Experimental behavioral economics, business ethics, human AI interaction, organizational and personnel economics

Bernd Irlenbusch is Professor of Corporate Development and Business Ethics at the University of Cologne. He is also the speaker of the Center for Social and Economic Behavior (C-SEB) and a member of the scientific advisory board of the Association of German Compliance Managers. Bernd studied Computer Science (Diplom-Informatiker, 1992), Economics (Diplom-Volkswirt, 1994), and
Management (Diplom-Kaufmann, 1996). He received his PhD in 2000 from the University of Bonn; his thesis was awarded the Heinz Sauermann Dissertation Prize. Prior to his appointment at the University of Cologne, he was a researcher at the German National Research Center for Computer Science (GMD) and subsequently part of the newly founded interdisciplinary Faculty of Law, Social Sciences, and Economics at the University of Erfurt. From 2004 to 2010, he joined the Faculty of the Department of Management at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Published papers

• Conditional Bribery: Insights from Incentivized Experiments across 18 Nations

  Dorrough, A. R., Köbis, N., Irlenbusch, B., Shalvi, S., & Glöckner, A. (2023). Conditional bribery: Insights from incentivized experiments across 18 nations. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120(18), e2209731120.

• Corrupted by Algorithms? How AI-Generated and Human-Written Advice Shape (Dis)Honesty

  Leib, M., Köbis, N., Rilke, R. M., Hagens, M., & Irlenbusch, B. (2024). Corrupted by algorithms? how ai-generated and human-written advice shape (dis) honesty. The Economic Journal, 134(658), 766-784.

• Conditional Bribery: Insights from Incentivized Experiments across 18 Nations

  Dorrough, A. R., Köbis, N., Irlenbusch, B., Shalvi, S., & Glöckner, A. (2023). Conditional Bribery: Insights from Incentivized Experiments across 18 Nations. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

• When Leading by Example Leads to Less Corrupt Collaboration

  Rilke, R. M., Danilov, A., Weisel, O., Shalvi, S., & Irlenbusch, B. (2021). When leading by example leads to less corrupt collaboration. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 188, 288-306.

• Helping Under a Combination of Team and Tournament Incentives

  Danilov, A., Harbring, C., & Irlenbusch, B. (2019). Helping under a combination of team and tournament incentives. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 162, 120-135.

• Similarity Increases Collaborative Cheating

  Irlenbusch, B., Mussweiler, T., Saxler, D. J., Shalvi, S., & Weiss, A. (2020). Similarity increases collaborative cheating. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 178, 148-173.

Discussion papers

• Human Trust in AI: Evidence from Experimental Economics

• Country Perceptions Shape Transnational Bribery and its Deterrence

• Human–AI Evaluation and Gender Transparency: Application Decisions in Competitive Hiring

• Corrupted by Algorithms? How AI-generated and Human-written Advice Shape (Dis)honesty