We conduct research in the following areas:
- Public Economics and Economics of Education
- Behavioral and Experimental Economics, Neuro-/Genoeconomics
- Statistical and Computational Methods and Survey Methodology
Various research projects are currently being conducted in our group. They are funded by research grants which we obtained, e.g., by the German National Science Foundation (DFG), the Thyssen-Research Foundation (Fritz Thyssen Stiftung), the Jacobs Foundation, the Volkswagen Foundation, the Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF), or the National Health and Medical Research Council of the Australian Government. All the projects fall in the research areas mentioned above.
As illustrative examples, we describe seven of our research projects in more detail below:
Feeling guilty, axious or still hopeful? The role of distinct and combined emotions in climate engagement behavior
Human emotions play a fundamental role in shaping decision-making processes, particularly in contexts where individual actions contribute to collective outcomes. Emotional responses influence how people process information, form judgments, and make choices, which is especially relevant in addressing social dilemmas like climate change. Such dilemmas arise because environmental behavior often reflects the characteristics of a public good, where societal benefits outweigh individual incentives, leading to behavioral barriers. Understanding how emotions drive decision-making is crucial for fostering meaningful action in this domain.
The focus of this project is on analyzing the role of climate-related emotions—hope, anxiety, and guilt—in economic decision-making within the context of climate change mitigation. These emotions are frequently utilized in climate communication strategies by NGOs to motivate public engagement. To investigate this, we conducted a laboratory experiment involving over 300 student participants.
To test our hypotheses, we employ short video treatments to reliably elicit the targeted emotional states. Following the emotion induction, participants are presented with opportunities to make financial contributions to climate protection projects aimed at reducing CO2 emissions. These projects are framed to benefit either spatially close (local) or spatially distant (global) communities. By systematically manipulating emotional states and donation contexts, this study provides a novel perspective to examining the influence of emotions on cooperative behavior related to public goods. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0095069625001573?via%3Dihub
Statistical Learning in Hybrid Systems
The internet today allows a large fraction of the world’s population to communicate with each other with virtually no restrictions on connectivity. In contrast, in all traditional mass media (from the printing press to radio and tv), information has been technically constrained to flow through a sparse set of intermediaries (e.g., editorial rooms). Technically, these information bottlenecks usually consolidate larger quantities of information. On the internet, the flow of information is nowadays frequently structured by machine learning algorithms (e.g., recommender systems on social media) that dynamically adapt the topology of the communication graph. We propose to understand systems of humans connected via (potentially algorithmically controlled) digital networks as hybridsystems, i.e., intelligent, learning systems that combine natural and artificial intelligence. While it is plausible that large-scale deployment of such hybrid mechanisms could be having profound impact on human behavior and society, a theoretical framework for understanding potential effects is still lacking.
We propose to use mathematical concepts from statistical learning theory to model the behavior of such hybrid learning systems. Our key hypothesis is that network topology (static and adaptive) has decisive effects on how a collective is building a predictive model of the outside world from its individuals’ observations. The strengths and shortcomings of different topologies then lead to different emergent group behavior. The goal of our project is to refine this idea into a quantitative and predictive framework. This framework allows us to understand the effects of digital communication on individual and group decision-making and thus on social dynamics as well as to validate its predictions empirically in behavioral experiments. This project will focus on (1) the development of the theoretical framework, and (2) a novel behavioral experimental paradigm that tests a foundational prediction: Does the topology of the communication graph lead to different knowledge acquisition patterns and decisions in groups?
This project is funded by the Volkswagen-Stiftung
Enhancing cooperation and investigating peer effects on human capital formation: A randomized-controlled field study with primary school children
Human cooperation can fundamentally shape many important economic outcomes of individuals and groups. Individuals differ in their cooperative behavior and these differences remain even after explicitly controlling for differences in institutional settings, technologies and beliefs under which cooperative behavior is studied, thereby identifying differences in underlying individual preferences for cooperation. These preferences for cooperation not only exist but even matter a great deal for cooperative behavior in the field, namely the management of common pool resources.
The focus of this project is on analyzing cooperation among first graders, as previous research has shown that (1) the level of malleability of preferences and skills seems to be higher for young children and (2) differences in development at this age are strong predictors for life outcomes. A significant contribution of this project consists of designing, testing, and implementing a new informative measure of cooperation, as standard designs of “classical” cooperation games, e.g. public good games, might not be suitable for being used with young children.
In case of successfully identifying an age appropriate measure of cooperation, we plan to realize a large-scale field study in the school context to investigate whether preferences for cooperation are shaped by the actual experience of cooperation for a substantial period of time, and, to what degree the social environment of individuals mediates this effect.
This project is funded by the Germany National Science Foundation (DFG).
Statistical Inference Methods for Behavioral Genetics and Neuroeconomics
Multiple tests are needed in behavioral genetics in order to analyze associations between many genetic markers and behavioral phenotypes simultaneously. In neuroeconomics, high-dimensional functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) time series have to be analyzed with multiple testing techniques. This project contributes to behavioral genetics and neuroeconomics by developing refined statistical inference methods for data generated in these fields. In particular, techniques for multiple hypotheses testing will be refined, adapted, newly worked out, and applied to existing data sets in behavioral genetics.
The methods we develop are not restricted to such types of data, but will be applicable in many other fields, too: High-dimensional categorical data are also prevalent, for example, in genetic epidemiology or biometrics (multiple endpoint analyses), and high-dimensional hierarchical data structures occur for instance in spatial statistics or in the context of the analysis of variance, if the number of groups is large.
This project is jointly conducted with Prof. Dr. Thorsten Dickhaus (Universität Bremen) and is funded by the Germany National Science Foundation (DFG) (http://www.dfg.de/en/).
E-learning in schools – blessing or curse?
The use of electronic forms of teaching and learning in schools has been spreading rapidly. This raises the question of what effects such systems have on pupils. In this project, we are working on the basic assumption that the introduction of electronic learning systems also facilitates social comparison through increased performance transparency. In our research project, we are therefore investigating the effects of performance-transparent e-learning systems, specifically relative performance feedback, on the learning behavior of students.
The research project, funded by the BMBF, focuses on an empirical field study at elementary schools in the city of Mainz, in which various forms of performance-transparent e-learning systems are used in mathematics lessons. The study builds on a wide range of preliminary work initiated by the Chair of Public and Behavioral Economics at JGU Mainz under the direction of Prof. Dr. Daniel Schunk together with Prof. Dr. Ernst Fehr (University of Zurich).
This project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF): http://www.bmbf.de/en/.
Intervention study: Self-Regulation and Working Memory in Children
Dieses Projekt untersucht, inwieweit neben den üblichen schulfachbezogenen Fähigkeiten auch gewisse fachübergreifende Kompetenzen, beispielsweise Konzentrationsvermögen, Motivation, Geduld oder Zielstrebigkeit, wichtige Schlüsselfaktoren für ein gelingendes Leben sind. Im alltäglichen Schulleben werden diese Fähigkeiten im Unterricht und im generellen Miteinander meist nur beiläufig ausgebildet. Empirische Forschungsergebnisse zeigen, dass solche Kompetenzen bei Kindern nicht nur sehr wichtig für den Erfolg in der Schule und im späteren Leben sind, sondern auch ganz gezielt trainierbar sind.
Unser Projekt erforscht über mehrere Jahre, wie stark und vor allem wie nachhaltig diese wichtigen fachübergreifenden Kompetenzen bei Schülern gezielt trainiert werden können. Das Projekt wird von Prof. Dr. Daniel Schunk (Johannes Gutenberg – Universität Mainz) und Prof. Dr. Ernst Fehr (Universität Zürich) geleitet und in Kooperation mit der Schulaufsichtsbehörde und den teilnehmenden Grundschulen aus dem Raum Mainz durchgeführt.
Auf Grundlage aktueller Erkenntnisse der Pädagogik und Entwicklungspsychologie wurden fächerübergreifende Trainingsbausteine entwickelt, die in Mainzer Grundschulen angewendet werden. Hierdurch werden neueste Erkenntnisse zur individuellen Förderung direkt in die Schulen gebracht und kommen einer Vielzahl von Schülern zugute. Die wissenschaftliche Begleitung führt zu vielen wichtigen Erkenntnissen für die Forschung, z. B. welche Schüler am stärksten von den Trainingsbausteinen profitieren und über welche Faktoren derartige Zusammenhänge zu erklären sind.
Die teilnehmenden Grundschulen erhalten durch unser Projekt eine hervorragende Infrastruktur an Computern, die auch nach der Studie an den Schulen verbleibt, um so die Schüler individuell fördern und innerhalb einer Lerngruppe stärker differenzieren zu können.
Dieses Projekt wurde gefördert durch die Jacobs Foundation (https://jacobsfoundation.org/).
Reactivating the long-term unemployed more effectively: Evidence from a randomized controlled field study
Measures to combat long-term unemployment vary in their effectiveness and are mostly based on mechanisms to change economic incentives or reactivate human capital. Previous measures have hardly taken socio-psychological and non-cognitive factors of reactivation success into account, although it has already been scientifically proven that elements such as self-regulation, motivation and goal setting have a major influence on success in the labor market.
Together with our partner, the Gesellschaft für Projektierungs- u. Dienstleistungsmanagement (GPDM) in Paderborn, we are pursuing an interdisciplinary research concept: using field experiments, we are intervening in a targeted manner in a labour market activation program with the help of behavioural training. The aim is to increase the effectiveness of the labor market program and make it more cost-efficient. This should lead both to an improvement in current measures and to a better understanding of the problems associated with unemployment. Furthermore, the socio-psychological, non-cognitive and health factors associated with long-term unemployment are to be investigated in order to support successful reintegration into the labor market.
Link to the homepage of the 
This project was financially supported by the Fritz Thyssen Stiftung: See http://www.fritz-thyssen-stiftung.de
Take What You Can Get? People and Experimental Economic Research I Prof. Dr. Daniel Schunk
Experimental economic research is a subfield of economics. It examines how people behave in different contexts, how they make decisions, and how economic incentives influence their decisions. Some research questions may seem curious, but Professor of Economics Daniel Schunk believes that in science, one must always be open to crazy ideas. Find out more about the approaches he takes in a conversation with host Daniel Reißmann.
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Professor Schunk is the spokesperson of the collaborative research unit “Interdisciplinary Public Policy (IPP)” at JGU Mainz and the team at the professorship of Public and Behavioral Economics manages the IPP. Established in 2014, the IPP fosters interdisciplinary collaboration and emphasizes evidence-based policy research, integrating perspectives from economics, business administration, computer science, political science, sociology, communication studies, psychology, and medicine. More information on the IPP can be found here.
