Markets and Values: Insights from different worlds

The seminar “Markets and Values: Insights from different worlds” provides a forum to discuss human behavior in (virtual) markets.

How do people behave in markets? What drives our decisions and how can markets affect our behavior and moral values? How does social distance in virtual markets influence our behavior? How do we perceive and spend virtual money? Are social norms and moral values passed on to virtual worlds?

Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs) like World of Warcraft, Second Life or DayZ may hold a vast potential for economic research about human behavior, the emergence of markets and social rules (e.g. William Bainbridge: The Scientific Research Potential of Virtual Worlds). As virtual worlds, virtual markets and virtual experimental labs are increasingly perceived as a high potential for economic research, students may develop their own research idea based on virtual environments.

Further impulses about economic behavior in several (non-virtual) contexts may be received from Urs Fischbacher (e.g. on cooperation and social punishment), Michael Sandel (on institutions and justice), Vernon Smith (e.g. on market design), Jean Tirole (e.g. on the design of institutions), Uri Gneezy (e.g. on incentive schemes), Ernst Fehr (e.g. on fairness and employment) or Armin Falk and Nora Szech (on morals and institutions).

With the support at our chair, students develop their own ideas for the design of an economic experiment or field study.

Students may work individually or in pairs of two. Working in teams of two is being recommended.
The seminar starts with an obligatory introductory meeting on April 20, 14:00 – 15:30 in building 20.12, room 002. Ideas for an experiment or field study will be presented in a block event in June 2015, each presentation lasting about 20 minutes. Seminar papers of 8 – 10 pages are to be handed in by August 16, 2015.

Grades will be based on quality of presentation and discussion (50%), and the seminar paper (50%).
Participation is limited to 12 students. Please apply for the seminar via the centralized platform (Seminarportal) until February 28th.

For further questions, please contact Leonie Fütterer.