Published and Forthcoming Papers

Investigating the analytical robustness of the social and behavioural sciences with Aczel Balazs, Contributing Authors Barnabas Szaszi , Harry Clelland , Marton Kovacs , Hannah Schulz-Kümpel , Felix Holzmeister , Gustav Nilsonne , Sabine Hoffmann , Livia Kosa , Zoltan Torma , Yousuf Abdelfatah , Christopher Aberson , Oguz A. Acar , Ensar Acem , Matus Adamkovic , Timofey Adamovich , Krisna Adiasto , Love Ahnström , Atakan Akil , Adil Al-Busaidi , Ali Al-Hoorie , Casper Albers , Peter Allen , Taym Alsalti , Micah Altman , Shilaan Alzahawi , Ettore Ambrosini , Saule Anafinova , Rahul Anand , Martin Angerer , Ariadna Angulo-Brunet , Alberto Antonietti , Jozsef Arato , Andreu Arenas , Marco Aviña , Flavio Azevedo , Marko Bachl , Bence Bago , Štěpán Bahník , Bradley Baker , Elza Balayan , Cassandra Baldwin , Benjamin Banai , Kasia Banas , František Bartoš , Ernest Baskin , Jojanneke Bastiaansen , Nadège Bault , Christopher Bauman , Quintin Beazer , Maciej Behnke , Theiss Bendixen , Sebastian Berger , Anna Bernard , Ursa Bernardic , Paul Bloom , Annika Boldt , Ciril Bosch-Rosa , Rotem Botvinik-Nezer , Adam Bouyamourn , Ozge Bozkurt , Laurel Brehm , Johannes Breuer , Ryan Briggs , Hilmar Brohmer , Erin Buchanan , Johannes Buckenmaier , Jeffrey Buckley , Jacek Buczny , Matthias Burghart , Bilal Butt , Nick Byrd , Valentina Cafarelli , Patrick Callahan , Tabaré Capitán , Kevin Carriere , Andrea Cataldo , Gabriel Cepaluni , Eugene Chan , Jesse Chandler , Chia-chen Chang , Xi Chen , Shirley (Shuo) Chen , Fadong Chen , Hao Chen , Valerii Chirkov , Daniela Cialfi , Beth Clarke , Sophie Coelho , Clara Cohen , Jason Collins , Susan Cook , Gaia Corlazzoli , Jamie Cummins , Christian Czymara , Jonathan D'hondt , Anna Dalla Rosa , Abi Davis , Charles Davis , Martin Day , Freya De Keyzer , Joshua de Leeuw , Tjeerd Rudmer de Vries , Ramit Debnath , Filip Dechterenko , Elif Demiral , Marc Desgroseilliers , Dominik Dianovics , Veronica Diveica , Stephan Dochow-Sondershaus , Simone Dohle , LiChen Dong , Jonas Dora , Angela Dorrough , Anna Dreber , Hongfei Du , John Edlund , Anita Eerland , Emir Efendic , Jacob Elder , Mahmoud Elsherif , Mareike Ernst , Eduardo Estrada , Luis Eudave , Thomas Evans , Arodi Farrera , El Mehdi Ferrouhi , Lenka Fiala , Fabrício Fialho , Joshua Fiechter , Miloš Fišar , Pablo Ezequiel Flores-Kanter , Michał Folwarczny , Jessica Fossum , Vithor Franco , René Freichel , Danilo Freire , Joris Frese , Alexander Furnas , Johann Gaebler , Lisa Gajary , Carl Michael Galang , Benjamin Ganschow , S. Mason Garrison , Agata Gasiorowska , Bruno Gasparotto Ponne , Romain Gauriot , Alice Geminiani , Diogo Geraldes , Morton Ann Gernsbacher , Cinzia Giani , Enrico Glerean , Vukašin Gligorić , Timo Gnambs , Amelie Godefroidt , Bastián González-Bustamante , Andreas Goreis , Matěj Kolouch Grabovský , Lorenz Graf-Vlachy , Manuel Grieder , Dmitry Grigoryev , Sandra Grinschgl , David Grüning , João Guassi Moreira , Clément Guichet , Lilas Gurgand , Hooman Habibnia , Andrew Hafenbrack , Sebastian Hafenbrädl , Carolin Häffner , Felix Hagemeister , Matthew Haigh , Nandor Hajdu , Narges Hajimoladarvish , Jonathan Hall , Maik Hamjediers , Robert Hardwick , Mehmet Harma , Nicholas Harp , Áron Hartvig , Raphael Heiberger , Arthur Heim , Øystein Hernaes , Dennis Hernaus , Tom Heyman , Joshua Hicks , Jeremy Hogeveen , Julia Höpler , Sean Dae Houlihan , Christoph Huber , Conor Hughes , Teresa Hummler , Karoline Huth , Moritz Ingendahl , Tatsunori Ishii , Ozan Isler , Kamil Izydorczak , Iain Jackson , Andrew Jahn , Maitri Jain , Alexander Jakubow , Daisung Jang , JunHyeok Jang , Marc Jekel , Fanli Jia , William Jimenez-Leal , Rebecca Johnson , Alex Jones , Sebastian Jungkunz , Pavol Kačmár , Caspar Kaiser , Yağmur Kalaycı , Jaroslaw Kantorowicz , Anıl Karabulut , Julian Karch , Hamid Karimi-Rouzbahani , Johannes Karl , Austėja Kažemekaitytė , Aliaksandr Kazlou , Zoltan Kekecs , Jin Kim , Michael Kirchler , Bence Kiss-Dobronyi , Kai Klasmeier , Jack Klein , Cemal Koba , Marta Kołczyńska , Pavlos Kolias , Max Korbmacher , Živa Korda , Marta Kowal , André Kretzschmar , Vladislav Krivoshchekov , Angelos-Miltiadis Krypotos , Marcus Kubsch , Yoshihiko Kunisato , David Lacko , Jan Landwehr , Martin Lange , Hongmi Lee , Daniel Lee , Sangil Lee , Edward Lemay , Daniel Lempert , Andrea Leo , Elise Lesage , Joel Levin , Peng Li , Jing Lin , Luke Lindsay , Daria Lisovoj , Meng Liu , Sihong Liu , Tingshu Liu , Sergio Lo Iacono , Paul Lodder , Rubén López-Bueno , Ruben Lopez-Nicolas , Katharina Loter , Nigel Mantou Lou , Andrey Lovakov , Jackson G. Lu , Jonas Ludwig , Finn Luebber , Jiří Lukavský , Charles Luo , Xuanyu Lyu , Esther Maassen , Martin Máčel , Michael Mack , Christopher Madan , Andreas Mädebach , Joseph Maffly-Kipp , Daniel Mallinson , Igor Marchetti , Tyler Marghetis , Matteo Marini , Diego Marino Fages , Mayte Martínez , Mario Martinoli , Aidas Masiliunas , Sébastien Massoni , Kaleb Mathieu , Stefan Mayer , Duncan Mayer , Maren Mayer , Ethan McCormick , Ian McDonough , Amanda McGowan , Miranda McIntyre , Paul McKee , Armando Meier , Pascal Meier , Helena Melero , Christoph Merkle , Raphael Merz , Michalis Michaelides , Patrik Michaelsen , Gosia Mikolajczak , Wladislaw Mill , Philip Millroth , Kirill Miroshnik , Michał Misiak , Youri Mora , David Moreau , Chris Moreh , Coby Morvinski , Faisal Mushtaq , Tamás Nagy , Christa Nater , Elias Naumann , Gorka Navarrete , Stephan Nebe , Andre Nedderhoff , Richard Nennstiel , Martin Neugebauer , Eliana Nicolaisen-Sobesky , Yngwie Nielsen , Guiomar Niso , Benjamin Nowak , Mehmet Okan , Kenneth Ong , Adrian Onicas , Christian Oswald , Kasper Otten , Shubham Pandey , Myrto Pantazi , Paolo Papale , Philip Pärnamets , Shiva Pauer , Yuri G. Pavlov , Samuel Pawel , Jonathan Peelle , Hannah Peetz , Anton Peez , Francesca Pesciarelli , Brenton Peterson , Benjamin Petruželka , Jonas Petter , Jan Pfänder , Gerit Pfuhl , Joseph Phillips , Matthew Pietryka , Angelo Pirrone , Ilse Pit , Anna Plachti , Irene Sophia Plank , Matteo Ploner , Russell Poldrack , Monique Pollmann , Simon Porcher , Patrick Präg , Andrew Adrian Pua , Jessica Pugel , Rohan Puri , Marcell Püski , Setayesh Radkani , Louis Raes , Ismaël Rafaï , Klara Raiber , Steve Rathje , Mikhail Reshetnikov , Caleb Reynolds , James Reynolds , Kévin Rigaud , Charlie Rioux , Sebastian Rivera , Olly Robertson , Rafael Román-Caballero , Ivan Ropovik , Lukas Röseler , Robert Ross , Amanda Rotella , Franziska Rüffer , Felix Rusche , Massimo Rusconi , Irene Russo , Alexander Sahm , Janos Salamon , Margaret Samahita , Ali Sanaei , Arshiya Sangchooli , Alexandra Sarafoglou , Michele Scandola , Henning Schaak , Michael Schaerer , Eric Schares , Hayden Schilling , Xenia Schmalz , Kathleen Schmidt , Tom Schonberg , Marcel Schreiner , Joris Schröder , Anne-Lena Schubert , Brendan Schuetze , Douglas Schultz , Lars Schulze , Shawn Schwartz , Nicole Schwitter , Bermond Scoggins , Yashvin Seetahul , Raffaello Seri , David Shanks , Stacy Shaw , Joseph Shaw , Qiang Shen , Christoph Siemroth , Martina Sladekova , Angela Somo , Arjun Sondhi , Burak Sonmez , Lisa Spantig , Maarten Speekenbrink , Angelos Stamos , Lukasz Stasielowicz , Leonie Steckermeier , Simon Steinkamp , Andrea Stoevenbelt , Chris Street , Jordan Suchow , Hans Fredrik Sunde , James Sundquist , Vsevolod Suschevskiy , Scott Swain , Peter Szecsi , Raluca Szekely-Copîndean , Ewa Szumowska , Alessandro Tacconelli , Eli Talbert , John Tang , Jorge Tendeiro , Martina Testori , Enrico Toffalini , Aleksandar Tomašević , Selin Topel , Lasse Torkkeli , Leonardo Tozzi , Jakub Traczyk , Alexander Trinidad , Darinka Trübutschek , Konrad Turek , Maximiliane Uhlich , Eric Uhlmann , Karolina Urbanska , Jasper Van Assche , Marcel van Assen , Noah van Dongen , Kenny van Lieshout , Don van Ravenzwaaij , Roel van Veldhuizen , Marton Varga , Leigh Ann Vaughn , Fruzsina Venczel , Michela Vezzoli , Paul Vierus , Antonino Visalli , Emily Voldal , Fabio Votta , Eric-Jan Wagenmakers , Anica Waldendorf , Matthew Walker , Matthew Wall , Henri Wallen , Ke Wang , Iris Wang , Y. Andre Wang , Markus Weinmann , Martin Weiß , Christian Westheide , Aaron Wichman , Benedict Williams , David Wisniewski , Thomas Woiczyk , Mateusz Woźniak , Joshua Wright , Wu Youyou , Jesper Wulff , Tao Yang , Siu Kit Yeung , Kenneth SL Yuen , Michał Zawistowski , Rizqy Zein , Xian Zhao , Zefan Zheng , Steven Zhou , Conrad Ziller , David Zimmerman , Cristina Zogmaister , Ro'i Zultan , Nicholas Fox , Timothy Errington , Brian Nosek

accepted for publication in Nature, 2025

The same dataset can be analysed in different justifiable ways to answer the same research question, potentially challenging the robustness of empirical science1–3. In this crowd initiative, we investigated the degree to which research findings in the social and behavioural sciences are contingent on analysts’ choices. We examined a stratified random sample of 100 studies published between 2009 and 2018, where for one claim per study, at least five re-analysts independently re-analysed the original data. The statistical appropriateness of the re-analyses was assessed in peer evaluations, and the robustness indicators were inspected along a range of research characteristics and study designs. We found that 34% of the independent re-analyses yielded the same result (within a tolerance region of +/- 0.05 Cohen’s d) as the original report; with a four times broader tolerance region, this indicator rose to 57%. Regarding the conclusions drawn, 74% of analyses were reported to arrive at the same conclusion as in the original investigation; 24% to no effects/inconclusive result, and 2% to the opposite effect as in the original investigation. This exploratory study suggests that the common single-path analyses in social and behavioural research should not simply be assumed to be robust to alternative analyses. Therefore, we recommend the development and use of practices to explore and communicate this neglected source of uncertainty.

A Competitive Audit Selection Mechanism with Incomplete Information with Ondřej Krčál, Rostislav Staněk, Jiří Špalek, and James Tremewan 

accepted for publication in International Tax and Public Finance, 2025 (MUNI ECON Working Papers 2019-08)

The literature on experimental tax and regulatory compliance has highlighted significant advantages associated with competitive audit selection mechanisms (ASMs) predicated on differences in estimated undeclared incomes among taxpayers. This paper explores the potential negative consequences of competitive ASMs in situations where authorities lack an unbiased indicator of these differences. Through a laboratory experiment, we demonstrate that asymmetric information between taxpayers and tax authorities can diminish compliance and exacerbate inequality within competitive ASMs. Our findings underscore the need for caution concerning the perceived benefits of competitive ASMs and emphasize the importance of allocating resources to mitigate income heterogeneity among groups subject to competitive audit selection.

Mind the framing when studying social preferences in the domain of losses with Armenak Antinyan, Luca Corazzini, and Tommaso Reggiani 

published in Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 2024 (Cardiff Economics WorkingPapers, No. E2022/16)

There has been an increasing interest in altruistic behaviour in the domain of losses recently. Nevertheless, there is no consensus in whether the monetary losses make individuals more generous or more selfish. Although almost all relevant studies rely on a dictator game to study altruistic behaviour, the experimental designs of these studies differ in how the losses are framed, which may explain the diverging findings. Utilizing a dictator game, this paper studies the impact of loss framing on altruism. The main methodological result is that the dictators’ prosocial behaviour is sensitive to the loss frame they are embedded in. More specifically, in a dictator game in which the dictators have to share a loss between themselves and a recipient, the monetary allocations of the dictators are more benevolent than in a standard setting without a loss and in a dictator game in which the dictators have to share what remains of their endowments after a loss. These differences are explained by the different social norms that the respective loss frames invoke.

Reproducibility in Management Science with Ben Greiner, Christoph Huber, Elena Katok, Ali Ozkes, and Management Science Reproducibility Collaboration

published in Management Science, 2023 (OSF Preprints, 1 Nov. 2023.)

With the help of more than 700 reviewers we assess the reproducibility of nearly 500 articles published in the journal Management Science before and after the introduction of a new Data and Code Disclosure policy in 2019. When considering only articles for which data accessibility and hard- and software requirements were not an obstacle for reviewers, the results of more than 95% of articles under the new disclosure policy could be fully or largely computationally reproduced. However, for 29% of articles at least part of the dataset was not accessible to the reviewer. Considering all articles in our sample reduces the share of reproduced articles to 68%. These figures represent a significant increase compared to the period before the introduction of the disclosure policy, where only 12% of articles voluntarily provided replication materials, out of which 55% could be (largely) reproduced. Substantial heterogeneity in reproducibility rates across different fields is mainly driven by differences in dataset accessibility. Other reasons for unsuccessful reproduction attempts include missing code, unresolvable code errors, weak or missing documentation, but also soft- and hardware requirements and code complexity. Our findings highlight the importance of journal code and data disclosure policies, and suggest potential avenues for enhancing their effectiveness.

Ovulatory shift, hormonal changes, and no effects on incentivized decision-making with Lubomír Cingl, Tommaso Reggiani, Eva Kundtová-Klocová, Radek Kundt, Jan Krátký, Katarína Kostolanská, Petra Bencúrová, Marie Kudličková Pešková, and Klára Marečková 

published in Journal of Economic Psychology, 2023

Employing an incentivized controlled lab experiment, we investigate the effects of ovulatory shift on salient behavioral outcomes related to (i) risk preferences, (ii) rule violation, and (iii) exploratory attitude. As evolutionary psychology suggests, these outcomes may play an important role in economic decision-making and represent behavioral aspects that may systematically vary over the menstrual cycle to increase the reproductive success. Exploiting a within-subjects design, 124 naturally cycling females participated in experimental sessions during their ovulation and menstruation, the phases between which the difference in the investigated behavior should be the largest. In each session, hormonal samples for cortisol, estradiol, and testosterone were collected. The group of women was also contrasted against an auxiliary reference group composed of 47 males, who are not subject to hormonal variations of this nature. Our results reveal no systematic behavioral differences between the ovulation and menstruation phases.

Coordinating Donations via an Intermediary: The Destructive Effect of A Sunk Overhead Cost with Diya Abraham, Luca Corazzini, and Tommaso Reggiani 

published in Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 2023 (MUNI ECO Working Paper, 2021-14)

Donors often use the services of an intermediary to prevent their donations from being too thinly distributed over multiple public projects. We explore whether donors' willingness to coordinate their funds via an intermediary depends on the extent of the intermediary's discretion over their contributions, as well as the organizational overhead costs incurred by the intermediary. We investigate this using a laboratory experiment in which donors face multiple identical threshold public goods and the opportunity to coordinate their contributions via another donor assigned to the role of intermediary. In line with standard game theoretic predictions, we find that donors make use of the intermediary only when they know she is heavily restricted in terms of the proportion of their contributions she can expropriate for herself. However, we find strong evidence that the positive effect of these restrictions is undone once the intermediary incurs a sunk overhead cost. Our analysis suggests that the ex-ante inequality created as a result of this sunk cost reduces the trustworthiness of the intermediary in the donors' eyes, which in turn reduces the donors' willingness to use the intermediary to coordinate their contributions effectively. 

Media Negativity Bias and Tax Compliance: Experimental Evidence with Tommaso Reggiani, Fabio Sabatini, and Jiří Špalek

published in International Tax and Public Finance, 2022 (Cardiff Economics Working Papers, no. E2021/26)

We study the impact of the media negativity bias on tax compliance. Through a framed laboratory experiment, we assess how the exposure to biased news about government action affects compliance in a repeated taxation game. Subjects treated with positive news are signicantly more compliant than the control group. Instead, the exposure to negative news does not prompt any significant reaction compared to the neutral condition, suggesting that participants may perceive the media negativity bias in the selection and tonality of news as the norm rather than the exception. Overall, our results suggest that biased news provision is a constant source of psychological priming and plays a vital role in taxpayers' compliance decisions.

Committed to Reciprocate on a Bribe or Blow the Whistle: The Effects of Staff-Rotation in Public Administration with Ondřej Krčál, Jiří Špalek, and Rostislav Staněk 

published in Public Performance & Management Review, 2021 (MUNI ECON Working Papers 2019-01)

Periodic rotation of staff in public administration may lead to lower corruption, as it disrupts long-term relationships between public officials and potential bribers. We use an experimental design to test the anti-corruption effect of staff rotation in situations in which public officials have committed to reciprocating bribes. We find that staff rotation does not influence the proportion of firms offering bribes but reduces the share of bribe acceptance and inefficient decisions due to bribery. The outcome of the staff rotation treatment, in which firms offered bribes even though they were rarely accepted by officials, is consistent with the game having a quantal response equilibrium.

Gender Differences in Beliefs and Actions in a Framed Corruption Experiment with Matúš Kubák, Jiří Špalek, and James Tremewan 

published in Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, 2016

We elicit actions and beliefs in a framed corruption experiment enabling us to investigate how gender differences in corrupt behaviour relate to gender differences in both beliefs about the behaviour of others and the relationship between those beliefs and actions. We find that women are less likely to engage in costly punishment of corruption, and believe corruption to be more prevalent than men. Differences between the genders in the relationship between beliefs and actions provides evidence that men experience a greater psychological cost as a result of social sanctions. Controlling for beliefs and gender differences in sensitivity to beliefs we find that males are, in many instances, more likely to offer bribes, while females are less likely to conform to a norm of bribe-giving. This result was not apparent in the raw data, and highlights the importance of considering beliefs in corruption experiments.

Governmental Research Support Programs and Private Entities in Slovakia with Zuzana Malíková, Matúš Kubák, and Radovan Báčík 

published in Review of Economic Perspectives, 2014

The paper analyses public subsidies aimed to enhance development and innovation in the Slovakian private sector. The paper reviews theoretical approaches of the necessity of public support to research and development activities in order to increase private investment in research and development. An overview of research and development support tools in Slovakia is presented. The analytical part of the work is oriented on a comparative analysis of two granting agencies in Slovakia [Agency for Research and Development (ARD) and Agency of Operational Program Research and Development (OPRD)]. Special attention is given to direct public financial support. Logit analysis showed a relationship between success of grant applicants and their characteristics. We find that the following have impact on success of the application: Age of the company, amount of the grant required, legal form of the company, and the agency to which the application for grant was submitted. Applicants with legal form Ltd. (limited liability company) have a higher chance of receiving grant than other legal forms. The highest chance of success has a request for a grant of up to 500.000 €. According to the results of our analysis, the chance to obtain a grant decreases with each passing year.