Armin Falk (born 18 January 1968) is a German

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this field there are ...

. He has held a chair at the

University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine ...

since 2003.

Biography

Education and career

Falk studied

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...

as well as philosophy and

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

at the

University of Cologne The University of Cologne (german: Universität zu Köln) is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in the year 1388 and is one of the most prestigious and research intensive universities in Germany. It was the sixth university to ...

. In 1998 he obtained a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

from the

University of Zurich The University of Zürich (UZH, german: Universität Zürich) is a public research university located in the city of Zürich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 f ...

under the supervision of Ernst Fehr. Falk is Professor of Economics and Director of the Behavior and Inequality Research Institute (briq), as well as the Laboratory of Experimental Economics at the University of Bonn. He is ''external scientific member'' of the Max Planck Society (and as such a member of the

Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods The Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods (German: ''Max-Planck-Institut zur Erforschung von Gemeinschaftsgütern'') is located in Bonn, Germany. It is one of 80 institutes in the Max Planck Society. The institute focuses its study ...

), program director at the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), fellow of the

Centre for Economic Policy Research The Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) is an independent, non‐partisan, pan‐European non‐profit organisation. Its mission is to enhance the quality of policy decisions through providing policy‐relevant research, based soundly in e ...

(CEPR), fellow of the

Center for Economic Studies The Center for Economic Studies (CES) is an independent institute within the Faculty of Economics of the University of Munich (LMU). It promotes the international exchange of knowledge and ideas in public finance and other areas of economics. CES ...

(CESifo), Research Professor at the

German Institute for Economic Research The German Institute for Economic Research (german: Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung), or, more commonly DIWBerlin, is a economic research institute in Germany, involved in basic research and policy advice. It is a non-profit acad ...

(DIW), and member of the scientific council of the

Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (german: Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz, ), abbreviated BMWK (was BMWi), is a cabinet-level ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany. It was previously known as ...

. Furthermore, he is affiliated with the

Institute for New Economic Thinking The Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET) is a New York City–based nonprofit think tank. It was founded in October 2009 as a result of the 2007–2012 global financial crisis, and runs a variety of affiliated programs at major universiti ...

Research

Falk's research interests include microeconomics, behavioral economics, and

neuroeconomics Neuroeconomics is an interdisciplinary field that seeks to explain human decision-making, the ability to process multiple alternatives and to follow through on a plan of action. It studies how economic behavior can shape our understanding of t ...

. He has published in renowned journals like the '' American Economic Review'', ''

Quarterly Journal of Economics ''The Quarterly Journal of Economics'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by the Oxford University Press for the Harvard University Department of Economics. Its current editors-in-chief are Robert J. Barro, Lawrence F. Katz, Nathan ...

'', ''

Econometrica ''Econometrica'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal of economics, publishing articles in many areas of economics, especially econometrics. It is published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the Econometric Society. The current editor-in-chief is ...

'', and ''

Science Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...

''. In the German

Handelsblatt The ''Handelsblatt'' (literally "commerce paper" in English) is a German-language business newspaper published in Düsseldorf by Handelsblatt Media Group, formerly known as Verlagsgruppe Handelsblatt. History and profile ''Handelsblatt'' was es ...

ranking of 2010, which analyzes current research output of economists in Germany, Austria, and German speaking Switzerland in terms of quality of publications since 2005, Falk reached the 8th place. In a broad sense, Falk's research is about obtaining a better empirical foundation of economic behavior. While the traditional economic model of individual behavior postulates perfect rationality and egoism (

homo oeconomicus The term ''Homo economicus'', or economic man, is the portrayal of humans as agents who are consistently rational and narrowly self-interested, and who pursue their subjectively defined ends optimally. It is a word play on ''Homo sapiens'', u ...

), the work of Falk demonstrates that human behavior is better described by bounded rationality. In addition, Falk shows that

social preferences Social preferences describe the human tendency to not only care about one's own material payoff, but also the reference group's payoff or/and the intention that leads to the payoff. Social preferences are studied extensively in behavioral and experi ...

such as fairness and

trust Trust often refers to: * Trust (social science), confidence in or dependence on a person or quality It may also refer to: Business and law * Trust law, a body of law under which one person holds property for the benefit of another * Trust (bus ...

are important determinants of behavior. His research is highly interdisciplinary and builds on insights from

experimental research An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when a ...

social psychology Social psychology is the scientific study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people or by social norms. Social psychologists typically explain human behavior as a result of the ...

genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar wor ...

, and

neuroscience Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions and disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, developme ...

. In terms of methods, Falk mainly uses experiments, both in the lab and in the field, complemented by neuroscientific methods, e.g., functional magnetic resonance imaging. An additional focus is the analysis of representative

survey data Survey methodology is "the study of survey methods". As a field of applied statistics concentrating on human-research surveys, survey methodology studies the sampling of individual units from a population and associated techniques of survey da ...

. The research of Falk can broadly be divided into two main areas, the analysis of economic preferences and psychological aspects of the labor market. A better understanding of preferences and personality is of great importance for economic and social science, as virtually every model in that area needs to make assumptions on individual behavior. A key focus has been the analysis of social preferences, as well risk and

time preference In economics, time preference (or time discounting, delay discounting, temporal discounting, long-term orientation) is the current relative valuation placed on receiving a good or some cash at an earlier date compared with receiving it at a later ...

s, but also

personality Personality is the characteristic sets of behaviors, cognitions, and emotional patterns that are formed from biological and environmental factors, and which change over time. While there is no generally agreed-upon definition of personality, m ...

. Supported by an ERC Starting Grant, Falk studies the distribution of preferences in the population as well as socioeconomic determinants of preferences.
Understanding Preferences: Measurement, Prevalence, Determinants and Consequence. A second important focus of Falk's research has been the analysis of psychological aspects in labor markets (Behavioral Labor Economics). This line of research demonstrates that in particular in labor market contexts, motives such as social preferences, social comparison, trust, social approval, and Motivation#Incentive theories: intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, intrinsic motivation play an important role. This has implications for work relations, as well as the functioning of organizations and labor markets.

Awards and honors

* 2021

Fellow of the Econometric Society In the scientific discipline of economics, the Econometric Society is a learned society devoted to the advancement of economics by using mathematical and statistical methods. This article is a list of its (current and in memory) fellows. Fellows ...

* 2013 European Research Council (ERC) "Advanced Grant". * 2011 Award of the

Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities The Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (german: Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften), abbreviated BBAW, is the official academic society for the natural sciences and humanities for the German states of Berlin a ...

* 2011 Yrjö Jahnsson Award * 2010

European Academy of Sciences and Arts The European Academy of Sciences and Arts (EASA, la, Academia Scientiarum et Artium Europaea) is a transnational and interdisciplinary network, connecting about 2,000 recommended scientists and artists worldwide, including 37 Nobel Prize laur ...

* 2009

German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (german: Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina – Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften), short Leopoldina, is the national academy of Germany, and is located in Halle (Saale). Founde ...

* 2009

North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences, Humanities and the Arts The North Rhine-Westphalia Academy for Sciences and Arts (''Nordrhein-Westfälische Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Künste'') is a learned society in Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripu ...

* 2009 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize of the

Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft The German Research Foundation (german: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft ; DFG ) is a German research funding organization, which functions as a self-governing institution for the promotion of science and research in the Federal Republic of Germ ...

* 2008

Gossen Prize The Gossen Prize is an annual award given by the Verein für Socialpolitik to German-speaking economists under the age of 45 whose work gained international recognition. The jury—the extended committee of the Verein für Socialpolitik—especiall ...

of the

Verein für Socialpolitik The Verein für Socialpolitik (), or the German Economic Association, is an important society of economists in the German-speaking area. History The Verein was founded in Eisenach in 1872 as a response to the "social question". Among its founde ...

* 2007 Fellow of the

European Economic Association The European Economic Association (EEA) is a professional academic body which links European economists. It was founded in the mid-1980s. Its first annual congress was in 1986 in Vienna and its first president was Jacques Drèze. The current pres ...

* 2006 ''John T. Dunlop Outstanding Scholar Award'' of the

Labor and Employment Relations Association Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

* 2004 “ CESifo Prize in Public Economics”

Selected publications

* * * * . * . * .

References

External links

*
Armin Falk
on the website of the ''Center for Economics and Neuroscience'' at the University of Bonn (wit
Curriculum Vitae
{{DEFAULTSORT:Falk, Armin 1968 births Living people Neuroeconomists University of Cologne alumni University of Bonn faculty Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize winners University of Zurich alumni Behavioral economists 20th-century German economists 21st-century German economists Fellows of the European Economic Association Fellows of the Econometric Society