Axel Niemeyer
My Research
Dissertation: Essays on Mechanism Design without Transfers
"My thesis is about mechanism design, a subfield of economic theory. I study allocation problems and collective decision problems where payments between the agents (the participants) and the mechanism (the allocation or decision procedure) are not feasible. Examples include the allocation of resources within organizations or decision-making in committees and parliaments. One finding is that asking strategic agents what they know about one another is helpful in achieving more efficient allocations. Another finding is that the outcomes of many collective decision procedures are sensitive to how they are implemented in practice, say, majority voting via a secret ballot or by show of hands."
My Future
"For now, I’ll continue to do academic research (and teach) in the United States. Who knows what the future will bring!"
My Highlights
"I truly enjoyed my time in Bonn. Be it the afternoons discussing research in one of the many cozy cafes, the days going road cycling in the beautiful outdoors, or the evenings spent with the great friends I’ve made in Bonn (both in- and out of university). (I could go on...) At the BGSE, what I valued most was the academic freedom---getting to work at my own topics, at my own pace---and the huge family of theory peers, postdocs, and faculty, all working on similar sorts of topics. I learnt a lot from them in countless fruitful conversations."
Luca Henkel
My Research
Dissertation: Essays on Social Identity and Moral Behavior
"My research focuses on the determinants and consequences of individual decision-making. Using surveys and experiments, I try to better understand how and why people make certain decisions and avoid others. For example, in one project, I investigate why many people avoid investing their money in the stock market. As it turns out, the image that people have of stockholders is an important driver of their decisions. Many people consider stockholders as greedy, selfish and gambler-like individuals. In fact, we conducted surveys in eleven countries spanning three continents, and in every country, stockholders were viewed in such a way. This negative image causes people to avoid stock investments, because they do not want to associate themselves with individuals having these negative characteristics."
My Future
"I am fortunate to be able to continue working as researcher. As next step, I will be a Postdoctoral scholar at the University of Chicago and University of CEMA. Next year in Fall I will join the Erasmus University Rotterdam as Assistant Professor of Finance."
My Highlights
"I greatly enjoyed the versatility of research, featuring myriads of challenges and room for development and improvement of one’s ability. Doing research requires analytical thinking about an issue for prolonged amounts of time. Yet, this process leaves much space for creativity, for instance, in the way you approach a problem or design an experiment. Along the way, I learned that I quite like the process of writing up research results, but then also enjoyed the opportunity to convey my research to other researchers and journalists through presentations and interviews. Not only did the research environment at the BGSE and University of Bonn enable me to make these experiences, but the regular interactions with fellow researchers who share a common curiosity about how the world works made it a thoroughly enjoyable experience."
