Michal Bauer

I am a professor of economics at CERGE-EI (a joint workplace of Charles University, Prague and Czech Academy of Sciences) and at the Institute of Economic Studies, Charles University in Prague. I am also affiliated with IZA and CESIfo.

My research spans behavioural economics, development economics and experimental economics. The unifying motivation is to shed light on “behavioural” mechanisms that may contribute to pressing social issues, including poverty, discrimination and violent inter-group conflicts. To do so, my collaborators and I conduct field experiments in relevant settings, often in disadvantaged communities. 

NEWs 

Communicating doctors' consensus persistently increases Covid-19 vaccinations  Published in Nature

We show that (i) people massively underestimate the doctors' trust in the vaccine and (ii) correcting misperceptions about the views of doctors increases the vaccine take-up by 4 p.p.


Our paper on how to fight misperceptions and vaccine hesitancy in 7min entertaining video

English version here.

Czech version is here.

Teaching materials for high schools (in CZ).


Nastiness in Groups

Forthcoming in the Journal of the European Economic Association

The paper shows in several large scale experiments that nasty behavior increases under the group “cover” as responsibility is diffused. It helps to explain why nasty behavior is more prevalent in crowds/complex organizations.