Behavioral Finance and Contract Theory Prof. Dr. Stefan Trautmann
Contact
Phone: +49 6221 54 2952
Email: stefan.trautmann@awi.uni-heidelberg.de
Address: Bergheimer Straße 58 (Room 1.029), 69115 Heidelberg
Office hours by appointment (by email)
Research Interests
My research interests lie at the intersection of economics and psychology. Topics include financial decisions under risk and uncertainty, social preferences, financial wealth and ethics, and the economics of religion. I am part of the experimental economics group at Heidelberg. The group organizes both local and international workshops on experimental and behavioral topics on a regular basis. Experimental data are available at the AWI HeiData Repository.
Recent contributions
König-Kersting, C. and S.T. Trautmann (2025). Grit, Discounting, & Time Inconsistency. Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, forthcoming.
Kieren, P., C. König-Kersting, R. Schmidt, S.T. Trautmann and F. Heinicke (2025). First-Order and Higher-Order Inflation Expectations: Evidence about Households and Firms. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, forthcoming.
Becker, C. K. and S.T. Trautmann (2025). Decisions from Experience. In: S.-H. Chuah, R. Hoffmann, and A. Neelim (eds.), Elgar Encyclopedia of Behavioural and Experimental Economics, Chapter 41. Edward Edgar Publishing.
Becker, C. K., T. Melkonyan, E. Proto, A. Sofianos, and S.T. Trautmann (2024). Reverse Bayesianism: Revising Beliefs in Light of Unforeseen Events. Journal of the European Economic Association, forthcoming.
Chacon, A., E. E. Kausel, T. Reyes, and S. T. Trautmann (2024). Preventing Algorithm Aversion: People Are Willing to Use Algorithms with a Learning Label. Journal of Business Research 187, 115032.
Selected Publications
König-Kersting, C., C. Kops, and S.T. Trautmann (2023). A Test of (Weak) Certainty Independence. Journal of Economic Theory 209, 105623.
Gsottbauer, E., D. Müller, S. Müller, S. T. Trautmann, and G. Zudenkova (2022). Social Class and (Un)ethical Behavior: Causal and Correlational Evidence. Economic Journal 132, 2392–2411.
Becker, C. K., E. Ert, S. T. Trautmann, and G. van de Kuilen (2021). Experiencing Risk: Higher-order Risk Attitudes in Description- and Experience-based Decisions. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory & Cognition 47, 727–746.
Fehr, D., H. Rau, S. T. Trautmann, and Y. Xu (2020). Inequality, Fairness and Social Capital. European Economic Review 129, 103566.
Kocher, M. G., A. Lahno, and S. T. Trautmann (2018). Ambiguity aversion is not universal. European Economic Review 101, 268–283.
Brown, M., S.T. Trautmann, and R. E. Vlahu (2017). Understanding Bank-Run Contagion. Management Science 63, 2272–2282.
Trautmann, S. T., and G. van de Kuilen (2015). Belief Elicitation: A Horse Race among Truth Serums. Economic Journal 125, 2116-2135.
Trautmann, S. T., and G. van de Kuilen (2015). Ambiguity Attitudes. In: G. Keren and G. Wu (eds.), The Wiley Blackwell Handbook of Judgment and Decision Making, Blackwell, Chapter 3, 89-116.
Noussair, C.N., S.T. Trautmann, and G. van de Kuilen (2014). Higher Order Risk Attitudes, Demographics, and Financial Decisions. Review of Economic Studies 81, 325−355.
Trautmann, S. T., G. van de Kuilen, and R. J. Zeckhauser (2013). Social Class and (Un)ethical Behavior: A Framework, With Evidence From a Large Population Sample. Perspectives on Psychological Science 8, 487–497.
Sutter, M., M. Kocher, D. Rützler, and S. T. Trautmann (2013). Impatience and Uncertainty: Experimental Decisions Predict Adolescents’ Field Behavior. American Economic Review 103, 510–531.
Kocher, M., J. Pahlke, and S. T. Trautmann (2013). Tempus Fugit: Time Pressure in Risky Decisions. Management Science 59, 2380–2391.
Boksem, M.A.S, P.H. Mehta, B. van den Bergh, V. van Son, S. T. Trautmann, K. Roelofs, A. Smids, and A. G. Sanfey (2013). Testosterone Inhibits Trust, But Promotes Reciprocity. Psychological Science 24, 2306–2314.
Trautmann, S. T., F. M. Vieider and P. P. Wakker (2011). Preference Reversals for Ambiguity Aversion. Management Science 57, 1320–1333.
Current Working Papers
Fehr, D., H. Rau, S. T. Trautmann, Y. Xu and C. K. Becker (2023). Fairness properties of compensation schemes. R&R Journal of Law, Economics and Organization.
Goldfayn-Frank, O., P. Kieren, and S.T. Trautmann (2024). A Choice-Based Approach to the Measurement of Inflation Expectations. [Winner of the 2024 Heinrich-Wiemer-Prize for Economics] R&R Journal of Monetary Economics.
Kieren, P., G. Gertsman, and S. T. Trautmann (2024). Temporal Resolution of Ambiguity: Preferences for Timing and Graduality.
Trautmann, S.T., and G. van de Kuilen (2021). Preferences for Precautionary Redistribution? R&R Economic Journal.
Editorial Positions
Editor, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Special Issue “Macroeconomic expectations: Measurement, heterogeneity, and consequences,” with Zeno Enders and Dmitri Vinogradov (deadline August 31, 2024)
Advisory editor, Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, 2023-
Associate editor, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 2022-
Academic editor, PLOSone, 2018-
Associate editor, Journal of Economic Psychology, 2015-
Associate editor, Management Science, 2014-
Editorial board, Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, 2023- (associate editor 2013-2023)
Editorial board, Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, 2022- (associate editor 2016-2022)
Administrative Positions
Member of the academic Senate of Heidelberg University, 2019-2023
Member of the board of the Flagship Initiative Transforming Cultural Heritage, Excellence Strategy of Heidelberg University, 2020-2024, 2024-2026
Member of the Board of Directors (2020-) and Head of Department (2023-), Alfred Weber Institute, Heidelberg University
Teaching
I teach the mandatory course Corporate Governance in the B.Sc. program (each winter). Additionally I offer courses on financial intermediation and behavioral finance in the B.Sc. program, courses on preference measurement and survey methods in the M.Sc. program, and seminars on topical issues. Consult the course overview and moodle for details.
Other Activities
Leibniz Association, Senate Committee Competition (SAW), External Member, 2024-
Dutch Science Foundation (NWO), Scientific Advisory Board for the Social Sciences and Humanities, 2022-
Marsilius Kolleg (Center for Advanced Study), Fellow, 2021-22 [see linked spotify podcast on the research project]
German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), Advisory Committee for Risk Research and Risk Perception, 2014-2017, 2018-2021, 2022-2025
German National Merit Foundation (Studienstiftung des dt. Volkes), Liaison Professor, 2018-
Swiss Society for Financial Market Research, Annual SGF Conference Track Chair Behavioral Finance, 2019-2022
Society for Experimental Finance, Scientific Board
Previous Conferences in Heidelberg
Society for Experimental Finance (EF2018), June 20-22, 2018, (with Christian König-Kersting and Matthias Stefan)
Risk, Uncertainty and Decision (RUD), June 14-16, 2018 (with Jürgen Eichberger and Christopher Kops)
Economic Science Association (ESA), European Meeting, September 2-5, 2015 (with Christoph Brunner, Peter Dürsch, Jörg Oechssler, Christiane Schwieren, and Christoph Vanberg)
