Meng-Jhang Fong’s research lies in behavioral and experimental economics, with a focus on laboratory experiments and behavioral game theory. A central theme of his work is understanding how individuals form, update, and act upon beliefs in different decision-making environments. He studies beliefs in a broad sense, including beliefs about others’ strategic sophistication, beliefs about others’ private information in strategic interactions, and belief-updating about the true state of the world in individual decision tasks. In addition to studying belief formation and decision-making, he works on advancing experimental methodology, with the aim of improving the design and implementation of laboratory experiments.
Academic Career
03/2026–present: Associate Member, Center for Social and Economic Behavior, University of Cologne
04/2025–present: Affiliated Team Member, Chair of Prof. Dr. Axel Ockenfels, University of Cologne
04/2025–present: Senior Research Fellow, Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Economic
10/2023-10/2024: Postdoctoral Scientist, Amazon, USA
10/2018-09/2023: PhD in Social Science, California Institute of Technology, USA
09/2014-06/2016: MA in Economics, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
09/2010-06/2014: BBA in Finance, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
Publications
Fong, M. J., Lin, P. H., & Palfrey, T. R. (2025). Cursed sequential equilibrium. American Economic Review, 115(8), 2616-2658.
