In this episode, our guest Raymond Fisman explains to us the persistent challenge of corruption and the surprising ways in which political polarization and so called “wedge issues” help to sustain it. He shares his insights into why anti-corruption reforms remain elusive despite widespread public demand for honest governance and the creative measures some leaders have taken to battle corruption.  Raymond Fisman is the Slater Family Professor in Behavioral Economics at Boston University. His research explores the complex ways in which corruption and other informal behaviors influence markets, governance, and economic development. If you want to know more about Raymond’s research, you can check out his homepage.

In this episode, we explore the contributions of this year’s Nobel Prize laureates in Economics – Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and James Robinson – and their work on the role of institutions in shaping economic prosperity. Our guest, Navid Sabet guides us through their core findings and shares his perspective on their influential research and its impact on the field of political economy. Finally, he connects these insights to his own research, examining how institutions affect immigration reform and economic opportunities.   Navid Sabet is Assistant Professor in Economics at Goethe University Frankfurt. His research interests lie in the areas of political economy, applied microeconomics and public economics. Navid mentions the Nobel Prize winners’ famous paper from 2001, “The Colonial Origins of Comparative Development: An Empirical Investigation”. You can find it here. For more info on Navid’s research, you can check out his homepage or his paper on Immigrant legalization and the redistribution of state funds in the US.  

Selçuk Özyurt, an Associate Professor of Economics at York University, shares his expertise on game theory and online dispute resolution. He delves into the effectiveness of human versus algorithmic mediation, highlighting the nuances in design and theoretical properties. The conversation explores the evolution of online mediation mechanisms, emphasizing strategy proofness and efficiency as crucial elements. Selçuk also discusses the vital role of neutral mediators in navigating complex emotional disputes. His insights bridge the gap between theory and practical application in conflict resolution.

Cristina Bicchieri, the S.J. Patterson Harvie Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, shares her insights on social norms through the lens of game theory. She discusses how these unwritten rules shape behavior and the critical role they play in driving social change. The conversation highlights the impact of social norms on harmful practices like open defecation and child marriage, emphasizing the need for understanding community behaviors. Bicchieri also explores the influence of norms on poverty dynamics, illustrating how they can transform social interactions.

Stefaan De Rynck, Principal Advisor at the European Commission and former Senior Advisor to Michel Barnier, shares his firsthand insights on the Brexit negotiations. He breaks down the complex interplay of strategies employed by both the EU and the UK. The discussion covers the historical roots of Brexit, the challenges of maintaining EU unity, and the impact of fluctuating UK leadership. De Rynck also highlights how the negotiations shaped post-Brexit relations, paving the way for potential collaborations in various sectors.

In this episode, we discuss overconfidence and its underlying psychological mechanisms. Our guest Collin Raymond shares his research (joint work with David Huffman and Julia Shvets) based on a field study he conducted with managers in the context of their Bonus payment. We discuss their findings on how managers make overconfident predictions about their individual future performance. In the study they can link the overconfidence to managers having an overly-positive memory of past performance. We finish the discussion by deep-diving into other facets of overconfidence.    Collin Raymond is Associate Professor of Strategy and Business Economics at the Johnson School of Management of Cornell University. His research interests span Behavioural Economics, Experimental Economics, and Microeconomic Theory. He focuses on how individuals make decisions under uncertainty and the cognitive biases that influence these decisions. You can find the paper Collin describes in the interview here.

Paul Papayoanou discusses avoiding value drain in dealmaking, identifying four types of value-destructive behaviors. He emphasizes the importance of being a savvy strategist, balancing toughness and fairness. The role of preparation, reputation, and game theory in negotiation strategies is also explored, with insights on enhancing dealmaking outcomes in organizations.

In this episode, we discuss with Eduardo Azevedo his research on adverse selection in insurance markets. Eduardo gives details on recent developments in genomic advances, also in light of the significant price decrease for obtaining the individual genome. We discuss the possible long-term effect on the insurance market (e.g. specific health insurances) if individuals had access to their genome and obtained their individual risk profile. Based on that we discuss the potential for adverse selection and Eduardos initial heuristic findings.   Eduardo Azevedo is Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. His research focuses on market design, applied microeconomic theory, and industrial organisation.

In this episode, we discuss with Greg Kubitz his research on loss aversion. Greg shares his research in which he targets to explain loss aversion using Game Theoretic approaches. He combines approaches such as the principal agent model to be able to look at loss aversion through the evolutionary lens considering realistic assumptions on biological constraints given through our neural system.   Greg Kubitz is senior lecturer in the School of Economics and Finance at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia. His research interests lie mainly within the field of game theory, with particular emphasis on information design and its applications to industrial organisation and behavioural economics.

Researcher Yan Chen discusses group identity and discrimination, revealing how ingroup favoritism can lead to group conflicts and political polarization. She explores experiments on group discrimination, information avoidance, and belief updating, emphasizing the importance of understanding biases and seeking diverse perspectives to mitigate discrimination in society.