2013
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29/4/13
Good advice has a price
The compensation model commonly used in financial investment consulting works on a commission basis. The advice is free, but investors often lose money because financial advisors recommend suboptimal products through which they earn higher commissions. How could an alter-native fee payment by the investor be designed to ensure the best advice? Researchers at the Jena Max-Planck-Institute of Economics find that the combination of a preliminary fee and a subsequent voluntary bonus payment will lead to the most honest advice.
The market for retail financial products (e.g., investment funds or insurances) is marred by information asymmetries. Clients are not well informed about the quality of these products. They have to rely on the recommendations of advisors. Incentives of advisors and clients may not be aligned, when fees are used by financial institutions to steer advice. Tobias Regner, MPI of Economics, Jena, and his colleague Vera Angelova (now TU Berlin) experimentally investigate whether voluntary contract components can reduce the conflict of interest and increase truth telling of advisors. They compare a voluntary payment upfront, an obligatory payment upfront, a voluntary bonus afterwards, and a three-stage design with a voluntary payment upfront and a bonus after. Advisors are most truthful, when mutual opportunities to reciprocate exist, and when the voluntary payment is largest. The analysis identifies the third stage bonus payment as the key feature for success as it allows for an interplay of reciprocal behavior between clients and advisors.
Vera Angelova & Tobias Regner, "Do voluntary payments to advisors improve the quality of financial advice? An experimental deception game", Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization -
15/4/13
7th IMPRS Uncertainty Summer School – Apply now!
On July 14th, 2013, the seventh IMPRS Uncertainty Summer School will be inaugurated. This years' keynote will be held by Christine Jolls, Yale Law School. About 30 young economists, psychologists, and law researchers will meet in Jena to work in 12 intensive courses. The month-long summer school also includes an individual research project. The IMPRS Uncertainty combines approaches from Economics, Psychology, and Law to explain human decisions under uncertainty more effectively and to better design institutional responses. The application process for the summer school starts on April 15th, 2013 and ends May 20th, 2013. More information on the Summer School and the application process can be found here. (PDF)
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6/3/13
6th IMPRS Uncertainty Thesis Workshop
The 6th IMPRS Uncertainty Thesis Workshop was held at the Max Planck venue Castle Ringberg, running from February 25th until March 1st, 2013. During the workshop all participants had the opportunity to present and discuss their work with colleagues and faculty members. Overall, 22 presentations in the fields of economics, law, and psychology were held. "Feedback from the doctoral students has been very positive," said IMPRS Uncertainty-Coordinator Dr. Susanne Büchner. "The intensive, interdisciplinary discussions are a tremendous helpand provide new impulses for their work."
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18/2/13
IMPRS Uncertainty: Apply now!
The graduate program IMPRS Uncertainty is looking for excellent candidates with training in Economics, Law, Psychology or related fields. Online applications are now possible; deadline is April 1st, 2013. The IMPRS Uncertainty combines approaches from Economics, Law and Psychology to explain human decisions under uncertainty more effectively and to better design institutional responses.
Online application form -
4/1/13
IMPRS Uncertainty prolonged -- PhD program continues until 2018
After being excellently evaluated in 2012, the International Max Planck Research School on Adapting Behavior in a Fundamentally Uncertain World (Uncertainty School) has been prolonged for an additional period of six years. The PhD program now runs until the end of 2018. The IMPRS Uncertainty is jointly hosted by several Max Planck Institutes and international universities. It combines approaches from Economics, Psychology and Law to explain human decisions under uncertainty more effectively and to better design institutional responses.
2012
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23/10/12
In search of happiness - MaxPlanckResearch features studies from MPI of economics
Economists generally associate the welfare of a society with (increasing) income. Happiness researchers like Martin Binder - who was a scientific member of the Evolutionary Economics group until the end of September - work towards widening this notion of prosperity. In its latest issue, the journal "MaxPlanckForschung" reports about this research in the article "Die Glückssucher". (The English issue of the Max-Planck Journal will be published in about four to six weeks.)
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12/10/12
IMPRS Uncertainty Topics Workshop in Rotterdam
The IMPRS Uncertainty Topics Workshop 2012 was held at the Erasmus University Rotterdam (Netherlands). From October 15-19, Ph.D. candidates were able to attend various talks from international renowned scientists and had the opportunity to present and discuss their own work with them. The organizer and supervisor of the workshop was Klaus Heine of Erasmus University Rotterdam. The list of experts included Vincent Buskens (Universitity of Utrecht), Arjo Klamer (Erasmus University), Jonathan Klick (University of Pennsylvania), Jeffrey Rachlinski (Cornell University, New York) and Avishalom Tor (University of Haifa).
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1/10/12
Natalia Montinari featured in "Forbes"-magazine
The bi-monthly US-American magazine "Forbes" has reported on the JERP working paper "Mediocrity and Induced Reciprocity" by MPI of Economics-researcher Natalia Montinari (Strategic Interaction Group) and colleagues from the Universities of Padua and Innsbruck. The "Forbes"-article can be found here.
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7/8/12
6th IMPRS Uncertainty Summer School
The sixth IMPRS Uncertainty Summer School is in full swing: Highlights of the third and fourth week include invited talks by Werner Güth (MPI of Economics, Jena), Matteo Ploner (University of Trento) and David Budescu (Fordham University, New York). Several courses e.g. by Oliver Kirchkamp (FSU Jena), Peter Todd (Indiana University) and Reid Hastie (Booth Graduate School of Business, Chicago) complement the program. At the weekend, IMPRS Uncertainty will visit the historic city of Freyburg and the "Rotkäppchen" wine cellars. To celebrate the completion of the four weeks of the IMPRS Uncertainty Summer School, students and faculty will throw a party at the Schillerhof.
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7/8/12
Intensive and inspiring - the 6th IMPRS-SuS is over
The sixth summer school of the Max Planck Research School on Adapting Behavior in a Fundamentally Uncertain World (IMPRS Uncertainty) ended on August 17th with certificate handovers and a big party. Kristijan Hromek (University of Ulm), Sofia Priazhkina (University of Indiana), Ayu Okvitawanli (IMPRS University of Jena) und Yanlong Zhang (University of Bremen) received the prize for the best group assignment project for their work titled: "Does a Trustee reciprocate more if he was chosen between multiple trustees?" IMPRS coordinator Susanne Büchner is very satisfied: "It's always impressing to experience how participants use their chance to deepen their interdisciplinary knowledge and discuss with peers and internationally renowned scientists".
The program during the last four weeks included e. g. courses in psychology (Search strategies in space and time; Foundations of Judgment and Decision Making), law (Uncertainty and the law), and methodology (MAPLE). Among the teachers and guest speakers were experts like Werner Güth, Reid Hastie, Luigi Mittone, Peter Todd, and Ulrich Witt. Cultural and recreational activities, like a trip to the the historic city of Freyburg and the "Rotkäppchen" wine cellars complemented the program.
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20/7/12
Radio Interview with Martin Binder
The award-winning internet radio detektor.fm has interviewed Martin Binder (EVO) on the topic of "Welfare Economics - What makes us happy?” The (German) interview was part of the "Research Quartet" series, which is regularly organized in cooperation with the Max Planck Society and addresses various scientific questions. You can listen to the entire broadcast here.
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12/7/12
6th IMPRS Uncertainty Summer School started!
On July 22nd, Ulrich Witt, director at the Max Planck Institute of Economics, inaugurated the sixth IMPRS Uncertainty Summer School. He talked on "Innovations, Consumption and the Problem of Sustainability". The 6th IMPRS Uncertainty Summer School will be held from July 23rd - August 17th 2012. Approx. 30 young economists, psychologists, and law researchers will meet in Jena to work in several intensive courses. The month-long summer school also includes an individual research project.
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11/7/12
New Book: Evolution, Organization and Economic Behavior
The analysis of innovative transformation processes through evolutionary economics is at the heart of the new book "Evolution, Organization and Economic Behavior", edited by Guido Buenstorf. The list of contributors includes several staff members and alumni of the Max Planck Institute of Economics, including Werner Güth and Christian Cordes. More information can be found here.
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19/6/12
6th IMPRS Uncertainty Summer School: Keynote Lecture
The 6th IMPRS Uncertainty Summer School reaches another highlight: On Saturday, August 4th 2012, Axel Ockenfels will give the keynote lecture on "Fairness under Uncertainty". Axel Ockenfels is professor of Economics at the University of Cologne, Director of the Cologne Laboratory of Economic Research, as well as Coordinator of the University's key profile area "Behavioral Economic Engineering and Social Cognition".
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19/6/12
Annual report 2010/2011
The Max Planck Institute of Economics' Annual Report 2010/2011 is now online available.
A printed copy can be obtained from the Press and Public Relations department (presse@econ.mpg.de). -
15/4/12
6th IMPRS Uncertainty Summer School - Apply now!
The sixth IMPRS Uncertainty Summer School will take place from July 22 - August 17, 2012. Approx. 30 young economists, psychologists, and law researchers will meet in Jena to work in several intensive courses. The month-long summer school also includes an individual research project. More information on the IMPRS Uncertainty Summer School 2012 can be found here, the online application form can be found here. Deadline for applications is May 20, 2012.
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8/3/12
Doctoral fellowships in Economics, Law and Psychology: Apply now!
The International Max Planck Research School on Adapting Behavior in a Fundamentally Uncertain World (IMPRS Uncertainty) invites outstanding candidates to apply for doctoral fellowships. The IMPRS Uncertainty combines approaches from Economics, Law and Psychology to explain human decisions under uncertainty more effectively and to better design institutional responses. Deadline for applications is April 1st, 2012. The online application form and further information are provided here.
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29/2/12
Ulrich Witt - Editor-in-Chief Journal of Bioeconomics
As of this year, Ulrich Witt, Director of the Evolutionary Economics Group has been appointed editor-in-chief of the Journal of Bioeconomics (a Springer Science Journal). The Journal of Bioeconomics has been published since 1999 in association with the International Society of Bioeconomics and is dedicated to pursuit truly interdisciplinary research and creative dialogue between biologists and economists.
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2011
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8/9/11
Media coverage
The Max Planck Institute of Economics in the media: On November 11, 2011 the newspapers "Ostthüringer Zeitung" and "Thüringer Allgemeine" reported about the three Max Planck institutes in Jena and gave a brief review about 20 years of the Max Planck Socie-ty in the eastern German states.
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25/8/11
See you at Jena – the 5th IMPRS-SuS is over
The fifth summer school of the Max Planck Research School on Adapting Behavior in a Fundamentally Uncertain World (IMPRS Uncertainty) ended on August 19th with certificate handovers and a big party. More than 30 excellent graduate students from different fields experienced four weeks of intense courses, inspiring lectures and engaged discussions. They deepened their interdisciplinary knowledge and built a network with peers and internationally renowned scientists.
The program included courses in neuro psychology (The Human Brain: Its Structures, Functions and Measurement), methodology (Empirical Model Discovery and Theory Evaluation; Meta Analysis), and law (Causal Inference in Empirical Legal Studies). Among the teachers and guest speakers were experts like Martin Hellwig, Gerd Gigerenzer, Ilana Ritov and Eyal Winter. Even the plagiarism cases of the last few months were discussed during the summer school. The participants talked with Georg W. Kreutzberg about "Fraud and honor in science". Cultural and recreational activities, like a trip to the Wartburg near Eisenach and canoeing on river Saale complemented the program.
IMPRS coordinator Susanne Büchner and her team are very satisfied with the feedback they received: "Many participants told us, that they are looking forward to next year's Summerschool."
IMPRS Summer School -
12/8/11
5. IMPRS Uncertainty Summer School: Next highlights
The 5th IMPRS Uncertainty Summer School has reached the home straight. In the final week, talks by Luigi Mittone (The emergence of social norms in the lab), Siegfried Sporer (Evaluating Eyewitness Testimony: Detecting Error and Deception), and Gerd Gigerenzer (Common errors in methodology - and how to avoid them) complete the lecture series. Another highlight: The participants will present individual research projects that have been designed, conducted and evaluated over the course of the summer school.
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2/8/11
5. IMPRS Uncertainty Summer School: Keynote Lecture
The IMPRS Uncertainty summer school reached one of its highlights: On Saturday, August 6th, Sergiu Hart gave the keynote lecture on "Game Dynamics and Equilibria". Sergui Hart is Professor of Mathematics and Economics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Until August 19th, young economists, psychologists, and law researchers meet in Jena to work in several intensive courses. The month-long summer school also includes an individual research project.
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28/7/11
Fair play – a question of self-image?
Why do people behave selfishly and accept that their behaviour may have negative consequences for others? Astrid Matthey and Tobias Regner from the Max Planck Institute of Economics in Jena investigated this question in a laboratory experiment. They found that such behaviour often depends on whether information about the consequences for others can be ignored. Based on their findings, the researchers believe that conclusions can be drawn on, for instance, how the marketing of fairtrade products could be improved.
The researchers had 90 test subjects divide sums of money between themselves and anonymous co-players in the course of four different rounds of a game. During some of the rounds, the subjects received precise information about how their decisions would affect the payments made to their unknown co-players. In other rounds, the subjects themselves could decide whether they would like to find out about the consequences of their distribution decisions or whether they would prefer to conceal this information. "We found that although there are people who act either selfishly ("convinced pro-self") or fairly ("genuine pro-socials")," explains Tobias Regner, "many individuals move in the grey area between these extremes. They act fairly if the consequences of their action for others are clear to them. However, if they have the opportunity to ignore these consequences, they do just that and act in their own interests."
What is the motivation behind this ignorance? The experimental economists from Jena found a possible explanation for this behaviour in the concept of "cognitive dissonance". According to this concept, people tend to make decisions on the basis of their self-image. If they believe themselves to be "fair" or "generous", for example, they avoid actions that are clearly egoistic in nature, so as to avoid contradicting their own self-image. However, if, as was possible in the experiment described here, they are able to ignore the consequences for other people, they find it easier to maintain a positive self-image, even if they their behaviour is selfish. "If the consequences are clearly visible, many participants decide to act fairly," reports Astrid Matthey: "However, if it is possible to ignore the consequences, it is clearly more difficult to opt for a 'generous' decision, and many change their behaviour and select the egoistic alternative."
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26/7/11
Without regard for losses?
Entrepreneurs rely on their profits, no matter what the consequences are for other people. This is a common stereotype. A research team around Utz Weitzel and Diemo Urbig, the latter until recently research fellow at the Max Planck Institute of Economics in Jena, has now studied, in a laboratory experiment, the extent to which negative consequences for others influence the investment behavior of different groups of people. It was found that subjects who can imagine starting a business and becoming self-employed, take responsibility and invested less in options with negative consequences for others. On the contrary, the group of subjects who attested themselves a good business talent and did not think about entrepreneurship: their investments were not that much influenced by the possible negative consequences for others.
Original publication: Urbig, D., et al. Exploiting opportunities at all cost? Entrepreneurial intent and externatilities. Journal of Economic Psychology (2011), doi:10.1016/j.joep.2011.03.003 -
22/7/11
PD Dr. Christian Cordes appointed to professorship
Christian Cordes, research group leader (W2) in the Evolutionary Economics Group at the Max Planck Institute of Economics, has been appointed to a professorship in Economics, especially Evolutionary Economics, at the University of Bremen.
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14/7/11
5. IMPRS Uncertainty Summer School
On July 24th, Sidney G. Winter (Wharton University of Pennsylvania) will inaugurate this year's Summer School of IMPRS Uncertainty and DFG Graduate School "Economics of Innovative Change". Already for the fifth time, approx. 30 young economists, psychologists, and law researchers meet in Jena for interdisciplinary exchange in several intensive courses. The month-long summer school also includes an individual research project.
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8/7/11
Welfare measurement: Martin Binder discusses research with politicians
Martin Binder, researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Economics (Evolutionary Economics Group), has discussed his work on the development of a new welfare measure with members of the German Parliament ("Deutscher Bundestag"). The event, organized by the Koerber Foundation and held in the German Parliamentary Society in Berlin, was part of the "Salon Junge Wissenschaft". The series brings selected winners of the German Study Prize in contact with politicians to discuss political implications of their research. Martin Binder had received the prestigious award for his dissertation in 2010.
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30/6/11
More dissertations completed successfully
Another group of young scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Economics has defended their respective dissertations. Thus, Lauri Sääksvuori, Charlotte Kempt and Matthias Uhl (left t. right), Graduate School IMPRS Uncertainty, as well as Nicola Breugst (formerly Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy Group) have been successfully completed their promotions. Congratulations!
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8/6/11
Vera Angelova receives Otto Hahn Medal
Vera Angelova, researcher at the Max Planck Institute of Economics (Strategic Interaction Group) in Jena, has been awarded the Otto Hahn Medal. The economist received the medal for her game-theoretical work, in which she for example studies the question about how financial advisers can be motivated to recommend the best product for customers (instead of the most lucrative for the advisers). The Otto Hahn Medal is awarded annually to young researchers for outstanding scientific achievements during the course of their dissertation.
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6/6/11
No place like home? Relocation, capabilities, and firm survival
To which extent are organizational capabilities location-specific? To answer this question, Christina Guenther (Max Planck Institute of Economics, Jena) and her colleague Guido Buenstorf (University of Kassel) studied the location choices and longevity of East German machine tool producers that relocated to West Germany after World War II. Their main findings: Relocating firms were similar in performance to experienced West German incumbents; they outperformed new entrants without prewar industry experience. This suggests an ability to build on capabilities acquired before the war. Even though relocating firms tended to locate in industry agglomerations and in urbanized regions, Guenther and Buenstorf find no evidence that firm performance benefited from agglomeration economies.
Between the end of World War II in 1945 and the erection of the Berlin Wall in 1961, more than 2.5 million people left East Germany to resettle in West Germany. Among them were thousands of business owners trying to escape from impending expropriation, loss of control, and even criminal prosecution by the socialist Eastern government. They often reestablished their firms at new West German locations. To take but one example: Pfauter Co. was a Chemnitz-based maker of machine tools for gear production founded in 1900. In 1945 the founder's four sons were managing the company. They were expropriated by the socialist government, and the firm's facilities were dismantled by the Soviet occupation forces. In 1949 three of the Pfauter brothers, joined by loyal employees, moved their company to Stuttgart, a city in southwest Germany. The remaining brother was detained by the Soviets. At its new location, the firm again grew into a successful maker of gear-production technology.
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20/4/11
Selfless for community success
What motivates a football team to cooperate could also help in the struggle against climate change: Members of a group are more likely to act selflessly, thus benefiting the community, if their group competes with others. They even accept individual disadvantages to sanction members behaving egoistically. This is the result of a study by Lauri Sääksvuori (Max Planck Institute of Economics) and his colleagues Tapio Mappes and Mikael Puurtinen from the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland. The findings could lead to an approach that encourages energy saving.
In many cases, the success of a group depends on the ability of its members to cooperate for the benefit of the community, despite conflicting self-serving interests. A game heoretic experiment studied the question of how members of competing groups cooperate with each other, and deal with selfishly acting individuals. "We knew that groups with ooperating members are more successful. We wanted to know under what circumstances members become active if selfish behavior affects the group's success," explains Lauri Sääksvuori.
The researchers formed groups, whose members had to distribute money to their own or to a group account. After each round, the researchers doubled the amount of the group account and equally divided it among all members of the group. Hoarding money selfishly benefited only the individual while reducing the whole group's success.
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7/2/11
Humboldt Award Winner visits MPI of Economics
Prof. Eyal Winter, Director of the Center for the Study of Rationality at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel), has been awarded the Alexander von Humboldt-Research Prize 2011. During his research stay in Germany, he is a guest of Professor Werner Güth at the Max Planck Institute of Economics in Jena.
Eyal Winter is internationally well known for his research in game theory, mainly applied to social choice problems, as well as for his research in experimental and behavioral economics. During his stay in Germany, Eyal Winter will mainly collaborate with colleagues in studying cascade formation, herding behavior and the dynamics of building up trust. -
4/2/11
Interactive experiments for academics: New Study open for participation
The Max Planck Institute of Economics in Jena opens its new platform for large-scale Internet experiments: From Sunday (6.2.2011) on, the first study will be conducted on this platform. Four participants can win between 155 and 645 €.
The study "A Case of Three" (www.1fallvon3.de) will start in Germany, other countries will be added later. Participants in this experiment will interact with each other. At this point, "The Case of Three" is looking for German native speakers who are 25 – 65 years old, who have a university degree and are currently employed. Subsequent studies will also be open to a wider target population.
"A Case of Three" -
31/1/11
The influence of happiness
How do mental well-being and factors such as income, marital status, health and professional success influence each other? Martin Binder and Alex Coad (Max Planck Institute of Economics) have investigated these questions. Their result: Increased mental well-being leads to, inter alia, better health and greater professional success.
The Max Planck researchers examined a British longitudinal data set, in which individuals have regularly reported their subjective (psychological) well-being on a detailed psychometric scale. This included the occurrence of factors such as stress, depression or anxiety. Apart from well-being information, the researchers relied on income, marital status, health or career success variables, which they analyzed with so-called "Panel Vector Autoregressions", a special statistical method to make joint developments of subjective well-being and the other factors visible.
The co-evolution of these quantities stood in the center of analysis: "You need a global perspective: These factors do not act individually and independently of one another, they affect each other," said Martin Binder, "and they do so over varying periods of time." An example would be the finding that an increase in well-being today may influence the probability to later find work, and the probability to increase one's income.
article
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17/1/11
Graduate School "Economics of Innovative Change" extended until 2015
The German Research Foundation (DFG) has extended the Jena Graduate School "The Economics of Innovative Change" until 2015. The Ph.D. program, jointly organized by the Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena and the Max Planck Institute of Economics, received top marks at the recent evaluation. In the four and a half years since the founding of the college, 20 completed doctorates and more than 50 publications in international journals have been achieved.
The evaluators were particularly impressed by the research strength of the young scientists, their distinct identification with the program and the harmonious working atmosphere. The second phase of funding starts with the summer semester 2011, giving more than 50 new students the opportunity to participate in this structured doctoral program.
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10/1/11
Understanding the Two Components of Risk Attitudes: An Experimental Analysis
Cumulative prospect theory introduced the weighting of probabilities as an additional component to capture risk attitudes. However, this addition would be a less significant challenge to expected utility theory (EU) if utility curvature and probability weighting showed strong positive correlation. In that case the utility curvature in EU alone, although not properly describing risky behavior in general, would still capture most of the variance of individual risk aversion. However, no study has yet addressed the relation between these two components. Previous literature has either been silent on this relation or implicitly assumed independence.
Eva-Maria Steiger (MPI of Economics / Strategic Interaction Group) and Jianying Qiu (University of Vienna) have now analyzed the relation between these two components. Their study provides experimental evidence that a strong and positive correlation does not exist. Although most individuals exhibit concave utility and convex probability weighting, the two components show no strong positive correlation.
These results underline the criticism that expected utility theory might offer only limited understanding of a person's risk attitudes. Consequently, the authors recommend assessing both components in the analysis of individual risk attitudes.
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2010
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24/11/10
Binder receives renowned award Deutscher Studienpreis
Martin Binder (Max Planck Institute of Economics) has been awarded the Deutscher Studienpreis 2010, for his work on an evolutionary theory of welfare. Binder received the renowned award from German Bundestagspräsident Norbert Lammert (CDU) on the 23rd of November 2010. Martin Binder joined the Evolutionary Economics Group in 2004, his main research interests include the Evolution of Preferences, Evolutionary Welfare Economics, Happiness Research, and Economic Methodology.
Radiobeitrag MDR Info:
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4/11/10
Media coverage update: The Max Planck Institute of Economics mentioned in several articles
The rubric "Media Coverage" makes selected articles and broadcasts about results from the Institute available. Within the last two weeks, several additions have been made. Among others, the daily newspapers "Die Welt" and "Berliner Zeitung" wrote pieces about work conducted in the Institute, as well as the weekly publications "Wirtschaftswoche" and "Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung" and the monthly magazine "Geo".
Media Coverage -
26/10/10
Women, Men, Couples: Decision-making under Risk and the Dynamics of Power Balance
A substantial body of research investigates how individuals incorporate risk into their decision process. However, in many day-to-day life contexts of couples, such as financial investments, insurance, retirement plans, or residential location, decisions are (or should be) made jointly. Anthony Ziegelmeyer (Max Planck Institute of Economics), André de Palma and Nathalie Picard (University Cergy-Pontoise, Paris) analyzed how decision-making power is allocated between men and women, and identify the link between risky decisions made by couples and risky decisions. Their most important result: Far from being fixed, the balance of power within the household is not static, but changes over time in a dynamic process.
Couples were presented with tasks involving binary choices between a lottery and a sure payoff. In the first part of the experiment spouses were separated and chose independently. In the second part of the experiment male spouses rejoined their partner and they made joint decisions. The researchers estimated both the spouses and the couples' degrees of risk aversion and they assessed how the risk preferences of the two spouses aggregate when they make risky decisions. In most couples, the man was initially more successful than the woman in influencing couple choices but the woman progressively gained power over the course of decision-making.
Article
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22/10/10
IMPRS Uncertainty: Topics Workshop in Jerusalem
The annual IMPRS Uncertainty Topics Workshop 2010, this time hosted by the Center for the Study of Rationality, took place earlier this month in Jerusalem (Israel). For five days, the Ph.D. candidates were given the opportunity to discuss their work with renowned scientists, among them Nobel laureate Israel Aumann. A full report on the workshop can be found here.
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14/10/10
Fabian Winter honored
Fabian Winter (Max Planck Institute of Economics / IMPRS Uncertainty) has been awarded the Anatol Rapoport prize 2010. He received the honor for his paper "How norms can generate conflict: An experiment on the failure of cooperative micro-motives on the macro-level", a collaboration with Heiko Rauhut und Dirk Helbing. The Anatol Rapoport prize is being awarded biennially by the ETH Zurich.
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30/9/10
Sebastian Kruegel honored
Sebastian Kruegel (Max Planck Institute of Economics / IMPRS Uncertainty) has been awarded the 2nd prize of the Elsevier Student Prize Award 2010. He received the honor for his paper "Overweighting Private Information: Three Measures, One Bias?", a collaboration with Gerlinde Fellner (Vienna University of Economics and Business). The paper can be found here.
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24/9/10
Doctoral fellowships in Economics, Law and Psychology: Apply now!
The International Max Planck Research School on Adapting Behavior in a Fundamentally Uncertain World (IMPRS Uncertainty) and the Strategic Interaction Group of the Max Plank Institute of Economics invite outstanding candidates to apply for doctoral fellowships. The IMPRS Uncertainty combines approaches from Economics, Law and Psychology to explain human decisions under uncertainty more effectively and to better design institutional responses. The research program of the Strategic Interaction Group emphasizes game theory, experimental economics, and interdisciplinary research. Deadline for applications is October 17th, 2010. The online application form and further information are provided here.
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20/9/10
Martin Binder featured in "Wirtschaftswoche"
The weekly magazine "Wirtschaftswoche" has printed a commentary by MPI of Economics-researcher Martin Binder (Evolutionary Economics). His plea for a more realistic idea of man in welfare economics is part of the magazines' prominent "think tank"-column. It can be found here.
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13/9/10
New rubric: Media coverage about the Institute's work
The website of the Max-Planck-Institute of Economics has grown: The rubric "Media Coverage" makes selected articles and broadcasts about results from the Institute available. The most recent additions include articles in Wirtschaftswoche, Handelsblatt and Saarbrücker Zeitung.
Media Coverage -
26/8/10
Demanding, intensive, and inspiring – the fourth IMPRS-SuS is over
The fourth summer school of the Max Planck Research School on Adapting Behavior in a Fundamentally Uncertain World (IMPRS Uncertainty) ended on August 20th with certificate handovers and a big party. More that 40 excellent graduate students from different fields experienced four weeks of intense courses, inspiring lectures and creative discussions. They deepened their interdisciplinary knowledge and built a network with peers and internationally renowned scientists. The program included courses in psychology (Introduction to the Psychology of Action; New Psychological Models of Choice and Uncertainty), methodology (Experimetrics; Stochastic Learning in Games), and law (Experimental Law and Economics; Uncertainty as a Factor in Human Rights). Among the teachers and guest speakers were experts like Giovanni Dosi, Kai Konrad, Ayelet Fishbach, Max Albert and Jerome Busemeyer. Recreational and cultural activities, like a trip to Erfurt or to a go-cart race track, complemented the program. IMPRS coordinators Susanne Büchner and Tobias Uske are satisfied with the feedback they received: "The participants take home many helpful impulses for their ongoing research projects."
Links:
Summer School photo album
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12/8/10
4. IMPRS Uncertainty Summer School
The fourth IMPRS Uncertainty Summer School is in full swing: Highlights of the third and the fourth week include invited talks by Kai Konrad (MPI for Intellectual Property, Competition and Tax Law), Carmen Tanner (University of Zürich) and Thomas Kessler (FSU Jena). Jerome Busemeyer from the Indiana University, Bloomington, Konstantinos Katsikopoulos (MPI for Human Development, Berlin) and René Levinsky (MPI of Economics Jena) will teach the roughly 40 PhD students during the remaining time. At the weekend IMPRS Uncertainty will visit the historic city Erfurt and enjoy thrilling moments at the Go-Kart Center in Obergebra. To celebrate the finalization of the four weeks of the IMPRS Uncertainty Summer School, students and the faculty will meet at the Scala Restaurant situated in the well known Intershop Tower in Jena.
Some impressions about the IMPRS Summer School can be found in our photo album. -
5/8/10
The phenomenon of the opera
Tight budgets oftentimes evoke to cuttings in cultural spending – but this might be shortsighted, as a group of scientists including Stephan Heblich (Max Planck Institute of Economics) explains: Cultural offerings attract highly qualified workers, who in turn raise economic growth in the respective regions.
Heblich and his colleagues analyzed regional data from Germany and found that the number of highly qualified workers increased in closer proximity to baroque opera houses, raising the economic growth in these regions. "This is a clear sign for regional knowledge transfer, initiated through highly-skilled workers", explains Heblich. The economists included 29 opera houses build before the industrial revolution, when such buildings were done because of pomposity, even in poor regions. Thereby, they show that effects are exogenously resulting from cultural offerings and not an endogenous effect of for example a regions' wealth.
working paper
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4/8/10
Martin Binder receives renowned award Deutscher Studienpreis
Martin Binder (Max Planck Institute of Economics) was awarded the Körber Stiftungs' Deutscher Studienpreis 2010 for his work on an evolutionary theory of welfare. The renowned prize annually honors young scientists with societally relevant dissertations.
In his work, Martin Binder investigates whether the predominant welfare measure -per capita income- adequately represents the welfare of societies. While income has dramatically increased over the last 200 years, its changes were unpredictable and unevenly distributed. Therefore, it cannot fully display welfare and the progress of societies.
Martin Binder enriches the static welfare concept with a more realistic idea of man. Humans are more than just a bundle of preferences pursued with herkulistic rationality; they learn, make mistakes, ultimately discovering and adapting their preferences over time. By including findings from psychology and neuro sciences, Martin Binder develops a hedonistic welfare measure - a theory of enjoyment and suffering. His central questions: What makes us happy, and why? With this measure, the Max Planck scientist can now also display the dynamics of welfare: How do we adapt for example to unemployment? Why do we not necessarily get happier with increasing wealth? This enriched and dynamic welfare theory can also serve as a foundation for economic policy advice.
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3/8/10
4. IMPRS Uncertainty Summer School: Keynote Lecture
Die IMPRS Uncertainty summer school reaches one of its highlights: On Saturday, August 7th, Shyam Sunder will give the keynote lecture on "Risky Curves: From Unobservable Utility to Observable Opportunity Sets". Shyam Sunder is James L. Frank Professor of Accounting, Economics, and Finance at the Yale School of Management. Until August 20th, young economists, psychologists, and law researchers meet in Jena to work in several intensive courses. The month-long summer school also includes an individual research project.
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16/7/10
4th Summer School of IMPRS Uncertainty and GK-EIC
The 4th IMPRS Uncertainty and GK "The Economics of Innovative Change" Summer School starts: on July, 25th. Prof. Uwe Cantner, FSU Jena, welcomes young economists, psychologists, and law researchers in Jena. The opening lecture will be held by Giovanni Dosi from Sant' Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa, one of the leading figures in evolutionary economics worldwide. Until August, 20th, the participants will work in several intensive courses and an individual research project. Activities as a trip to the Transparent Manufacture in Dresden or to the Erfurt will complete the program.
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15/7/10
Schumpeter Prize 2010 – Best Junior Paper Award
Alex Coad and Christina Guenther, members of the Evolutionary Economics Group, won the Best Junior Paper Award at Schumpeter Conference 2010 at Aalborg, Denmark, June 21-24. A. Coad was awarded for his paper "Investigating the Exponential Age Distribution of Firms" (Press Release, Journal Article). Christina Guenther won the prize for her study "Pioneer Burnout: Radical Product Innovation and Firm Capabilities".
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18/6/10
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology awarded an Honorary Doctorate to MPI-Director Werner Güth
Prof. Dr. Werner Güth, director at the Max-Planck-Institute of Economics, received an honorary doctorate from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany. The degree was awarded by Prof. Dr. Clemens Puppe, Dean of the Faculty for Department of Economics and Business Engineering. Prof. Dr. Siegfried Berninghaus emphasized Güth's merits on the development of the ultimatum game, as well as his research in the fields of indirect evolution, and bounded rationality. In his speech, Prof. Dr. Axel Ockenfels highlighted that Güth brought forward the measurement of humanity in Economics. During his acceptance speech, Prof. Güth addressed the theoretical ideas and empirical results on "Gleich aufteilen oder effizient handeln" ("Sharing equally or acting efficiently").
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9/6/10
Age matters – Investigating the Exponential Age Distribution of Firms
The Japanese construction firm Kongō Gumi, founded in 578 AD, was for a long time the world's oldest firm, and survived for more than 1400 years until it went into liquidation in 2006. But what about other firms? What ages can they be expected to reach? Or: How many of the existing firms in an economy will survive the next 10, 30 or 50 years? Although data on age is not always easy to obtain, Alex Coad, researcher at the Max Planck Institute of Economics in Jena, investigated a number of databases and suggests that the empirical age distribution is well approximated by an exponential distribution. In other words, over most of the age distribution, the probability of a firm surviving to the next year is constant from one year to the next. The probability of a firm surviving unto age 100 or even 1000 is therefore very rare, but not impossible.
In contrast to the size distribution, the age distribution has barely been investingated. Alex Coad suggests that the age structure of firms of interest for several reasons. It is a concise indicator of accumulated entry, survival and exit rates in an economy. It therefore indicates the proportion of young firms in an economy. It can also shed light on organizational structures and technologies used in firms. This is of interest because founding conditions have long-term effects on firm's behaviour, corporate culture and performance. A better understanding of the age distribution also helps evaluate selection bias in previous work on samples of small firms, and it might be helpful in international comparisons of industrial structure. (Article)
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20/5/10
Young scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Economics
In this space we feature interviews with young Max Planck scientists. Our first is with Anja Klaukien, a member of the Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy Group.
Hello Anja! You have just finished your dissertation, congratulations! Can you describe your work in one sentence?
"Let me try: I study the decision-making process of entrepreneurs, and the factors that influence these processes."
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30/4/10
Annual Report 2008/2009
The Max-Planck-Institute of Economics has published its Research Report for 2008 and 2009. The Report provides an overview of the latest research topics and projects, demonstrates the commitment of the institute to undergraduate and graduate teaching and informs about scientific publications, conferences, workshops etc. Printed copies will be sent by request.
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25/3/10
Entrepreneurship in Afghanistan - Determinants and Motivations
Afghan entrepreneurs may be small in numbers, but stay active regardless of the conflict intensity they experience. This is one result of an empirical study in which Tommaso Ciarli (Max Planck Institute of Economics), Saeed Parto (Afghanistan Public Policy Research Organization, APPRO) and Maria Savona (University of Sussex, UK) analyzed survey data from Afghanistan households, carried out in 2005.
Ciarli and his colleagues aimed to assess the impact of conflict on entrepreneurial activity in Afghanistan , and explore the household and environmental factors that are related to entrepreneurial choice. According to their data source, they estimate that nine percent of the households in Afghanistan rely on a small business as a source of income. Entrepreneurs in Afghanistan appear to have a strong tendency to adapt to ongoing conflict and continue to operate across districts with very different levels of security and conflict activity. However, the analysis quite clearly suggests that entrepreneurial activity is mainly a means to survival, rather than of an entrepreneurial "spirit".
working paper
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18/3/10
"Economist", "Handelsblatt" report on German workforce mobility
Would Bavarians willingly move to Saxony, and what determines moving behavior in general? One crucial influence lies in the familiar cultural environment, and specifically the similarity of dialects. This is one result of an interdisciplinary study undertaken by economists and linguists, among them Stephan Heblich (Max-Planck-Institute of Economics). The research team chose an uncommon approach: It combined migration data (2000-2006) with historic data on regional dialects.
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5/3/10
Was ist gesellschaftlicher Fortschritt? MPI-Direktor Ulrich Witt im ARD-Morgenmagazin
Prof. Dr. Ulrich Witt, Direktor am Max-Planck-Institut für Ökonomik in Jena, sprach am Freitag, den 5. März im ARD-Morgenmagazin mit Moderatorin Anna Planken über seine Einschätzungen zu wirtschaftlichem und gesellschaftlichem Fortschritt - ein Thema, auf das er kürzlich auch im Gespräch mit Stefan Bergheim vom Zentrum für gesellschaftlichen Fortschritt (Frankfurt) ausführlich einging:
Herr Prof. Witt, Sie sind Direktor am Max-Planck-Institut für Ökonomik in Jena, wo Sie die Abteilung für Evolutionsökonomik leiten. Warum ist es Ihrer Ansicht nach an der Zeit, dass wir uns als Gesellschaft wieder verstärkt Gedanken über unser Fortschrittsverständnis machen?
Ulrich Witt: Wirtschaftlicher "Fortschritt" kann für jeden etwas anderes bedeuten: z.B. mehr Geld, mehr berufliche Sicherheit bzw. soziale Absicherung, mehr Freizeit und weniger beruflichen Stress, oder eine bessere gesundheitliche Versorgung und eine saubere und friedliche Umwelt. Alle diese Wünsche haben etwas gemeinsam. Sie kosten etwas. Nicht bloß weil trotz Fortschritt unsere Möglichkeiten stets beschränkt sind, sondern auch weil "Fortschritt" für die einen (z.B. höhere Produktivität) "Rückschritt" für andere bedeuten kann...
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26/2/10
Summer Institute on Entrepreneurship Research - Apply now!
The annual Summer Institute on Entrepreneurship Research will take place from July 26 - 29, 2010, at the Schumpeter School of Business and Economics (University of Wuppertal, Germany). The Summer Institute - organized by Stephan Heblich (Max Planck Institute of Economics), Werner Bönte (BU Wuppertal) and Holger Patzelt (TU Munich) - offers a chance to discuss issues, trends and interesting future developments in entrepreneurship research. It brings together Ph.D. students, a variety of senior researchers, and leading scholars in the field of Entrepreneurship. More information on the Summer Institute on Entrepreneurship Research 2010 can be found here, the online application form can be found here.
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23/2/10
The Eberhardt Karls University of Tuebingen awarded a Honorary Doctorate to MPI-Director Werner Güth
On February 16th, the University of Tuebingen awarded Prof. Dr. Werner Güth a honorary doctorate. In her welcome address, Prof. Dr. Kerstin Pull, Dean of the Faculty for Economics and Business Administration, emphasized the impact of Werner Güth's work especially on interdisciplinary research. His research mirrors the close link between economics and management as advanced by the Faculty in Tuebingen. In particular she underlined the impact of his work for these two domains of economic science and furthermore across disciplines. The dean paid also tribute to Werner Güth as a founder and prominent research representative uniting economic and behavioral science. The laudation was delivered by Prof. Dr. Manfred Stadler. In his speech he particularly pointed out the many joint research projects carried out by Kerstin Pull, Manfred Stadler and Werner Güth and various other members of both institutions.
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18/2/10
How the Laser originated
The development of Laser technology is the focus of an interdisciplinary project challenging traditional presumptions of the establishment of new technology. The scientific journal MaxPlanckForschung is reporting about the LASSSIE-project, in which the Evolutionary Economics group played a leading role. The full article can be found here (in German).
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4/2/10
Holger Patzelt accepted professorship
Dr. Dr. Holger Patzelt, group leader of the Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy Group at the Max Planck Institute of Economics, has accepted a position as a full professor for business administration (Entrepreneurship) at the Technische Universität München (TUM). He will start his new position April 1st, 2010.
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28/1/10
Founding Activities, Innovation and Regional Development in East-Germany
From January 21-23, students from Jena and Kassel participated in a seminar on "Unternehmensgründung, Innovation und Regionalentwicklung in Ostdeutschland" here at the MPI of Economics in Jena. The seminar was part of a course on "20 Jahre Systemtransformation in Ostdeutschland" offered at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena as well as the University of Kassel. Speakers from industry, research, and policy discussed topics revolving around the transformation of the East German economy after 1989 and the repercussions of these processes we still face today. There also was an excursion to OptoNet Jena at the Beutenberg campus and to POG Precision Optics Gera.
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2009
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18/12/09
Entrepreneurship and Demografic Change
More and more people of the generation 50+ are likely to start new enterprises in the coming years. On the other hand, the share of entrepreneurs in younger, shrinking age groups might decline over-proportionally. This is the result of an empirical study in which Stephan Heblich (Max Planck Institute of Economics), Werner Bönte (University of Wuppertal) and Oliver Falck (ifo Institute) analyzed data-sets stemming from the West-German states and Berlin.
Implications of demographic change for Western societies have received a great deal of attention in recent years. Previous research has mainly focused on the stability and adjustment of social security systems. The study "The Impact on Regional Age Structure on Entrepreneurship" took a different perspective and focused on the relationship between a region's age structure and its entrepreneurial activity. Using changes in the age distribution of the population of western German regions over time, the authors found — in accordance with microlevel analyses — an inverse U-shaped relationship between the regional age structure and start-up activity in a region. Moreover, their findings suggest that the age-specific likelihood of becoming an entrepreneur changes with the size of the age cohort, pointing to the existence of age-specific peer effects. (Article)
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18/12/09
Astrid Matthey featured in daily newspaper "Sueddeutsche Zeitung"
The nationwide German newspaper "Sueddeutsche Zeitung" has printed an article on environmental issues by MPI of Economics-researcher Astrid Matthey (Strategic Interaction Group). The text, part of the paper's prominent "Außenansicht"-column, can be found here.
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14/12/09
Dr. Guido Bünstorf appointed to professorship
Guido Buenstorf, research group leader in the Evolutionary Economics Group at the Max Planck Institute of Economics, has been appointed to a professorship in economics at the University of Kassel. He will start his new position on January 1st.
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14/12/09
Honorary Lectureship for Dr. Dr. Holger Patzelt
Holger Patzelt received his honorary lectureship in economic science (habilitiation) from the European Business School in Oestrich-Winkel (International University, Schloss Reichartshausen). In a public lecture, Holger Patzelt, research group leader in the Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy Group- informed about his research project "Negative Emotions of an Entrepreneurial Career".
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26/11/09
Best Thesis Award
Thilo Klein, who graduated at Friedrich Schiller University Jena, was awarded one of this year's Best Master's Thesis Awards of the "University Meets Microfinance" Project. His work "Microfinance 2.0 – Group Formation & Repayment Performance in Online Lending Platforms" was supervised by Dr. J.P. Tamvada, member of the Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy Group.
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22/10/09
Habilitation for Christian Cordes
Dr. Christian Cordes received his postdoctoral lecture qualification in Economics (habilitation) from the Economics and Business Administration Faculty of Jena's Friedrich Schiller University. He gives a public talk on his research project "A naturalistic approach to Economics" on October 28th, 2009 (6.15 pm) at Seminarraum 309, Carl-Zeiss-Straße 3. The talk will be held in German.
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13/10/09
Nobel Prize for IMPRS Uncertainty Faculty member Elinor Ostrom!
The 2009 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences was won by Elinor Ostrom, a distinguished IMPRS Uncertainty faculty member! Elinor Ostrom is a professor at the IMPRS Uncertainties' partner institution Indiana University, Bloomington (USA), where she is working in the field of political science and environmental economics. Students of the IMPRS Uncertainty profit greatly from her expertise and advice. For example, 13 of the IMPRS Uncertainty students elaborated and discussed their projects with her at last years' Topics Workshop in Bloomington.
Congratulations to Elinor Ostrom
More about IMPRS Uncertainty -
22/9/09
If less has to be more: Do reduced consumption levels always lead to lesser well-being?
How can we prevent individual well-being from being negatively affected by decreasing consumption levels? Dr. Astrid Matthey, researcher at the Max Planck Institute of Economics in Jena, analyzed this question and applied her results to the current discussion on environmental protection. Her conclusion: As society emphasizes greater material consumption, then both individual well-being will fall further if consumption-reduction is required and support for environmental protection policies will be weaker.
The background: Scientists and politicians are currently discussing strategies that ensure sustainable use of exhaustible, non-renewable resources. One common argument emphasizes the need for decreased resource consumption in western industrial nations. If that is the case, reduced material living standards might become necessary – which could affect individual well-being. Astrid Matthey has now conducted a series of laboratory experiments concerning the potential influence on individual well-being.
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26/8/09
3rd IMPRS Uncertainty Summer School
The Third Summer School of the Max Planck Research School on Adapting Behavior in a Fundamentally Uncertain World (IMPRS Uncertainty) has ended. It was held from July 26th until August 21st 2009. Starting with an opening lecture given by Max Bazerman (Harvard Business School) on "Bounded Ethicality", more that 40 excellent graduate students from different fields experienced four weeks of intense courses, inspiring lectures and creative discussions.
The Summer School covered all three fields the IMPRS Uncertainty stands for: Economics (e.g. "Basic Microeconomics", "An Introduction to Experimental Economics"), Psychology (e.g. "Leadership", "The Psychology of Judgment and Decision Making") and Law (e.g. "Law from a Functional Perspective", "Legal Decision Making"). Talks were given by a variety of experts, for example by Gerd Gigerenzer ("Homo Heuristicus: Why Biased Minds Make Better Predictions"), James Konow ("Context Dependency of Justice") or Christoph Vanberg ("Deliberative and Nondeliberative Processes in Human Behavior").
Besides demanding scientific activities, the students visited the Wolfgang Köhler Primate Research Center in Leipzig or trained physically at the Climbing Park in Hohenfelden. At the end of the four weeks, students and lecturers celebrated the successful Summer School with a well-deserved party.
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28/7/09
Summer School on Entrepreneurship Research
From July 20-24 the 6th Max Planck School on Entrepreneurship Research took place at the MPI of Economics in Jena. During the week, Ph.D. students and senior researchers discussed issues, trends and interesting future developments in entrepreneurship research. This year, the summer school welcomes seven world-class researchers from the fields of management and economics along with 40 promising doctoral students from around the world. The week of lectures is designed to enhance the students' abilities to design, carry out, and publish world class research. In addition to lectures on wide range of entrepreneurship topics, the program includes training sessions on research design, publication, and statistical methodology.
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28/7/09
Tit for tat – Max Planck researcher explore fair payment behaviour for music downloads
Ten illicit music downloads per second - this is the message a counter on the web site of the German Music Industry Association conveys. The caused damage is claimed to be around 350 million Euro per year.
It is in this market Tobias Regner of the Max Planck Institute of Economics and Javier A. Barria of Imperial College London explore a case of the kind of other-regarding behaviour repeatedly found in laboratory experiments: Social preferences may cause humans to consider the intentions and payoffs of others, instead of exclusive maximising of own financial benefits. (Article, Interview in Deutschlandradio)
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9/7/09
Ulrich Witt: Interview with Chilean newspaper EL MERCURIO
A recent convention on "Darwin's Legacy in the XXI Century" organized in Santiago de Chile by the "Fundacion Ciencia y Evolución" in which Ulrich Witt addressed an audience of several hundreds was preceded by an interview conducted by the Dean of Facultad de Gobierno, Universidad del Desarrollo, Eugenio Guzmán, with Ulrich Witt. The interview appeared in the leading Chilean Newspaper: El Mercurio on Sunday, June 21, 2009.
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29/6/09
Academics.de: IMPRSs "offer first-class support and an excellent research environment"
Since 2000, more than 55 International Max Planck Research Schools have been established, in which several Max Planck Institutes, faculties, and universities take part. The science portal Academics.de, a partnership between the German weekly "Die Zeit" and "Forschung & Lehre", interviewed Dr. Susanne Büchner (coordinator), Lauri Sääksvuori and Linan Diao of the Jena "International Max Planck Research School on Adapting Behavior in a Fundamentally Uncertain World (IMPRS Uncertainty)" on the interdisciplinary and international approach of these schools, its importance for young scientists, and the chance to build relationships with internationally renown researchers.
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28/6/09
Jena "Habilitationspreis 2009" goes to Guido Bünstorf
Guido Bünstorf (Max Planck Institute of Economics) has been awarded the "Habilitionspreis 2009" of the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena. He was honored for his work on "Knowledge Transfer through Spin-Offs: Processes, Performance Effects and Implications for Industry Evolution". The annually awarded prize credits scientists whose excellent "Habilitation" render outstanding services to the Alma Mater Jenensis.
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22/6/09
J.P. Tamvada receives award for outstanding scientific achievement
Jagannadha Pawan Tamvada (Max Planck Institute of Economics) has been awarded the Otto Hahn Medal for his research on entrepreneurship in developing countries. In his dissertation, J.P. Tamvada analyzed the influence of geographical location on occupational choice, and on the formation of new enterprises. Each year, the Max Planck Society honors young scientists and researchers with the Otto Hahn Medal for outstanding scientific achievements.
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15/6/09
Annual Max Planck Ringberg Conference on Entrepreneurship - Special Theme: Experimental Entrepreneurship
This year's conference addressed how experimental methods can be applied to better research entrepreneurship. It provided the opportunity to generate new ideas, new interdisciplinary research methodologies, and even more questions demanding subsequent research. All together 12 recent studies were presented, which included a number of different experimental approaches such as economic lab experiments, psychological field experiments, and natural experiments. A selection of these studies will be published in a special issue of the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization. The conference took place at Ringberg Castle from June 10th – June 13th 2009.
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15/6/09
It's All in the Mix: Incentives for Corporate Employee-Entrepreneurs
How can companies motivate their employees to engage in innovative, and oftentimes risky new ventures? Erik Monsen and Holger Patzelt, researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Economics in Jena, analyzed this question and found evidence that the combination of different incentives matters most – and money is only one of several factors. (Article)
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26/5/09
EMAEE 2009 – Evolutionary Economists met in Jena
The EMAEE 2009 was a big success: nearly 200 researchers joint the 6th European Meeting on Applied Evolutionary Economics in Jena. The conference provides a form for new researchers to present and discuss their work with experienced scientists. Moreover plenary speakers explored commonalities with the neighboring fields and disciplines – in particular behavioral economics and management science. The conference received great praise from participants for its organisation and the atmosphere at Jena's Volksbad.
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25/5/09
Holger Patzelt's scientific output recognized
The German daily "Handelsblatt" published a ranking of 2100 German-speaking economists (Germany, Austria, Switzerland). Analyzing scientific output since 2005, the study lists Holger Patzelt (MPI of Economics, EGP group) as number 14! In the category "Scientists under 40", Patzelt ranks eighth and is the highest-ranking Entrepreneurship researcher.
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6/5/09
ScienceExpress in Jena
Success in Göschwitz: Between May 3rd to 5th 2009, the ScienceExpress stopped in Jena. Nearly 5000 visitors saw the exhibition in the 300 meter long train. The three Jena Max Planck Institutes hosted an information booth at the Göschwitz train station. If you missed it, there is a second chance: In August, the train will stop in Erfurt!
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30/3/09
Money or Consciousness? How to encourage the adoption of eco-friendly products
Which policy better motivates consumers to buy eco-friendly products: Information campaigns or financial incentives? Researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Economics, including Alex Coad and Julia Sophie Wörsdorfer, studied this question and propose a two-fold strategy addressing different consumer groups.
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2008
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8/12/08
Corporate Social Responsibility: Für ihr Umfeld engagierte KMU haben Wettbewerbsvorteile
Freiwilliges soziales oder ökologisches unternehmerisches Engagement (Corporate Social Responsibility) wird meist aus globaler Perspektive betrachtet mit dem Fokus auf Großunternehmen. Doch auch KMU engagieren sich ökologisch und sozial- und zwar oftmals stärker als ihnen selbst dies bewusst ist. Nicht immer ist dieses Engagement jedoch strategisch ausgerichtet und wird ausreichend an die Anspruchsgruppen des Unternehmens kommuniziert. So lautet das zentrale Ergebnis einer Unternehmensbefragung, die Dr. Stephan Heblich vom Jenaer Max-Planck-Institut für Ökonomik in Kooperation mit der IHK Niederbayern durchgeführt hat.
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26/11/08
Neue Skala erhebt Wertvorstellungen zur Nachhaltigkeit
Nachhaltiges Handeln ist in den unterschiedlichsten Lebensbereichen zu einem zentralen Ziel geworden. Verhalten aber wird von Einstellungen beeinflusst, denen wiederum Wertvorstellungen zugrunde liegen. Nun hat eine internationale Gruppe von Wissenschaftlern, zu denen auch Dr. Dr. Holger Patzelt vom Jenaer Max-Planck-Institut für Ökonomik gehört, ein methodisch gesichertes Messinstrument zur Erhebung grundlegender Wertvorstellungen zu nachhaltiger Entwicklung vorgelegt.
"Grundsätzlich wollen wir die Frage beantworten, ob Unternehmertum zu mehr Nachhaltigkeit beitragen kann," berichtet Patzelt. "Dazu orientieren wir uns an den Vorgaben der Vereinten Nationen (UNO)."
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12/11/08
Stephan Heblich wins Passau University dissertation prize
Stephan Heblich has won the 2008 Passau University / Sparda-Bank Regensburg dissertation prize for his study "Self-Reliant Individuals and Pro-Active Companies". The jury acknowledged the "special contribution" of his analysis concerning Corporate Social Responsibility and networks in dynamic regional development to the field of economics. The prize carries a value of 3000 Euro.
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7/10/08
"Emotion and Entrepreneurship" – Dissertation project inspires artist
The doctoral thesis project "Emotion and Entrepreneurship" of Anja Klaukien, Ph. D. student at the Max Planck Institute of Economics in Jena, inspired the Berlin artist Charlotte Liess. Her painting "In the Thicket of Emotions" ("Im Dickicht der Gefühle") is currently shown as part of the exhibition "Science in Art" ("Wissenschaft in Kunst") at Jenas Gallery on the Market Place. The exhibition, organised by habileté e. V., will last until the end of October.
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30/9/08
Vom Dotcom zum Cluster: Wie Ex-Intershop-Mitarbeiter Jena zum Software-Standort machten
Nach jahrelangem explosionsartigem Höhenflug fielen die Aktien des "Neuen Marktes" in den Jahren 2000/2001 ins Bodenlose. Die Goldgräberstimmung der späten 1990er Jahre schlug in tiefe Enttäuschung um. Unter den am stärksten betroffenen Unternehmen war die Jenaer Intershop Communications AG, Pionier der Softwareentwicklung für den Internethandel und einst Vorzeigeunternehmen der deutschen New Economy. Wer Ende 2000 Intershop Aktien im Wert von 10 000 Euro besaß, bekam dafür Ende 2005 noch knapp 27 Euro. Die Deutsche Schutzvereinigung für Wertpapierbesitz kürte Intershop 2006 zum "größten Kapitalvernichter" unter den börsennotierten Unternehmen. Also außer Spesen nichts gewesen in der deutschen New Economy? Dieser Frage sind Guido Bünstorf vom Jenaer Max-Planck-Institut für Ökonomik und Dirk Fornahl von der Universität Karlsruhe anhand des Beispiels Intershop nachgegangen.
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21/8/08
Wohlstand durch Entrepreneurship – Auch im Schwellenland Indien ist Selbstständigkeit mehr als eine Notlösung
Welfare through Entrepreneurship – Self-employment is even in the emerging nation India more than a contingency solutionBerufliche Selbstständigkeit und Unternehmensgründungen sind in westlichen Industrieländern ein viel studiertes Phänomen. Entrepreneurship gilt längst als zentrale Quelle für wirtschaftliches Wachstum. Wer aber entscheidet sich in Entwicklungsländern für die Selbstständigkeit? Jagannadha Pawan Tamvada, Wissenschaftler am Max-Planck-Institut für Ökonomik in Jena, hat erstmals für Indien - eines der großen Schwellenländer Asiens - umfangreiche Datensätze mit Hilfe neuer ökonometrischer Verfahren analysiert und große regionale Unterschiede gefunden.
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18/8/08
Stephan Heblich attends 3rd Meeting of Nobel Prize Winners in Economic Sciences
Dr. Stephan Heblich, Senior Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute of Economics in Jena, has been invited to attend the 3rd Meeting of Nobel Prize Winners in Economic Sciences in Lindau, Germany from August 20th – 23rd 2008.
The Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings provide a forum for the transfer of knowledge between generations of scientists. The meeting will include lectures, small group meetings with the Laureates, and group activities.
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8/7/08
Warum halten Menschen ihre Versprechen?
Why do People Keep Their Promises?Menschen unterscheiden sich von Tieren u.a. durch ein außerordentliches Ausmaß an Kooperation. In ihren Bemühungen, kooperatives Handeln zu erklären, betonen Ökonomen stets die Rolle von (Tausch-) Verträgen. Oft handelt es sich dabei um rein informelle Versprechen. Auch formale Verträge sind meist "unvollständig", da es unmöglich ist, die Rechte und Pflichten der Parteien in jeder zukünftigen Situation ausdrücklich zu formulieren.
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1/7/08
Augsburger Dr. h. c. für David B. Audretsch
Augsburger Dr. h. c. for David B. AudretschFür seine herausragenden wissenschaftlichen Verdienste insbesondere im Bereich der empirischen Industrieökonomik wird der US-amerikanische Ökonomen Prof. David B. Audretsch, Ph.D., am 2. Juli 2008 mit der Ehrendoktorwürde der Wirtschaftswissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Universität Augsburg ausgezeichnet. Der Festakt beginnt um 15.00 Uhr im Hörsaalzentrum der Wirtschaftswissenschaftlichen Fakultät (Universitätsstraße 10, 86159 Augsburg). Die Vertreterinnen und Vertreter der Medien sind zur Teilnahme herzlich eingeladen.
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19/6/08
J.P. Tamvada erhält DRUID-Preis für beste Dissertation
J.P. Tamvada wins DRUID Best Dissertation AwardDr. Jagannadha Pawan Tamvada, Wissenschaftler am Max-Planck-Insitut für Ökonomik in Jena, hat den Preis für die beste Dissertation der renomierten Dänischen Forschungsgruppe DRUID (Danish Research Unit for Industrial Dynamics) erhalten. Der Preis wurde anlässlich der 25. Jahrestagung der DRUID in Kopenhagen verliehen. In seiner preisgekrönten Arbeit "Essays on Entrepreneurhip and Economic Development" untersucht J. P. Tamvada den Zusammenhang zwischen Entrepreneurship und wirtschaftlicher Entwicklung in seinem Heimat-land Indien.
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10/6/08
Entrepreneur und Stammesführer – Ein naturalistischer Ansatz zur Theorie der Firma
Entrepreneur and tribal leaders – A naturalistic approach on the theory of the firmDie Mehrzahl der Beiträge zur "Theorie der Firma" in der Ökonomik basiert auf der Annahme mehr oder weniger rationaler, von Eigeninteressen geleiteter, autonomer Individuen. Diese Betrachtungsweise erklärt allerdings nicht, warum viele Menschen sich jenseits von persönlichen Interessen und über vertragliche Vereinbarungen hinaus, für die Ziele eines Unternehmens oder ihrer Organisation engagieren.
Dr. Christian Cordes im Gespräch mit Carsten Schroeder in der Sendung Studiozeit auf Deutschlandradio
(mit freundlicher Genehmigung von Deutschlandradio)
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6/6/08
BCERC Best Paper Award for Erik Monsen, Holger Patzelt and Todd Saxton
Erik Monsen and Holger Patzelt, Senior Research Fellows at Max Planck Institute of Economics in Jena, and Todd Saxton, Indiana University, have won the 2007 BCERC Stevens Institute of Technology Wesley J. Howe Award for excellence in research on the topic of Corporate Entrepreneurship for their paper "Motivation and Participation in Corporate Entrepreneurship: The Moderating Effects of Risk, Effort, and Reward". The award, which is endowed with 2.500 USD, was delivered to them on June 6th at the "2008 Babson College Entrepreneurship Research Conference".
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24/4/08
One Man, One Dollar? Erhöht das Spendenlimit den Einfluss des "kleinen Mannes" auf den Wahlausgang?
One Man, One Dollar? Does the limit of donations increase the little man's influence on the outcome of the election?Die Vorstellung, dass die Fähigkeit, Spenden zu sammeln, ein Maß der öffentlichen Unterstützung für einen Kandidaten darstellt, findet in der (amerikanischen) Öffentlichkeit große Zustimmung. So verkünden derzeit Hillary Clinton und Barack Obama regelmäßig ihr jeweiliges Spendenergebnis, um ihren Anspruch auf die Präsidentschaftskandidatur zu untermauern.
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2/2/08
David B. Audretsch wird Ehrendoktor der Augsburger Wirtschaftswissenschaften
David B. Audretsch was awarded an honorary Ph.D. by the Augsburger EconomicsDer Fachbereichsrat der Wirtschaftwissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Universität Augsburg hat in seiner Sitzung am 30. Januar 2008 einstimmig beschlossen, dem US-amerikanischen Ökonomen Prof. David B. Audretsch, Ph.D., für seine herausragenden Verdienste auf wissenschaftlichem Gebiet, insbesondere im Bereich der empirischen Industrieökonomik, die Würde eines Ehrendoktors zu verleihen.
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2007
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17/12/07
Religion und Unternehmertum
Religion and EntrepreneurshipDie Bedeutung von Religionen für die wirtschaftliche Entwicklung von Ländern und das ökonomische Handeln von Individuen wurde bereits vor über hundert Jahren von Max Weber in seiner These vom Zusammenhang zwischen wirtschaftlichem Erfolg und protestantischer Arbeitsethik betont. In der volkswirtschaftlichen Forschung wurde dem Thema Religion lange Zeit jedoch kaum Beachtung geschenkt.
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20/11/07
Dr. Holger Patzelt gewinnt den FGF-Gründungsforschungspreis 2007
Dr. Holger Patzelt wins the FGF Gründungsforschungspreis 2007Für seine herausragende wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Dissertation zum Thema "Unternehmensgründungen in der Biotechnologiebranche" ist Holger Patzelt vom Max-Planck-Institut für Ökonomik in Jena mit dem Gründungsforschungspreis 2007 des Förderkreises Gründungsforschung (FGF) ausgezeichnet worden.
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13/11/07
Nachwuchswissenschaftler des Max-Planck-Instituts für Ökonomik und der Universität Jena gewinnen 1. Demografie-Preis
Young researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Economics and the University of Jena receive the 1st Demography Price 2006/2007Stephan Schütze (Max Planck Institut für Ökonomik, Jena), Franziska Höring, Jan Lemanski und Christoph Sperfeldt (alle Friedrich Schiller Universität Jena) haben mit ihrem Beitrag "Changing Minds and Politics: Plädoyer für eine nachhaltige Familienpolitik" nach Einschätzung des Jurors Prof. Dr. Ralf Ulrich eine "brilliante Analyse" der Problemlage erstellt.
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6/11/07
Erik Stam wins EAEPE Herbert Simon Young Scholar Awards 2007
Erik Stam has won the Herbert Simon Prize of the European Association for Evolutionary Political Economy (EAEPE) for his paper "Entrepreneurship and Innovation Policy". In this paper Stam argues that entrepreneurship and innovation are often conflated but are actually distinctly different concepts. The Price Committee appreciates that "the paper carefully delineates the two concepts and therefore shows that much 'innovation' policy is wrong-headed and that countries that appear weak on measures of entrepreneurship may be strong innovators."
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