The biology of trust
The book “The moral molecule” by Paul Zak is a great book discussing the research on the relation between oxytocin and decision making. Using the trust game and measurements of oxytocin in the blood before and after decisions are make, dr. Zak shows that a higher increase with oxytocin correlates with higher levels of trust. […]
Simpler: Applying lessons from behavioral economics to legislation
Cass Sunstein is a law professor at Harvard. He was also the author of Nudge with Richard Tayler and the head of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs from 2009 till 2012. His latest book is called “Simpler” in which he discusses his time as administrator. The book provides an interesting perspective […]
Legacy of Lin
It is today a year ago that Lin Ostrom died. During the last year many memorials, obituaries, special issues, awards, scholarships etc. have been produced or are in preparation. This is testament to the influence Lin had on the work and lives of many people. Coming just back from the Global Conference of the International […]
Inappropriate Appropriation in Academia
Knowledge is a public good, at least this is typically mentioned. However, academia as a knowledge enterprise experience a lot of problems of inappropriate behavior. As a Dutch citizen the recent cases of Dutch social psychologists varying from academic fraud (Stapel) to unwillingness to give transparency on experimental protocols (Dijksterhuis) comes to mind. Everyone can […]
The price of inequality
The latest book of Nobel Laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz is a brilliant discussion of some of the fundamental problems in most societies. He shows how the 1% have created institutional arrangements to derive and maintain their wealth at the expense of the 99%. This might benefit the 1% in the short term but economic development […]
Inequality and collective action
In our asymmetric commons dilemma game (irrigation games) we do in the lab and in the field we find that trust and inequality are driving factors that explains the results. The initial trust in others explain the initial level of contributions, but high levels of inequality of extraction of the resources lead to lower levels […]
Lin Ostrom (1933 – 2012) – Some personal memories
Lin Ostrom died today. She is a role model in many different ways. She was modest but persistent to pursue controversial questions in novel ways. Her interdisciplinary approach was natural to her. But such an approach was not widely accepted and the importance of her struggle of doing this interdisciplinary work was long not appreciated […]
Will winning the Euro Cup by Greece save the Euro?
The Euro Cup 2012, the European Championship of Football, starts June 8 in Warsaw (Poland) with a match between Poland and Greece. 16 countries will fight for the European Championship. This tournament (which will end July 1) will dominate the public attention in Europe in the coming weeks. Winning such a championship will boost the […]
The Pressure on Rio+20
Last week I attended the Planet under Pressure conference in London. The conference was great and extremely well organized with 3000 participants and more than 3000 unique viewers a day to the streaming videos. One of the outcomes of the conference is the first declaration of Planet. The conference was framed in preparation of Rio+20. […]
The anthill Venice
As I am wandering through the streets of Venice – I am here for a workshop – the image of Venice as an anthill pops up. The men who collect small bags of waste in the narrow streets and bring them to the boats, the men who are wheeling little cargo through the labyrinth to […]