8th Winter School in Behavioral Economics and Experimental Research

January 5-10, 2020

Christian Zehnder

Prof. Holger Herz, UNIFR

Prof. Christian Zehnder, UNIL

Prof. Maria Bigoni, University of Bologna

Prof. Florian Zimmermann, University of Bonn and the Institute on Behavior and Inequality

Prof. Charles Efferson, University of Lausanne

Florian Zimmermann conducts research in behavioral, experimental and labor economics. He is an expert in the analysis of belief formation and the role of beliefs for economic decision making, with a particular focus on motivated beliefs as well as biases in belief updating.

Maria Bigoni's research focuses on cooperation in social dilemmas, industrial organization and learning. She applies innovative experimental methods, such as experimental games in continuous time. Her most recent line of research focuses on the effects of economic inequality on cooperation.

Charles Efferson's research focuses on the gene-culture coevolution of human social cognition and behavior in domains involving conformity, coordination, and cooperation. He routinely mixes evolutionary modeling with the analysis of both experimental and observational data. Charles has conducted fieldwork in Europe, Western Asia, Africa, and South America. Much of his current empirical research examines the social mechanisms underlying harmful cultural traditions and, alternatively, the diffusion of beneficial innovations. This research often has direct policy implications, and Charles has collaborated extensively with UNICEF, the World Bank, and various NGOs.

The winter school will start on Monday, January 6 (arrival on Sunday evening) and will end on Friday, January 10 (around noon). There will be lectures on Monday morning, Monday afternoon, Tuesday morning, Thursday morning, and Thursday afternoon.

Parts of Monday afternoon, Tuesday afternoon and parts of Thursday afternoon will be dedicated to group work and projects. During the afternoons the lecturers and organizers are always available for discussions and office hours. There will also be dedicated slots for discussion of personal projects (e.g. dissertation papers) with the speakers.

Friday will be reserved for the presentation of group projects developed during the week.

On Wednesday the participants have the possibility to benefit from the fantastic winter sport environment in Champéry (Champéry provides direct access to the "Portes du Soleil" ski resort. All participants are strongly encouraged to bring their winter sport equipment with them for this purpose.

Champéry

The winter school is open to all PhD students in economics, management, psychology and the neuro-sciences. 

It will take place in Champéry (Valais).

Participants will be hosted at:

Hôtel National Resort & Spa 

Rue du village 47 - 1874 Champéry

Tel +41 (0) 24.479.11.30

 

Arrangements will be made by the program coordinator for all the participants.

For students of the CUSO universities (Geneva, Lausanne, Neuchâtel, Fribourg and IHEID) and of the University of Bern, accommodation and meals are covered by the CUSO. Travel expenses will be reimbursed based on a second-class half-fare return Swiss rail ticket between the university to which the student is attached and the location of the activity. This is equally valid for travel undertaken in a private car.

Students coming from universities outside the CUSO network are also welcome to the winter school. The fees for accommodation and meals (including five nights in a double-room, breakfast, lunch, dinner and coffee breaks) amount to CHF 1'814.

Detailed information on the management directives can be found here

The deadline for applications is December 15. Acceptance decisions will be communicated by December 20 at the latest.

The website of our program can be found here

You can sign up for the winter school here

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If you have any questions about the winter school, please contact Bénédicte Moreira ([email protected])