Experiment Center

Economic experiments – be it in the lab or the field – provide a valuable method to explore the foundations, mechanisms, and implications of economic decision-making in financial contexts and institutions. Researchers at the SAFE Experiment Center use this method to study key questions, for example, in household finance, corporate governance, or financial markets. Experiments help to identify causal relations, measure “behavioral heterogeneity” (e.g., in economic preferences or beliefs), as well as assist policymakers in evaluating the effects of particular interventions and institutions.

The SAFE Experiment Center is a collaboration between the Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE and the Frankfurt Laboratory for Experimental Economic Research FLEX.


Publications

Author/sTitleAreaTypePublishedKeywords
Peter Andre, Teodora Boneva, Felix Chopra, Armin FalkMisperceived Social Norms and Willingness to Act Against Climate Change
SAFE Working Paper No. 414
Household Finance, Experiment Center SAFE Working Paper2024
Kevin Bauer, Rebecca Heigl, Oliver Hinz, Michael KosfeldFeedback Loops in Machine Learning: A Study on the Interplay of Continuous Updating and Human Discrimination
forthcoming in Journal of the Association for Information System
Household Finance, Experiment Center Published Paper2024
Michael Kosfeld, Zahra SharafiThe Preference Survey Module: Evidence on Social Preferences from Tehran
forthcoming in Journal of the Economic Science Association
Household Finance, Experiment Center Published Paper2024
Peter Andre, Marc Kaufmann, Botond KöszegiUnderstanding Markets with Socially Responsible Consumers
SAFE Working Paper No. 411
Household Finance, Experiment Center SAFE Working Paper2023
Kevin Bauer, Oliver Hinz, Moritz von ZahnExpl(AI)ned: The Impact of Explainable Artificial Intelligence on Users' Information Processing
Information Systems Research
Financial Intermediation, Experiment Center Published Paper2023XAI, explainable machine learning, Information Processing, Belief up-dating, algorithmic transparency
Peter AndreShallow Meritocracy
SAFE Working Paper No. 405
Household Finance, Experiment Center SAFE Working Paper2023
Peter Andre, Philipp Schirmer, Johannes WohlfartMental Models of the Stock Market
SAFE Working Paper No. 406
Household Finance, Financial Markets, Experiment Center SAFE Working Paper2023
Julian Detemple, Michael KosfeldFairness and Inequality in Institution Formation
SAFE Working Paper No. 402
Household Finance, Experiment Center SAFE Working Paper2023
Kevin Bauer, Oliver Hinz, Michael Kosfeld, Lena LiebichDecoding GPT’s Hidden ‘Rationality’ of Cooperation
SAFE Working Paper No. 401
Household Finance, Experiment Center SAFE Working Paper2023large language models, cooperation, goal orientation, economic rationality
Kevin Bauer, Oliver Hinz, Moritz von ZahnPlease Take Over: XAI, Delegation of Authority, and Domain Knowledge
SAFE Working Paper No. 394
Financial Intermediation, Experiment Center SAFE Working Paper2023
Michael Kosfeld, Zahra SharafiThe Preference Survey Module: Evidence on Social Preferences from Tehran
SAFE Working Paper No. 393
Household Finance, Experiment Center SAFE Working Paper2023
Victor Klockmann, Marie Claire Villeval, Alicia von SchenkArtificial Intelligence, Ethics, and Intergenerational Responsibility
Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization
Household Finance, Experiment Center Published Paper2023
Myriam Hadnes, Michael Kosfeld, Björn VollanFetters of the Sib’ in an Uncertain Business Environment - An Experimental Study in Burkina Faso
Entrepreneurship & Regional Development
Household Finance, Experiment Center Published Paper2023
Andrea Essl, Michael Kosfeld, Markus Kröll, Frauke von BiebersteinSocial Preferences and Sales Performance
Journal of Economics & Management Strategy
Household Finance, Experiment Center Published Paper2023
Benjamin M. Abdel-Karim, Kevin Bauer, Oliver Hinz, Michael NoferThe Effects of Discontinuing Machine Learning Decision Support
SAFE Working Paper No. 370
Financial Intermediation, Experiment Center SAFE Working Paper2022
Markus EytingWhy do we Discriminate? The Role of Motivated Reasoning
SAFE Working Paper No. 356
Household Finance, Experiment Center SAFE Working Paper2022
Andrej Gill, Florian Hett, Johannes TischerTime Inconsistency and Overdraft Use: Evidence from Transaction Data and Behavioral Measurement Experiments
SAFE Working Paper No. 347
Household Finance, Experiment Center SAFE Working Paper2022Household Finance, Paycheck Sensitivity, Fintech, Time Inconsistency, Time Preferences, Experiment, Behavioral Measurement
Markus Kröll, Devesh RustagiMeasuring Honesty and Explaining Adulteration in Naturally Occurring Markets
Journal of Development Economics
Law and Finance, Experiment Center Published Paper2022Motivation for honesty, asymmetric information, cheating, informal markets, die game, milk, India
Kevin Bauer, Oliver Hinz, Johanna Jagow, Cristina Mihale-Wilson, Maximilian Speicher, Moritz von ZahnThe Smart Green Nudge: Reducing Product Returns through Enriched Digital Footprints & Causal Machine Learning
SAFE Working Paper No. 363
Financial Intermediation, Experiment Center SAFE Working Paper2022
Victor Klockmann, Marie Claire Villeval, Alicia von SchenkArtificial Intelligence, Ethics, and Intergenerational Responsibility
SAFE Working Paper No. 335
Household Finance, Experiment Center SAFE Working Paper2022
Victor Klockmann, Marie Claire Villeval, Alicia von SchenkArtificial Intelligence, Ethics, and Pivotality
SAFE Working Paper No. 336
Household Finance, Experiment Center SAFE Working Paper2022Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Pivotality, Ethics, Experiment
Kevin Bauer, Yan Chen, Florian Hett, Michael KosfeldGroup Identity and Belief Formation: A Decomposition of Political Polarization
SAFE Working Paper No. 409
Experiment Center SAFE Working Paper2023
Wenhui Li, Peter Ockenfels, Christian WildeThe Effect of Ambiguity on Price Formation and Trading Behavior in Financial Markets
SAFE Working Paper No. 326
Financial Markets, Experiment Center SAFE Working Paper2021ambiguity, financial market, market price, volatility, trading activity, bid- ask spread, market-based measure of ambiguity, laboratory experiment
Kevin Bauer, Michael Kosfeld, Ferdinand von SiemensIncentives, Self-Selection, and Coordination of Motivated Agents for the Production of Social Goods
SAFE Working Paper No. 318
Financial Intermediation, Experiment Center SAFE Working Paper2021
Kevin Bauer, Andrej Gill Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: Machine Predictions and Self-Fulfilling Prophecies
SAFE Working Paper No. 313
Financial Intermediation, Experiment Center SAFE Working Paper2021Algorithmic transparency, algorithmic decision support, human–machine interaction
Kevin Bauer, Oliver Hinz, Christof Weinhardt, Wil van der AalstExpl(AI)n It to Me – Explainable AI and Information Systems Research
Business & Information Systems Engineering
Financial Intermediation, Experiment Center Published Paper2021
Kevin Bauer, Rebecca Heigl, Oliver Hinz, Michael KosfeldThe Terminator of Social Welfare? - The Economic Consequences of Algorithmic Discrimination
forthcoming in Journal of the Association of Information Systems
Financial Intermediation, Experiment Center Published Paper2024
Kevin Bauer, Oliver Hinz, Moritz von ZahnExpl(AI)ned: The Impact of Explainable Artificial Intelligence on Users' Information Processing
SAFE Working Paper No. 315
Financial Intermediation, Experiment Center SAFE Working Paper2021XAI, explainable machine learning, Information Processing, Belief up-dating, algorithmic transparency
Ferdinand von SiemensMotivated Beliefs and the Elderly’s Compliance with COVID-19 Measures
SAFE Working Paper No. 299
Law and Finance, Experiment Center SAFE Working Paper2021motivated beliefs; compliance behavior; age; health; COVID-19
Benjamin M. Abdel-Karim, Kevin Bauer, Oliver Hinz, Michael Kosfeld, Nicolas Winfried PfeufferThe Economic Consequences of Algorithmic Discrimination: Theory and Empirical Evidence
SAFE Working Paper No. 287
Financial Intermediation, Experiment Center SAFE Working Paper2020 Algorithmic Discrimination, Artificial Intelligence, Game Theory, Economics, Batch Learning
Wenhui Li, Christian WildeSeparating the Effects of Beliefs and Attitudes on Pricing under Ambiguity
SAFE Working Paper No. 311
Financial Markets, Experiment Center SAFE Working Paper2021ambiguity, belief estimation, belief effect, ambiguity premium, laboratory experiments
Wenhui Li, Christian WildeBelief Formation and Belief Updating under Ambiguity: Evidence from Experiments
SAFE Working Paper No. 251
Financial Markets, Experiment Center SAFE Working Paper2019ambiguity, learning strategy, belief updates, non-Bayesian updates, pessimism, laboratory experiments
Sascha Baghestanian, Paul Gortner, Joël van der WeelePeer Effects and Risk Sharing in Experimental Asset Markets
European Economic Review
Household Finance, Financial Markets, Experiment Center Published Paper2019peer effects, laboratory experiments, risk taking, asset markets
Paul Gortner, Baptiste MassenotLeverage and Bubbles: Experimental Evidence
SAFE Working Paper No. 239
Macro Finance, Experiment Center SAFE Working Paper2018
Andrej Gill, Florian Hett, Johannes TischerMeasuring Time Inconsistency Using Financial Transaction Data
White Paper No. 55
Household Finance, Experiment Center Policy Paper2018financial transaction data, financial decision-making, time inconsistency, present bias
Florian Hett, Felix SchmidtPushing Through or Slacking Off? Heterogeneity in the Reaction to Rank Feedback
SAFE Working Paper No. 203
Household Finance, Experiment Center SAFE Working Paper2018heterogeneity, competitiveness; contest; rank feedback, relative performance evaluation
Florian Hett, Johannes KasingerUndermined Market Discipline: The Role of Bank Rescues and Bailout Expectations
Policy Letter No. 59
Financial Intermediation, Experiment Center Policy Paper2017bailout, market discipline, financial institutions, financial crisis, banks
Florian Hett, Alexander SchmidtBank Rescues and Bailout Expectations: The Erosion of Market Discipline During the Financial Crisis
Journal of Financial Economics
Financial Intermediation, Transparency Lab, Experiment Center Published Paper2017Bailout, Implicit Guarantees, Too-Big-To-Fail, Market Discipline
Sascha Baghestanian, Paul Gortner, Baptiste MassenotCompensation Schemes, Liquidity Provision, and Asset Prices: An Experimental Analysis
Experimental Economics
Law and Finance, Experiment Center Published Paper2017compensation, liquidity, experimental asset markets, bubbles
Christian Eufinger, Andrej GillIncentive-Based Capital Requirements
Management Science
Law and Finance, Transparency Lab, Experiment Center Published Paper2017Basel III, capital regulation, compensation, leverage, risk
Michael Kosfeld, Ulrich SchüwerAdd-On Pricing in Retail Financial Markets and the Fallacies of Consumer Education
Review of Finance
Household Finance, Experiment Center Published Paper2017consumer education,financial literacy, bounded rationality, competition, regulation
Markus Kröll, Devesh RustagiReputation, Honesty, and Cheating in Informal Milk Markets in India
SAFE Working Paper No. 134
Law and Finance, Experiment Center SAFE Working Paper2016Motivation for honesty, asymmetric information, cheating, informal markets, die game, milk, India
Andrej Gill, Nikolai VisnjicPerformance Benefits of Tight Control
The Journal of Private Equity
Law and Finance, Transparency Lab, Experiment Center Published Paper2015private equity, leveraged buyouts, active shareholders, ownership concentration, corporate governance
Sascha Baghestanian, Baptiste MassenotCredit Cycles: Experimental Evidence
SAFE Working Paper No. 104
Macro Finance, Experiment Center SAFE Working Paper2015-
Sascha Baghestanian, Paul Gortner, Baptiste MassenotCompensation Schemes, Liquidity Provision, and Asset Prices: An Experimental Analysis
SAFE Working Paper No. 108
Law and Finance, Experiment Center SAFE Working Paper2015compensation, liquidity, experimental asset markets, bubbles
Sascha Baghestanian, Paul Gortner, Joël van der WeelePeer Effects and Risk Sharing in Experimental Asset Markets
SAFE Working Paper No. 67
Household Finance, Financial Markets, Experiment Center SAFE Working Paper2014peer effects, laboratory experiments, risk taking, asset markets
Christian Eufinger, Andrej GillIncentive-Based Capital Requirements
SAFE Working Paper No. 9
Law and Finance, Transparency Lab, Experiment Center SAFE Working Paper2013Basel III, capital regulation, compensation, leverage, risk
Andrej Gill, Nikolai VisnjicInsight Private Equity
SAFE Working Paper No. 23
Law and Finance, Transparency Lab, Experiment Center SAFE Working Paper2013private equity, leveraged buyouts, active shareholders, corporate restructuring, operational performance
Andrej Gill, Nikolai VisnjicPerformance Benefits of Tight Control
SAFE Working Paper No. 24
Law and Finance, Transparency Lab, Experiment Center SAFE Working Paper2013private equity, leveraged buyouts, active shareholders, ownership concentration, corporate governance
Florian Hett, Alexander SchmidtBank Rescues and Bailout Expectations: The Erosion of Market Discipline During the Financial Crisis
SAFE Working Paper No. 36
Financial Intermediation, Transparency Lab, Experiment Center SAFE Working Paper2013Bailout, Implicit Guarantees, Too-Big-To-Fail, Market Discipline
Michael Kosfeld, Ulrich SchüwerAdd-On Pricing in Retail Financial Markets and the Fallacies of Consumer Education
SAFE Working Paper No. 47
Household Finance, Experiment Center SAFE Working Paper2014consumer education,financial literacy, bounded rationality, competition, regulation
Jan Pieter Krahnen, Peter Ockenfels, Christian WildeMeasuring Ambiguity Aversion: A Systematic Experimental Approach
SAFE Working Paper No. 55
Financial Intermediation, Financial Markets, Transparency Lab, Experiment Center SAFE Working Paper2014ambiguity, valuation discount, experimental economics
Sascha Baghestanian, Todd B. WalkerAnchoring in Experimental Asset Markets
SAFE Working Paper No. 54
Financial Markets, Experiment Center SAFE Working Paper2014Experimental Asset Markets, Anchoring, Bubbles
Sascha Baghestanian, Todd B. WalkerAnchoring in Experimental Asset Markets
Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization
Financial Markets, Experiment Center Published Paper2015Experimental Asset Markets, Anchoring, Bubbles

Research Projects

CategoryProjectResearcherProject DurationKeywordsProject IDPublication Count
Household Finance, Experiment Center

Leading by Example or Crowding out? The Effect of Governmental Leadership on Individuals’ Willingness to Act Against Climate Change: Follow Up

Jakob Famulok, Michael Kosfeld, Christine Laudenbach20242324161
Household Finance, Experiment Center

MIFID II Regulation and Scope for Motivated Sustainability Investments

Fabian Braun, Andrej Gill, Florian Hett20232324141
Financial Markets, Experiment Center

Separating the Effects of Beliefs and Attitudes on Pricing under Ambiguity

Wenhui Li, Peter Ockenfels, Christian Wilde20232323041
Household Finance, Experiment Center

Cooperation of Asymmetric Players

Matthias Blonski, Steffen Eibelshäuser, Hendrik Hegemann20232322021
Household Finance, Experiment Center

Moral Licensing through ESG Investments: Causal Evidence on Individuals' Preferences and Actions

Jakob Famulok, Emily Kormanyos, Daniel Worret, Daniel Worring2023232412 1
Household Finance, Experiment Center

Mental Representations in Economic Games

Julian Detemple20232324131
Law and Finance, Experiment Center

Decentralized Feature Selection: Analysis of User Involvement in the Feature Selection Process of Machine Learning-based Systems

Kevin Bauer, Victor Klockmann, Jan Zacharias, Alicia von Schenk20222327011
Household Finance, Experiment Center

Leading by Example – The Causal Effect of Credible Action by Local Government on Citizens’ Motivation and Beliefs about Others to Flight Climate Change

Jakob Famulok, Michael Kosfeld, Christine Laudenbach20222324111
Household Finance, Experiment Center

Discrimination - Bank of Workers

Markus Eyting, Florian Hett20222324101
Household Finance, Experiment Center

Identity as an Excuse: Opportunistic Identity Management in Labor Markets

Kevin Bauer, Evgeniya Chabanova, Florian Hett20222324091
Financial Markets, Experiment Center

The Mechanisms behind the Effect of Echo Chambers on Biased Beliefs

Andreas Grunewald, Victor Klockmann, Alicia von Schenk, Ferdinand von Siemens20222323031
Household Finance, Experiment Center

Heterogeneity in Investor Preferences for Sustainable/Green Finance

Jakob Famulok, Michael Kosfeld, Christine Laudenbach20221431061
Financial Markets, Experiment Center

Strategic Self-Deception in Repeated Interaction

David Poensgen20222323021
Household Finance, Experiment Center

The Effect of Echo Chambers on Biased Beliefs

Andreas Grunewald, Victor Klockmann, Alicia von Schenk, Ferdinand von Siemens2021Communication, Echo Chambers, Biased Beliefs 2324081
Household Finance, Experiment Center

Experimental Evidence on Socially Responsible Investments – The Role of Preferences and Information

Fabian Braun, Andrej Gill, Florian Hett2021ESG; SRI; endogenous information acquisition; incentives; social preferences2324071
Household Finance, Experiment Center

Statistical Discrimination Revisited – The Role of Motivated Reasoning

Markus Eyting2021discrimination, motivated reasoning, beliefs, information2324061
Experiment Center

Developing Reliable and Globally Valid Measures for Economic Preferences – Worldwide Testing of the Global Preference Survey Module

Michael Kosfeld, Zahra Sharafi, Maíra Sontag González, Na Zou20212381011
Financial Markets, Experiment Center

(Tho)roughly Explained: The Impact of Algorithmic Transparency on Beliefs and Human Decision Making

Kevin Bauer, Moritz von Zahn20202323011
Household Finance, Experiment Center

Social Identity Bias in Information Processing and Information Demand

Kevin Bauer, Yan Chen, Florian Hett, Michael Kosfeld20202324051
Household Finance, Experiment Center

Experiential Learning Through FinTech Applications

Andrej Gill, Florian Hett2020experiential learning, goal setting, personal finance management, financial literacy, overconfidence2324041
Household Finance, Experiment Center

Collective Action and Institution Formation - The Role of Group Size

Julian Detemple, Michael Kosfeld20202324031
Household Finance, Experiment Center

Moral (Mis)Behavior in the Era of Big Data

Victor Klockmann, Marie Claire Villeval, Marie-Claire Villeval, Alicia von Schenk20202324021
Household Finance, Experiment Center

Moral Decisions and the Externality of AI Usage

Victor Klockmann, Marie Claire Villeval, Marie-Claire Villeval, Alicia von Schenk20202324011
Financial Intermediation, Experiment Center

Digitalization of the Financial System

Kevin Bauer, Oliver Hinz2020Digital economics; Artificial intelligence; Human machine interaction; Algorithmic Unfairness; Hybrid human-machine behavior; Algorithms; Machine Learning, Decision Making;1231011
Financial Intermediation, Experiment Center

Mirror, Mirror in the Wall: Algorithmic Assessments and Self-Fulfilling Prophecies

Kevin Bauer, Andrej Gill20201
Financial Markets, Experiment Center

Experimental Asset Markets - Price Formation in the Presence of Ambiguity

Wenhui Li, Peter Ockenfels, Christian Wilde2019Experimental asset markets, information transmission, price formation, ambiguity1331021
Household Finance, Experiment Center

Using Behavioral Experiments to Capture Time Inconsistency in Households Financial Decision Making

Andrej Gill, Florian Hett2019financial mistakes, transaction data, household finance, time-inconsistency, present bias, time preferences, online experiment, preference heterogeneity213371
Financial Intermediation, Experiment Center

In or Out? In-Group Bias in Diverse Social Environments

Kevin Bauer, Florian Hett2018Overlapping group affiliations; Pro-social behavior; Ingroup bias; Diversity management1
Household Finance, Experiment Center

Heterogeneity in the Sensitivity to Dynamic Incentives

Florian Hett, Felix Schmidt2018Peer Effects, Laboratory Experiments, Experimental Finance, Tournaments, Behavioral Finance, Rank Incentives213291
Law and Finance, Experiment Center

Gender Diversity, Decision Rules, and the Risk Appetite of Teams

Renée Adams, Andreas Grunewald, Ferdinand von Siemens2017Corporate Boards, Gender Diversity, Risk Taking, Banking, Teams212231
Household Finance, Experiment Center

Financial Decision Making and Present Bias

Andrej Gill, Florian Hett, Johannes Tischer2017financial mistakes, transaction data, household finance, time-inconsistency, present bias, time preferences, online experiment, randomized controlled trial, preference heterogeneity, commitment devices, nudging213211
Financial Intermediation, Experiment Center

Measuring Time Inconsistency by Using Bank Account Data

Andrej Gill, Florian Hett2016financial mistakes, transaction data, household finance, time-inconsistency, present bias, time preferences216401
Household Finance, Experiment Center

Financial Networks in the Field

Paul Gortner, Joël van der Weele2016216501
Financial Markets, Experiment Center

Experimental Asset Markets – Regulation and Design of Fragmented Markets

Peter Ockenfels, Christian Wilde2016216201
Financial Intermediation, Law and Finance, Financial Markets, Macro Finance, Experiment Center

Capital Requirements and Financial Stability: Experimental Evidence

Paul Gortner, Baptiste Massenot2016216501
Financial Intermediation, Experiment Center

Banking Structure and Dynamics of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises

Douglas Cumming, Christian Eufinger, Andrej Gill, David Heller, Jan Krzyzanowski, Uwe Walz2016216401

Current Research Team

ResearcherPosition
Duraj, Kamila Doctoral Student
Famulok, Jakob Doctoral Student
Gill, Andrej SAFE Fellow
Hett, Florian SAFE Fellow
Kosfeld, Michael Professor
Laudenbach, Christine Professor
Liebich, Lena Doctoral Student
Ockenfels, Peter SAFE Fellow
von Siemens, Ferdinand SAFE Fellow