Armin Falk

Armin Falk (born 18 January 1968 in Bergisch Gladbach) is a German economist and Professor of Economics at the Institute for Applied Microeconomics at the University of Bonn.

Education and career

Falk studied philosophy and history as well as economics at the University of Cologne. He received a doctoral degree in economics from the University of Zurich in 1999. He has been Professor of Economics at the University of Bonn since 2003 and Director of the BonnEconLab, the university's laboratory for experimental economics, since 2004. where he served as Director until 2016. He served as the CEO of briq until the end of 2023. Using this dataset, Falk and colleagues have examined how children's outcomes are shaped by their families' socioeconomic status (SES) and by the change in the social environment brought about by the mentoring intervention. Falk and colleagues documented "that children from high-SES families are more intelligent, patient, and altruistic as well as less risk seeking" than children from low-SES families. The researchers also found that the mentoring intervention increased children's prosociality, with the effect being strongest for low-SES children, and that the intervention improved the schooling decisions of low-SES children.

Behavioral labor economics

Falk's work on labor markets and organizations studies, for instance, how autonomy, perceived fairness, and social comparisons influence effort, motivation, employment relationships, and wage determination.

Published works (selection)

Peer-reviewed journal articles (in reverse chronological order)

Data sets and survey instruments

Book

Media and public reception

Falk's research on public support for climate action has informed public-facing climate-communication initiatives. The 89 Percent Project, a global journalism project by Covering Climate Now, lists the 2024 study by Andre et al. and the associated Global Climate Change Survey among its resources.

The same study also inspired We Are The Majority, a video campaign by Climate Acceptance Studios.

Recognition

2021–present: Fellow of the Econometric Society 2015–2019: European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant for Institutions and Morality 2011: Yrjö Jahnsson Award of the European Economic Association 2009–present: Member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina 2009–present: Member of the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences, Humanities and the Arts 2009: Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize of the German Research Foundation 2009–2013: European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant for Understanding Preferences: Measurement, Prevalence, Determinants and Consequences 2008: Hermann Heinrich Gossen Award of the Verein für Socialpolitik 2007–present: Fellow of the European Economic Association

Miscellaneous

In fall 2022, unsubstantiated claims about Falk, interpreted as allegations of "misconduct", were made on social media and circulated among economists. Two independent reviews, one conducted by a law firm with relevant expertise commissioned by briq and the other conducted by the University of Bonn, found the claims to be entirely unfounded. briq considered Falk "fully rehabilitated"; likewise, the university considered him "fully exonerated from the allegations". The statements made on social media nevertheless prompted opposition, and sparked coverage by news outlets, after a merger between briq and IZA was announced in fall 2023 and Falk was designated to lead the combined institution. Falk subsequently withdrew his willingness to assume the leadership position.