Welcome! I am a Senior Research Fellow (Postdoc) at the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods in Bonn. In March 2026, I will join the Technical University Munich as an Assistant Professor (W2 tt W3).
My research focuses on environmental, behavioral, and development economics.
You can find my CV here.
Contact:
Email: tonke@coll.mpg.de
Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods, Bonn
Kurt-Schumacher-Str. 10, 53113 Bonn
Publications
Shaping Identity: Evidence From a Large-scale Field Experiment
(single authored)
Journal of Political Economy Microeconomics (2025, accepted)
A Large-Scale Field Experiment to Decrease Non-Payment for Water: From Diagnosis to Treatment
(with Bettina Rockenbach and Arne Weiss)
Review of Economics and Statistics (2025, in print)
* Junior Scholar Award at BX2016 at Harvard University *
Correcting Misperceptions about Trends and Norms to Address Weak Collective Action - Experimental Evidence from a Recycling Program
(with Hanna Fuhrmann-Riebel, Ben D'Exelle, Kristian Lopez Vargas and Arjan Verschoor)
Journal of Environmental Economics and Management (2024), 128
Providing Procedural Knowledge: Evidence from a Field Experiment to Encourage Resource Conservation in Namibia
(single authored)
Journal of Development Economics (2024), 166
Self-serving behavior of the rich causes contagion effects among the poor
(with B. Rockenbach and A. Weiss)
Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization (2021), 183, 289-300
Working Papers
Self-Affirmation and productivity: Backfiring among those who could benefit the most
(with Bettina Rockenbach, Sebastian Schneiders, Björn Vollan and Arne Weiss)
Economic Journal (2025, conditionally accepted)
Can Reminders Promote Regular Pro-Environmental Behavior? Experimental Evidence from Peru
(with Hanna Fuhrmann-Riebel, Ben D'Exelle, Kristian Lopez Vargas and Arjan Verschoor)
World Development (revise & resubmit)
Work in progress
Designing effective interventions (with Sebastian Riedmiller and Matthias Sutter) - Draft available on request
Complementarities of Price and Non-Price Interventions: Evidence from the Water Sector (with Matthias Sutter) - Manuscript in preparation
Targeting Interventions: Machine Learning vs. Survey Diagnosis (with Sebastian Riedmiller and Matthias Sutter) - Manuscript in preparation
Climate Justice Norms (with Ahana Basistha and Andreas Pondorfer) - Design Stage