Event at SHARE, Swiss House for Advanced Research and Education

"Behavioral Economics, Neuro-Economics and Social Neuroscience: A Discussion with Experts at the Intersection of Social Science and Neurobiology"

Economists and other social science researchers are using rapid developments in psychology and neuroscience to push the boundaries of our understanding of human behaviors. Join us for a wide-ranging discussion of the latest research projects from experts who are interpreting economic decisions through the use of brain scanning or by studying how monkeys interact. This evening program provides a unique opportunity to learn more about the booming field of behavioral and neuro-economics and how it is impacting society at large.

AGENDA

6:15 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. Registration

6:30 p.m. – 6:35 p.m. Welcome and Opening Remarks by Dr. Christoph von Arb, Consul General

6:35 p.m. – 7:45 p.m. Panel Discussion Moderated by Gilbert Chin, Senior Editor Science Magazine

7:45 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. Networking Reception

You can watch this event live on the internet (streaming video) with the Windows Media Player. We will stream March 15th, 2007 from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm (EST) and you can join the event by clicking this link.

PANELISTS

Iris Bohnet, Professor of Public Policy, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University Dr. Bohnet teaches behavioral decision analysis and negotiation at Harvard and has taught in various degree and executive programs at Harvard, Oxford, Reykjavik University, the University of Zurich, and IMD Lausanne. A behavioral economist, her research combines insights from economics and psychology, focusing on trust, its causes and its relevance for negotiation and decision-making. She runs her experimental studies in different parts of the world, e.g., Brazil, China, Kuwait, Oman, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Vietnam, examining the causes and effects of trust from a cross-cultural perspective.

Tore Ellingson, Professor of Economics, Stockholm School of Economics Dr. Ellingsen is interested in the foundations of institutional theory. Previous work includes theoretic analysis of the evolution of bargaining behavior and theoretical and experimental investigations of the hold-up problem. His current work studies how people's desire for affiliation and social esteem affects economic behavior in general and contracting in particular.

Ernst Fehr, Director of the Institute for Empirical Research in Economics and the Research Priority Program on the Foundations of Human Social Behavior, University of Zurich Dr. Fehr’s research focuses on the proximate patterns and the evolutionary origins of human altruism, the interplay between other-regarding preferences and strategic interactions, and the psychological foundations of incentives. More recently he has worked on the neuronal foundation of other-regarding preferences and norm obedience.

ORGANIZATIONS

The event "A Discussion on Behavioral Economics, Neuro-Economics and Social Neuroscience" takes place within the scope of the ThinkSwiss Program. “Think Swiss – Brainstorm the future” is a US wide program on Education, Research and Innovation for 2007. It focuses on the exchange of expertise and know –how in academia and business community in Switzerland and the US. The program is under the auspices of Presence Switzerland (PRS), the Swiss State Secretariat for Education and Research (SER) and the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.

Organization and Initiative

• Consulate of Switzerland SHARE in Boston (Pascal Marmier, Remo Steinmetz, Andreas Obrist)

• University of Zurich Research Priority Program (URPP) Foundations of Human Social Behavior (Professor Dr. Ernst Fehr, Sally Gschwend)

Affiliations

• Swiss Centre for Affective Sciences part of the National Centres of Competence in Research (NCCR)

• Collegium Helveticum – Forum of dialogue between the sciences