Urs Fischbacher How Can We Measure Honesty and Patterns of Dishonesty?
Urs Fischbacher is Chair of Applied Research in Economics at the University of Konstanz and Director of the Thurgau Institute of Economics. Having pursued a successful career as a software developer following his doctoral work in mathematics, Professor Fischbacher’s focus shifted to economics at the University of Zurich. Fischbacher’s main research interests include experimental economics, behavioral economics, and social preferences and, in 2016, he received the Joachim Herz Economics Prize for Best Research Work.
Area of Research
Experimental Economics, Behavioral Economics, Social Preferences
since 2007
Full Professor & Head of Institute
University of Konstanz (Universität Konstanz)
Thurgauer Institute of Economics
1995-2007
Researcher
University of Zurich (Universität Zürich)
Institute for Empirical Research in Economics
1991-1995
Researcher
Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL)
2006
Habilitation (Economics)
University of Zurich (Universität Zürich)
1985
Doctoral Studies
University of Zurich (Universität Zürich)
1982
Mathematics (Diplom)
University of Zurich (Universität Zürich)
- Review of Economics (Associate Editor, since 2012)
- Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (Editorial Board, since 2012)
- Social Sciences (MDPI) (Editorial Boards, since 2012)
- Experimental Economics (Editorial Board, since 2009)
- European Journal of Political Economy (Editorial Board, since 2009)
- etc.
- Economics Science Association (ESA), Vice President (2009-2015)
- Economic Science Association (ESA), Executive Committee (2004-2007)
Prizes
- Joachim Herz Economics Prize (2016)
Fellowships
- University of Nottingham (2013)
- University of Maastricht (2013)
- University of Copenhagen (2008)
- Harvard Business School (2002)
People’s honesty is often a crucial consideration in politics and in economics as well as in society more generally. In this video, URS FISCHBACHER outlines his development of an instrument to measure honesty and patterns of dishonesty. Participants rolled a die and were told that their number corresponded to a payoff. Though the experiment showed that people were dishonest, it also demonstrated that this was not always the case. Fischbacher explains how the initial experiment has been expanded and refined to bring about advances in both our theoretical and practical conception of honesty.
LT Video Publication DOI: https://doi.org/10.21036/LTPUB10687
Lies in Disguise - An Experimental Study on Cheating
- Urs Fischbacher and Franziska Föllmi-Heusi
- Journal of the European Economic Association
- Published in 2013
