ENABLE · European Network for the Advancement of Behavioural Economics

Final Activity Report Summary - ENABLE (European Network for the Advancement of Behavioural Economics)

The ENABLE project was extremely successful in achieving its main goal, which was the development of behavioural economics in Europe. Many novel research questions on the interface of economics and psychology were addressed, concerning the role of social preferences, emotions, self-control, self-esteem, cognitive biases and the impact of social institutions. With respect to each of the three themes of the network, i.e. the incentives, dynamic choice and institutions and aggregate outcomes, a substantial output of high quality was produced, with many papers, forthcoming by the project completion, in top journals, including highly-cited general science journals like Science and Nature. Through the annual symposia and summer schools, but also via joint research, interaction with neuropsychologists and psychologists was established. These annual events were also highly instrumental in furthering the aim for joint development of theory and empirical analysis of both field and laboratory data. For some nodes this led to getting more actively involved into other research methodologies, such as laboratory experimentation. The summer schools and symposia further enabled the young researchers to access and get training from the best researchers, both economists and psychologists, in this new field, in addition to their participation in high-quality training and research at the different nodes. The participation in PhD-courses, visits to other nodes and skills’ training, such as experimentation, language and media, were important as research training methodologies. The impressive output of the young researchers, the workshops they organised among themselves and the quality of the institutions that hired them after their employment with ENABLE, including numerous European institutions and some top universities in the United States, could be seen as indicators of success. The network that was established through ENABLE, including Harvard and Princeton, was clearly very helpful for the researchers’ career opportunities. Through the imprint made by its output, its ‘Nachwuchs’ of many well-trained young researchers and the realisation of a sizeable research network, ENABLE made a strong contribution to the establishment of behavioural economics as a research field in Europe and beyond. For instance it was, by the time of the project completion, one of the largest fields among the PhD students in Stockholm and was incorporated as a separate track in the PhD program of the Tinbergen Institute.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз