. Giraldeau, P. Heeb, and M. Kosfeld. Strüngmann Forum Reports, vol. 21, J. Lupp, series editor. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, May 2017.
• Investment Incentives in Auctions: An Experiment ( joint with V. Grimm, G. Ponti and L.A. Viianto) in Experimental Economics for Competition Policies, Hinloopen and Normann (eds.), Cambridge University Press, 2008

Teaching

I teach (or have been teaching) courses on Microeconomic Theory, Game Theory, Evolutionary Game Theory and Mathematics, Behavioural Economics, Cognitive Psychology and Economics as well as a summer module on Experimental Economics. More information about teaching can be found on the webpage of the Department of Economics.  

Links and More