Georg von Weizsäcker?

Georg von Weizsäcker?
Name	Georg von Weizsäcker
Birth date	17 December 1953
Birth place	Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, West Germany
Nationality	Germany
Fields	Economics
Institutions	University of Heidelberg, University of Nottingham, Max Planck Society, Centre for Economic Policy Research
Alma mater	University of Bonn, University of Bielefeld
Known for	Behavioral economics, Experimental economics, Public finance

Georg von Weizsäcker?

Georg von Weizsäcker? is a German economist noted for contributions to experimental economics, behavioral economics, and public finance. He has held professorships at major European research universities and directed institutes associated with the Max Planck Society and the Centre for Economic Policy Research. His work intersects with empirical methods from labor economics, theoretical frameworks related to game theory, and policy debates in European Union fiscal matters.

Early life and education

Born in Tübingen in West Germany, von Weizsäcker? studied at the University of Bonn and pursued doctoral work at the University of Bielefeld. During formative years he interacted with scholars connected to the London School of Economics, University of Oxford, and research centers such as the Institute for Advanced Study and the Nuffield College. His training included exposure to methodologies from experimental economics, econometrics, and public choice thinking, and he developed links with researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods, the Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung, and the European University Institute.

Academic career and positions

Von Weizsäcker? held faculty appointments at the University of Nottingham and later became a professor at the University of Heidelberg. He served in leadership roles at research organizations associated with the Max Planck Society and participated in networks administered by the Centre for Economic Policy Research and the Institute of Labor Economics (IZA). He has been a visiting scholar at institutions including Harvard University, Stanford University, Princeton University, Yale University, and collaborated with colleagues from the University of Chicago and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Administrative roles connected him to the German Council of Economic Experts and advisory groups for the European Commission.

Research contributions and influence

Von Weizsäcker?'s research spans experimental tests of game theory predictions, analyses of taxation and public goods, and studies of choice under risk integrating psychological insights from behavioral economics. He conducted laboratory experiments addressing bargaining frameworks inspired by the Nash bargaining solution, coordination problems related to Stag Hunt, and trust games influenced by work from Ernst Fehr and Dale T. Mortensen. His empirical work often applied techniques from econometrics and experimental protocols developed at the Center for Experimental Social Science and the Laboratory for Experimental Economics. He contributed to debates about optimal taxation linked to the literature of James Mirrlees and Anthony Atkinson, and engaged with policy discussions involving the European Central Bank and Bundesbank positions on fiscal externalities. His collaborators include scholars associated with the Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance, the ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, and the Austrian Institute of Economic Research.

Von Weizsäcker? influenced contemporary work on social preferences and redistribution, connecting experiments motivated by Elinor Ostrom's common-pool resource studies to models developed by Kenneth Arrow and Amartya Sen. His methods informed randomized controlled trial designs used by researchers at Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab and shaped recommendations for public policy analysis in reports from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the World Bank.

Selected publications

- "Essays on Experimental Public Finance", working papers distributed via Centre for Economic Policy Research and circulated at CEPR meetings alongside presentations at Allied Social Science Associations sessions. - Papers in journals like the American Economic Review, Journal of Public Economics, Economic Journal, and Review of Economic Studies on topics linking tax evasion experiments, redistribution preferences, and mechanism design. - Collaborative articles with scholars from Harvard Kennedy School, Columbia University, University of California, Berkeley, and Princeton University on behavioral responses to fiscal instruments and incentive-compatible policies. - Chapters in edited volumes published by Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press surveying experimental methods in public economics and the intersection of behavioral economics and tax policy.

Awards and honors

Von Weizsäcker? received recognition from institutions such as the German Economic Association, the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, and grants from the European Research Council. He was elected to networks sponsored by the Max Planck Society and served on editorial boards of journals affiliated with the Econometric Society and the European Economic Association. His policy work earned invitations to advisory panels at the European Commission and the German Federal Ministry of Finance.

Personal life and family background

He is a member of the von Weizsäcker family, related to figures active in German politics and science; the family includes individuals associated with the Christian Democratic Union of Germany and institutions like the Max Planck Society and University of Heidelberg. His relatives have included statesmen, academics, and public intellectuals who participated in debates at forums such as the Humboldt University of Berlin and the Goethe University Frankfurt. Von Weizsäcker? maintains collaborations across European research centers including the Berlin Social Science Center and the Bertelsmann Stiftung network.

Category:German economists