Behavioral Foundations, Political Economy

Psychology and economics, political economy, macroeconomic expectations

Christopher Roth received his PhD in economics from the University of Oxford in 2018. Before joining the University of Cologne he worked as an assistant professor at the University of Warwick at the Centre for Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE). He is also a Research Affiliate at the Bonn Institute on Behavior and Inequality (briq).

Published papers

• Does Information Change Attitudes Toward Immigrants?

  Grigorieff, A., Roth, C., & Ubfal, D. (2020). Does information change attitudes toward immigrants? Demography, 57(3), 1117-1143.

• Beliefs about Public Debt and the Demand for Government Spending

  Roth, C., Settele, S., & Wohlfart, J. (2022). Beliefs about public debt and the demand for government spending. Journal of Economics, 231(1), 165-187.

• Political Activists as Free Riders: Evidence from a Natural Field Experiment

  Hager, A., Hensel, L., Hermle, J., & Roth, C. (2023). Political Activists as Free Riders: Evidence from a Natural Field Experiment. The Economic Journal, 133(653), 2068-2084.

• The Null Result Penalty

  Chopra, F., Haaland, I., Roth, C., & Stegmann, A. (2024). The Null Result Penalty. The Economic Journal, 134(657), 193-219.

• Risk Exposure and Acquisition of Macroeconomic Information

  Roth, C., Settele, S., & Wohlfart, J. (2022). Risk Exposure and Acquisition of Macroeconomic Information. American Economic Review: Insights, 4(1), 34-53.

• Beliefs about Racial Discrimination and Support for Pro-Black Policies

  Haaland, I., & Roth, C. (2023). Beliefs about Racial Discrimination and Support for Pro-Black Policies. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 105(1), 40-53.

• Information Frictions among Firms and Households

  Link, S., Peichl, S., Roth, C., & Wohlfart, J. (2023): Information frictions among firms and households. Journal of Monetary Economics, 135, 99-115.

• Justifying Dissent

  Bursztyn, L., Egorov, G., Haaland, I. K., Rao, A., & Roth, C. (2022). Justifying Dissent. The Quarterly Journal of Economics.

• Interregional Contact and the Formation of a Shared Identity

  Bagues, M., & Roth, C. (2023). Interregional contact and the formation of a shared identity. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy.

• Scapegoating During Crises

  Bursztyn, L., Egorov, G., Haaland, I., Rao, A., & Roth, C. (2022). Scapegoating during Crises. AEA Papers and Proceedings.

• Subjective Models of the Macroeconomy: Evidence From Experts and Representative Samples

  Andre, P., Pizzinelli, C., Roth, C., & Wohlfart, J. (2022). Subjective Models of the Macroeconomy: Evidence From Experts and Representative Samples. Review of Economic Studies.

• Do People Demand Fact-Checked News? Evidence From U.S. Democrats

  Chopra, F., Haaland, I., Roth, C. (2022) Do People Demand Fact-Checked News? Evidence From U.S. Democrats. Journal of Public Economics.

• Group Size and Protest Mobilization across Movements and Countermovements

  Hager, A., Hensel, L., Hermle, J., & Roth, C. (2021) Group Size and Protest Mobilization across Movements and Countermovements. American Political Science Review.

Discussion papers

• Measuring Markets for Network Goods

• Understanding Economic Behavior Using Open-Ended Survey Data

• Non-User Utility and Market Power: The Case of Smartphones

• Measuring What Is Top of Mind

• Explanations

• Depression Stigma

• Misperceived Effectiveness and the Demand for Psychotherapy

• Political Activists are Not Driven by Instrumental Motives: Evidence from Two Natural Field Experiments

• Lost in Transmission

• Information Experiments

• When Product Markets Become Collective Traps: The Case of Social Media

• Attention to the Macroeconomy

• Home Price Expectations and Spending: Evidence from a Field Experiment

• The Effects of Monetary Policy: Theory with Measured Expectations

• Stories, Statistics, and Memory

• Recent Advances in Studies of News Consumption

• Beliefs About Public Debt and the Demand for Government Spending

• Risk Exposure and Acquisition of Macroeconomic Information

• The Null Result Penalty

• Opinions as Facts

• Political Activists as Free-Riders: Evidence from a Natural Field Experiment

• The Demand for News: Accuracy Concerns versus Belief Confirmation Motives

• Scapegoating During Crises

• Justifying Dissent

• Information Frictions among Firms and Households

• Worker Beliefs About Outside Options

• Voice and Political Engagement: Evidence From a Natural Field Experiment

• Uncertainty and Information Acquisition: Evidence from Firms and Households

• Narratives about the Macroeconomy

• The Effects of Forward Guidance: Theory with Measured Expectations

• Do People Demand Fact-Checked News? Evidence From U.S. Democrats

• Subjective Models of the Macroeconomy: Evidence From Experts and Representative Samples

• Group Size and Protest Mobilization across Movements and Countermovements

Policy briefs

• Stories, statistics, and memory

• Interregional Contact and National Identity

What is the best thing about your job?

Working together with some of my best friends, for example on a joint publication. I also appreciate the freedom that comes along with my job. I can decide on which topic I would like to work on next – and I can organize my daily routine at work on my own.

If you had not gone into research, what would you be doing today?

I love working with data. So, I probably would have become a data scientist at a company, a bank or a political consultancy.

Who or what inspires you?

It helps me extremely to meditate every day. That is why the Dalai Lama and some other spiritual teachers are great sources of inspiration for me.

When was the last time you had to change your mind?

I have to change my mind all the time, that is the beauty of working with data! Every day, I learn more about how people think and how the economy works.

Which advice would you have needed yourself as a doctoral student?

That you should always follow your own interests. It is important to bring a lot of passion for your own research and to always keep that passion in mind.