Colin von Negenborn

Research

My research focuses on the intersection of microeconomic theory and practical philosophy. In particular, I use game theory to address question of distributive and procedural justice. In addition, I use tools from computational social science (particularly Wolfram Mathematica and, more recently, Python).

Peer-reviewed journal publications

‘Sweet lemons: Mitigating collusion in organizations’ (with M. Pollrich), Journal of Economic Theory, 189, 105074, 2020. Link

We show that mechanisms which generate endogenous asymmetric information fully mitigate collusion. In our model, an agent has private information and a supervisor observes a signal that is correlated with the agent's type. Agent and supervisor can form collusive side agreements. We study the implementation of social choice functions that condition on the agent's type and the supervisory signal. Our main result establishes that any social choice function that is implementable if the signal is public can also be implemented when the signal is private information and collusion is possible. Despite collusion, the signal is obtained for free, i.e., the supervisor does not receive an information rent. Our mechanism breaks collusion via endogenous creation of asymmetric information between agent and supervisor. The associated bargaining frictions prevent formation of collusive agreements, similar to the trade failure in the classical lemons market.

‘The more the merrier? On the optimality of market size restrictions', Review of Economic Design, 27, 603–634, 2023. Link / Wolfram Mathematica code

This paper provides a novel rationale for the regulation of market size when heterogeneous firms compete. A regulator seeks to maximize total welfare by choosing the number of firms allowed to enter the market, e.g. by issuing a certain number of licenses. Opening up the market for more firms has a two-fold effect: it increases competition and thus welfare, but at the same time, it also attracts more cost-intensive firms, driving down average production efficiency. The regulator hence faces a trade-off between raising beneficial competition and detrimental costs. If goods are sufficiently substitutable, the latter effect can outweigh the former. It is then optimal to restrict the market size, rationalizing a limit to competition. This possibility result holds even in the absence of entry costs, search costs or increasing returns to scale, which previous literature required.

'Sentiments and Posterity: Smith on Intergenerational Justice', Journal of Contextual Economics, 143(1–4), 197-217, 2024. Link

In his Theory of Moral Sentiments, Adam Smith lays out an account of ethics based on reflected passions towards our neighbours. I argue that this account can inform theories of intergenerational justice. Existing approaches implicitly focus on claims of justice between generations, not individuals. Instead, following Smith, we should think of each individual situated in her spatio-temporal neighbourhood. Relations between neighbours take the form of intergenerational sentiments. Reflection on these sentiments then allows us to identify due claims of justice. On this account, individuals are not just members of their respective generation, but also of their intertemporal community.

'Ein unmoralisches Angebot? Preisgerechtigkeit in digitalen Märkten', ORDO (ahead of print), 2025. Link

Digital markets exhibit new pricing strategies. Goods and services now feature ‘personalized’ instead of uniform prices, aimed at extracting each consumer’s individual willingness-to-pay. This paper analyses the phenomenon of price discrimination in digital markets and discusses its moral relevance. It argues that personalized prices can ensure the equal treatment of consumers in the market more than uniform prices do, thus meeting a key demand of fairness in pricing.

'Nachbarn oder Nachkommen? Intra- vs. intergenerationelle Gerechtigkeit', Zeitschrift für Praktische Philosophie, 11(2), 93–118, 2025. Link

How should competing claims by individuals be weighed against each other? This key challenge to theories of justice is exacerbated when future individuals come into play. With the shift from an intra- to an intergenerational theory, claims are no longer distributed solely in space but also in time. This article addresses the issue of aggregating and reconciling the dispersed claims. [...]

‘Das Spiel des Lebens: zur Möglichkeit einer physiozentrischen Erweiterung der Spieltheorie', Studia Philosophica, 82, 66–79, 2023. Link

Humans and animals interact frequently, although the degrees of freedom as well as the consequences are distributed rather unevenly in these interactions. The language of game theory allows to study such interactions systematically. However, while game theory has become increasingly influential in moral and political philosophy, it has done so within a purely anthropocentric framework. Either, it focused on interaction between humans alone, or it treated animals as mere instruments to human welfare. This article argues that a physiocentric extension of game theory is both required and possible, considering different concepts of agency. It is shown that a modern utilitarian environmental ethic is not only compatible with the economic methodology of game theory, but that both can also enrich one another.

‘A fuzzy ontology: on the relevance of ecocentrism in marine environmental ethics’, WMU Journal of Maritime Affairs, 21(1), 59–71, 2022. Link

Governing human interaction in the maritime space implicitly rests on the ascription of value to this space. Environmental ethics helps to disentangle the many concepts of value that may come in conflict. As a particularly contested concept, ecocentrism assigns value not just at the atomistic level, but also at the holistic one. It has, however, been subject to criticism, thus challenging the validity of recent approaches to ocean management implicitly resting on ecocentric grounds. This paper provides a new justification for ecocentrism in the marine realm. Instead of relying on notions of community or teleonomy in nature, this paper builds on its ontology. It considers “the Area” beyond national jurisdiction and its declaration as “common heritage.” While a shared understanding of this concept is necessary to put it to practice in the intergovernmental sphere, the paper argues that any characterization of its ontology is subject to fuzziness. In the light of disagreement, fluctuation, and uncertainty on the atomistic level, a holistic perspective on the Area is necessary. Ecocentrism thus allows to overcome the conceptual hindrances and facilitates the implementation of a genuinely common heritage.

Book chapters

‘Ethics, justice, and human rights: normative considerations in marine environmental change’ (with N. Matz-Lück & K. Ott), in P. Harris (ed.) Routledge Handbook of Marine Governance and Global Environmental Change. London: Routledge, 299–312, 2022. Link
'Freie Märkte, freie Menschen', in M. Latif (ed.) Facetten der Freiheit. Freiburg i. Br.: Herder. 3-31, 2025. Link
'Das Spiel des Lebens' (with M. Gandyra), in Ch. Schubert et al. (eds.) Was wissen wir schon. Berlin: Jaja Verlag, 30–31, 2024. Link
‘Gerechtigkeit und Tiere’, in M. Latif (ed.) Gerechtigkeit im 21. Jahrhundert. Freiburg i. Br.: Herder. 91–97, 2023. Link
'Wahrheit und Realität', in M. Latif (ed.) Wert der Wahrheit. Freiburg i. Br.: Herder. 182–187, 2024. Link

Working Papers

'Alerting the Auditor: Combating Corruption in Accounting' (with M. Pollrich), R&R at Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization
'How to consider future people's preferences: generations vs. transgenerational communities', R&R at Ethical Theory and Moral Practice
'A closer look at blue justice' (with N. Matz-Lück & K. Ott), R&R at Marine Policy

Other (tba)

OpenD interview
Series of Academy essays

Google Sites

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