Dr. Katharina Werner
Chair for Experimental and Behavioral Economics, Prof. Dr. Bettina Rockenbach
(from April 2025: Acting Professor, Department of Economics)
University of Cologne
Research Affiliate
University of Passau
Research Interests:
Experimental Economics, Behavioral Economics, Conflict Resolution, Experimental Ethics, Gender Differences and Corruption, Lab-in-the-field Experiments
Publications
Giamattei, M., & Werner, K. (2024). Gender differences in post-competition honesty—An experimental analysis. Frontiers in Behavioral Economics, 3, 1455686.
Hall, J., Werner, K. (2022): Trauma and trust: How war exposure shapes social and institutional trust among refugees. Frontiers in Psychology, 2022. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.786838
Werner, K., Lambsdorff, J. Graf (2019): Emotional Numbing and Lessons Learned after a Violent Conflict - Experimental Evidence from Ambon, Indonesia. Journal of Development Studies. DOI: 10.1080/00220388.2019.1590550.
Lambsdorff, J. Graf, Giamattei, M., Werner, K., Schubert, M. (2018): Team reasoning—Experimental evidence on cooperation from centipede games. PLoS ONE 13(11): e0206666.
Lambsdorff, J. Graf, Giamattei, M., Werner, K. (2016): How Fragile Is Conditional Cooperation? A Field Experiment with Smartphones during the 2014 Soccer World Cup. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making 30(2): 492-501. DOI: 10.1002/bdm.1968
Working Papers
Violent Conflict and Parochial Trust – Survey and Lab-in-the-field Evidence (with Ahmed Skali). R&R, Journal of Development Economics.
The impact of gender information on hiring decisions based on self-set performance targets (with Bettina Rockenbach and Susanna Grundmann). R&R, Management Science.
First Names and Ascribed Characteristics (with Bettina Rockenbach and Susanna Grundmann). R&R, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization.
Intrinsic Motivation vs. Inclination to Corruption – Experimental Evidence from four Countries on the Performance of Officials (with Johann Graf Lambsdorff and Kevin Grubiak). Under Review.
Punishing Only Officials? A Cross-Country Experimental Study of Asymmetric Anti-Corruption Measures (with Johann Graf Lambsdorff and Kevin Grubiak). Under Review.
Comparing Anti-Corruption Methods: Punishing Abuse of Office Best Reduces Welfare Losses Across Four Countries (with Johann Graf Lambsdorff and Kevin Grubiak). Under Review.
Exploring Contact Interventions: The Power of Free Communication in Fostering Post-Conflict Social Cohesion (with Swee-Hoon Chuah). Close to submission
Assessing private solutions to collective action problems in a 34-nation study (with Eugene Malthouse et al.). Close to submission.
Ongoing Implementation
Does natural resource scarcity induce hostility? An experimental investigation in asymmetric common-pool resource settings (with Stephan Geschwind and Johann Graf Lambsdorff)
Reconciliation after inter-group conflict: Testing different types of contact interventions in the lab (with Swee-Hoon Chuah)
Corrupt reciprocity and whistleblowing around the globe (with Johann Graf Lambsdorff and Kevin Grubiak)
Gender effects of competition on subsequent willingness to lie for selfish reasons (with Marcus Giamattei, Matthias Greiff, and Susanna Grundmann)
Political versus Pro-Poor Motives in Redistribution Across Regime Types: Experimental Evidence (with Michael Grimm and Marina Dodlova)
Do markets impair social responsibility? An experimental study on the role of feedback, technology, externalities and voluntariness (with Johann Graf Lambsdorff)
Can Information Disclosure Mitigate the Holdup Problem? (with Johann Graf Lambsdorff)
Cognitive Architectures for the Design of Realistic Agents (with Benno Torgler, Stephen Whyte, Ho Fai Chan, Ahmed Skali, Daniel Conroy-Beam, Dan Nicolau).
Awards and Grants
2023 | Teaching Excellence Award by the University of Passau | |
2020 | German Research Foundation (DFG): Grant for project “Between reciprocity and responsibility - contributions of experimental corruption research”; co-applicant (main applicant: Johann Graf Lambsdorff), € 350,000. | |
2017 | Fritz Thyssen Stiftung: grant for project „Behavioral Economic Approaches to Peacebuilding and Conflict Prevention in Indonesia”, € 21552 Joachim Herz Stiftung: Add-on fellowship, € 12500 | |
2016-2018 | Postdoctoral Scholarship granted by the Free State of Bavaria | |
2016 | Dissertation Award “Helmut-Schmalen-Preis” | |
2013 | German Foundation for Peace Research: grant for project “Group identity and discrimination – an experimental analysis on peace reconciliation”, €19000 |
Conference Presentations and Invited Talks
2024 2nd Workshop on Gender in Adaptive Design, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology; Prague Conference on Behavioral Sciences; Annual Workshop of the Center for Social and Economic Behavior (C-SEB), University of Cologne; Annual Meeting of the German Society for Experimental Economics GfeW, Cologne.
2023 WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management, Invited Talk. Annual Meeting of the German Society for Experimental Economics GfeW, Erfurt; ESA World Meeting Lyon; SABE-IAREP, Nice; Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá, Invited Talk; Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá, Invited Talk; Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Invited Talk;
2022 19th International Conference on Social Dilemmas, Copenhagen; Annual Meeting of the German Society for Experimental Economics GfeW, Salzburg; Symposium on Economic Experiments in Developing Countries, Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá.
2021 Annual Meeting of the German Society for Experimental Economics GfeW, Magdeburg; 11th International Conference of the French Association of Experimental Economics, Burgundy School of Business, Dijon; Discrimination and Diversity Workshop, University of East Anglia (online).
2020 Lindau Laureate Meeting, Scientific Matinée, Invited Talk.
2019 ZEW Mannheim, Invited Talk; Annual Meeting of the German Society for Experimental Economics GfeW, Düsseldorf; Workshop Behavioral Insights in Development and Peacebuilding, University of Göttingen, Göttingen; Bay Area Behavioral and Experimental Economics Workshop, San Francisco.
2018 Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana Salatiga, Invited Talk; “Building Sustainable Peace” International Research and Policy Workshop on Post-Conflict Processes, German Development Institute, Bonn, Annual Meeting of the German Society for Experimental Economics GfeW, Paderborn; ESA World Meeting, Berlin; 18th Jan Tinbergen European Peace Science Conference, Verona.
2017 “Indonesia Workshop on Experimental and Development Economics”, RMIT University, Melbourne; Monash University Melbourne, Invited Talk; RMIT University, Invited Talk; U4 conference “On the Move - Exploring Contemporary Dynamics of Migration”, Uppsala University; 6th International ACCER Workshop on “Cross-Cultural Experiments in the Social Sciences, Economics and Management”, University of Duisburg, Invited discussant.
2016 Annual Meeting of the German Society for Experimental Economics GfeW, Gießen, Symposium on Economic Experiments in Developing Countries, Busara Center for Behavioral Economics, Nairobi; ESA World Meeting, Jerusalem; Young Economists’ Meeting, Brno; International Meeting on Experimental and Behavioral Social Sciences (IMEBESS), Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli Rome; Development Network Berlin Workshop, Berlin.
2015 London Experimental Week, Workshop: Better Policies – Better Lives, Middlesex University London; Symposium for Development Economics, University of Passau; Annual Meeting of the German Society for Experimental Economics GfeW, Hamburg; The Social and Biological Roots of Cooperation and Risk, Institut für Weltwirtschaft, Kiel; Behavioural Science & Policy, University of Nottingham.
2014 Symposium on Economic Experiments in Developing Countries (SEEDEC), Norwegian School of Economics, Bergen; International Workshop “Exploring Culture and Behaviour by Economic and Psychological Experiments", Duisburg; Annual Meeting of the German Society for Experimental Economics GfeW, Passau; 4th ACCER Workshop on Cross-Cultural Experimental Economics Research, Duisburg.