
Prof. Dr. Matthias Sutter
Cluster position Principal Investigator
Cluster member since 2019
Research Areas
Main research topics
Experimental economics, children’s economic preferences, team decision-making, credence goods markets, patience, public goods
CV
Matthias Sutter is the Director of the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods in Bonn and part-time Professor of Experimental Economics at the Universities of Cologne and Innsbruck. Furthermore, he is a Research Fellow of the IZA and CESifo. He studied Economics in Innsbruck and received his PhD in 1999. Before taking over the executive management of the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods in 2017, he worked as a full professor in Florence (EUI), Innsbruck, and Cologne.
Publications
Published papers
-
Household Reduction of Gas Consumption in the Energy Crisis is not Explained by Individual Economic Incentives
Dertwinkel-Kalt, M., Feldhaus, C., Ockenfels, A., & Sutter, M. (2024). Household reduction of gas consumption in the energy crisis is not explained by individual economic incentives. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS), 121(48), e2411740121. -
Complementarities in Behavioral Interventions: Evidence from a Field Experiment on Energy Conservations
Fang, X., Goette, L., Rockenbach, B., Sutter, M., Tiefenbeck, V., Schoeb, S., Staake, T. (2023). Complementarities in Behavioral Interventions: Evidence from a Field Experiment on Energy Conservations. Journal of Public Economics. -
Cooperation and Norm Enforcement Differ Strongly across Adult Generations
Praxmarer, M., Rockenbach, B., Sutter, B. (2024). Cooperation and Norm Enforcement Differ Strongly across Adult Generations. European Economic Review. -
Complementarities in Behavioral Interventions: Evidence from a Field Experiment on Resource Conservation
Fang, X., Goette, L., Rockenback, B., Sutter, M., Tiefenbeck, V., Schoeb, S., & Staake, T. (2023). Complementarities in behavioral interventions: evidence from a field experiment on resource conservation. Journal of Public Economics. -
Improving Children’s Food Choices: Experimental Evidence from the Field
Charness, G., Cobo-Reyes, R., Eyster, E., Katz, G., Sánchez, Á., & Sutter, M. (2023). Improving children's food choices: Experimental evidence from the field. European Economic Review. -
Monetary and Social Incentives in Multi-Tasking: The Ranking Substitution Effect
Stefan, M., Huber, J., Kirchler, M., Sutter, M., & Walzl, M. (2023). Monetary and social incentives in multi-tasking: The ranking substitution effect. European Economic Review. -
The Politicized Pandemic: Ideological Polarization and the Behavioral Response to COVID-19
Grimalda, G., Murtin, F., Pipke, D., Putterman, L., & Sutter, M. (2023). The politicized pandemic: Ideological polarization and the behavioral response to COVID-19. European Economic Review. -
Credence Goods Markets, Online Information and Repair Prices: A Natural Field Experiment
Kerschbamer, R., Neururer, D., & Sutter, M. (2023). Credence goods markets, online information and repair prices: A natural field experiment. Journal of Public Economics. -
The Intrinsic Value of Decision Rights: A Replication and an Extension to Team Decision Making
Buffat, J., Praxmarer, M., & Sutter, M. (2023). The intrinsic value of decision rights: A replication and an extension to team decision making. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization. -
Too Lucky to be True. Fairness Views under the Shadow of Cheating (forthcoming, earlier Discussion Paper version)
Bortolotti, S., Soraperra, I., Sutter, M., & Zoller, C. Too Lucky to be True. Fairness Views under the Shadow of Cheating. Review of Economics and Statistics (forthcoming). -
Competitiveness of Entrepreneurs and Salaried Workers
Balafoutas, L., Batsaikhan, M., & Sutter, M. (2023). Competitiveness of entrepreneurs and salaried workers. Management Science. -
Improving Workplace Climate in Large Corporations: A Clustered Randomized Intervention
Alan, S., Corekcioglu, G., & Sutter, M. (2022). Improving Workplace Climate in Large Corporations: A Clustered Randomized Intervention. Quarterly Journal of Economics. -
Grit Increases Strongly in Early Childhood and is Related to Parental Background.
Sutter, M., Untertrifaller, A., Zoller, C. (2022), Grit Increases Strongly in Early Childhood and is Related to Parental Background. Scientific Reports -
Social Preferences of Young Professionals and the Financial Industry
Gill, A., Heinz, M., Schumacher, H., Sutter, M., Trustworthiness in the Financial Industry. Management Science (forthcoming). -
Economic Preferences across Generations and Family Clusters: A Large-scale Experiment in a Developing Country
Chowdhury, S., Sutter, M., & Zimmermann, K. F. (2022), Economic Preferences across Generations and Family Clusters: A Large-scale Experiment in a Developing Country. Journal of Political Economy. -
COVID-19 Within Families Amplifies the Prosociality Gap between Adolescents of High and Low Socioeconomic Status
Terrier, C., Chen, D., & Sutter, M. (2021), COVID-19 within families amplifies the prosociality gap between adolescents of high and low socioeconomic status. PNAS – Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 118(46): e2110891118. -
Collective Intertemporal Decisions and Heterogeneity in Groups
Glätzle-Rützler, D., Lergetporer, P., Sutter, M., Collective intertemporal decisions and heterogeneity in groups. Games and Economic Behavior (forthcoming). -
National Parochialism is Ubiquitous across 42 Nations around the World
Romano, A., Sutter, M., Liu, J.H. et al. National parochialism is ubiquitous across 42 nations around the world. Nat Commun 12, 4456 (2021). -
On the Value of Second Opinions: A Credence Goods Field Experiment
Bindra, P. C., Kerschbamer, R., Neururer, D., & Sutter, M. (2021) On the Value of Second Opinions: A Credence Goods Field Experiment. Economics Letters. -
Discrimination, Narratives and Family History: An Experiment with Jordanian Host and Syrian Refugee Children
Barron, K., Harmgart, H., Huck, S., Schneider, S., & Sutter. M. (2021) Discrimination, Narratives and Family History: An Experiment with Jordanian Host and Syrian Refugee Children. Review of Economics and Statistics. -
Psychological Pressure and the Right to Determine the Moves in Dynamic Tournaments – Evidence from a Natural Field Experiment
Kassis, M., Schmidt, S. L., Schreyer, D., Sutter M. (2021). Psychological Pressure and the Right to Determine the Moves in Dynamic Tournaments – Evidence from a Natural Field Experiment. Games and Economic Behavior, 126, 278-287. -
Children’s Heterogeneity in Cooperation and Parental Background: An Experimental Study
Sutter, M., & Untertrifaller, A. (2020). Children's heterogeneity in cooperation and parental background: An experimental study. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 171, 286-296. -
Measuring the Indirect Effects of Adverse Employer Behaviour on Worker Productivity: A Field Experiment
Heinz, M., Jeworrek, S., Mertins, V., Schumacher, H., & Sutter, M. (2020). Measuring the Indirect Effects of Adverse Employer Behavior on Worker Productivity – A Field Experiment. The Economic Journal. -
To Buy or Not to Buy? Price Salience in an Online Shopping Field Experiment
Dertwinkel-Kalt, M., Köster, M., Sutter, M. (2020). To Buy or Not to Buy? Price Salience in an Online Shopping Field Experiment. European Economic Review.
Discussion papers
-
ECONtribute: Markets & Public Policy: Agenda und ausgewählte Forschungsschwerpunkte
-
Serving Consumers in an Uncertain World: A Credence Goods Experiment
-
Female Leadership and Workplace Climate
-
Financial Literacy, Experimental Preference Measures and Field Behavior – A Randomized Educational Intervention
-
Homophily and Transmission of Behavioral Traits in Social Networks
-
Information Provision over the Phone Saves Lives: An RCT to Contain COVID-19 in Rural Bangladesh at the Pandemic’s Onset
-
Reputation vs Selection Effects in Markets with Informational Asymmetries
-
The Politicized Pandemic: Ideological Polarization and the Behavioral Response to COVID-19
-
The Roots of Cooperation
-
Parental Paternalism and Patience
-
Collective Intertemporal Decisions and Heterogeneity in Groups
-
Improving Healthy Eating in Children: Experimental Evidence
-
Diagnostic Uncertainty and Insurance Coverage in Credence Goods Markets
-
Higher Order Risk Preferences: New Experimental Measures, Determinants and Field Behavior
-
Psychological Pressure and the Right to Determine the Moves in Dynamic Tournaments – Evidence from a Natural Field Experiment
-
Trustworthiness in the Financial Industry
-
Reveal it or Conceal it: On the Value of Second Opinions in a Low-Entry-Barriers Credence Goods Market
-
Discrimination, Narratives and Family History: An Experiment with Jordanian Host and Syrian Refugee Children
Policy briefs
Interview
What is the best thing about your job?
The luxury of dealing with questions that I find interesting.
If you had not gone into research, what would you be doing today?
Ever since I was young I knew I wanted to do scientific work – even though I studied theology and only started my economics degree at the age of 24. But I am interested in multiple scientific disciplines, including mathematics and physics, for example.
Who or what inspires you?
Daily life and observing how people behave.
When was the last time you had to change your mind?
Constantly, for instance when evaluating empirical data and comparing them with my priors. But these are exactly the exciting points at which one would like to dig deeper.
Which advice would you have needed yourself as a doctoral student?
I got the most important one from my PhD-supervisor: Do what you are passionate about, then you will work best.