In a field experiment, we partnered up with a property management agency to test whether ambient scents have an impact on the perception of a rental apartment as well as the willingness to rent the apartment. We further test whether ambient scents influence the perceptions of the realtor and the property management agency.
This project aims to test for scientific support of practitioners' claims that ambient scent positively influences business outcomes in retail markets.

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We compare the wage-effort relationship in a game with a two-tier hierarchy (twelve employees who are subordinate to one employer) to that in a game with a three-tier hierarchy (nine employees who are subordinate to three managers, who are subordinate to one employer). In both games, the employer has one work relationship with each of the other participants. Each of these participants first receives a wage offer from the nearest higher hierarchical level. In the three-tier hierarchy, the manager has to split a wage budget that the employer assigns to pay the employees’ wages. Managers and employees then engage in a costly production process, from which only the employer can receive earnings. We find wage secrecy and the hierarchical distance to the employer to have adverse effects on the motivation to provide effort in the three-tier hierarchy. The results suggest that organizational distance reduces reciprocal responses, as the manager, who assigns the wages to the employees, cannot be reciprocated directly.

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In a controlled laboratory experiment, the influence of management support systems on the employee's choice of work assignment and the determination of a bonus by the employer will be investigated. The aim is to shed light on whether the work facilitation provided by the management support system influences the employer's perceived appreciation of the employee's work and how such effects can be compensated for or included in the optimal design of working relationships.
This text was translated with DeepL on 26/02/2026

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In a controlled laboratory experiment, we study the impact of monetary instability on work relationships with incomplete contracts. We observe wage inertia, i.e. the reluctance to fully adjust nominal wages to the changes in the value of the currency, and effort inertia, i.e. the reluctance to fully adjust the work effort to the alterations of the real wages. Under inflation, these effects lead to cheaper labor and a shift of payoff shares to employers. Under deflation, we observe a higher cost of labor and a shift of payoff shares to employees. Additionally, inflation and deflation lower productivity and per capita earnings.

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Recently, there has been a strong interest in the interplay between hormones and economic decision-making in economic research. Particular research interest can be seen in the field of stress research, which investigates the influence of the stress hormone cortisol on human behavior. While this field has so far received relatively little attention in economics, stress research within the neurosciences is extremely advanced and developed, so that an interdisciplinary research approach in economics offers a solid foundation here.

Laboratory studies are particularly suitable for examining the influence of stress on decision-making, as the influence of unobservable variables can be controlled and excluded. In psychology, there is therefore a standard procedure that reliably triggers acute stress in test participants: the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). The aim of this study is to design a version of the TSST that:

• conforms to the principles of economic laboratory experiments
• reliably produces acute stress in the participants and
• is associated with at most the same costs as the original TSST

The design of the adapted TSST will be based on that of the original and make the rich findings of years of stress research in the neurosciences usable for economics.
This text was translated with DeepL on 26/02/2026

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We propose and validate a task to induce acute socio-evaluative stress in the laboratory. The task features performance-based pay and simultaneously creates a treatment and a control group. Employing this task, we study the influence of acute socio-evaluative stress on the propensity to tell a selfish black lie and to trust messages that can comprise lies. We find that stress significantly reduces the probability to lie at the extensive margin, while it does not influence the intensive margin of lying. Furthermore, we find evidence that socio-evaluative stress significantly reduces the willingness to trust messages that may contain large lies.

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The interview is essential for the selection of suitable candidates. Traditionally, this is a face-to-face interview between the company representative(s) and the applicant in order to check both the candidate's professional competence and the overall impression gained from the written application. Traditional interviews are conducted either in person or by telephone or via video call over the Internet.
A newer method of personnel selection is the video interview, in which the applicant himself records his answers to predetermined questions via webcam. The recordings are then viewed and evaluated by the recruiters. Face-to-face and video-based interviews therefore differ in the presence or absence of an interviewer. The aim of this study is to examine whether the chosen type of interview has an impact on the selection of candidates. In a field experiment, 13 applicants for an assistant position are assessed in a live and a video version of a short interview. The interviews are available in the three modes "personal interview", "video recording of the personal interview" and "independently recorded video interview". In a next step, the candidates are assessed in order to identify potential differences between the interview modes.
This text was translated with DeepL on 26/02/2026

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The aim of the study is to uncover discrepancies between the requirements that companies place in job advertisements for university graduates and the experiences that companies have had over the last 10 years with their new hires from universities. In cooperation with the President of the Saxony-Anhalt Employers' and Business Associations and other company representatives, we conducted a survey in which company representatives from various sectors who offer jobs for university graduates where it is possible to remain resident in the Saxony-Anhalt region took part. The survey paid particular attention to the areas of soft skills, hard skills and employer attractiveness.

We also conducted a survey among students from various faculties. The content of this survey was based on that of the companies, so that we were able to survey student self-assessments in addition to corporate requirements and experiences.

We have now summarized the initial results on the discrepancies between the information provided by companies and students regarding soft skills, hard skills and employer attractiveness. They show that companies place very high demands on their new hires, particularly in terms of soft skills. These are usually significantly higher than the experiences that companies have had with previously hired university graduates. However, students are much more optimistic in their assessment of their skills than the company experience would suggest.

While there is a discrepancy between requirements, experience and student self-perception with regard to soft skills, we find a less pronounced discrepancy with regard to hard skills, i.e. companies find it easier on average to select candidates whose skills match the requirement profiles.

On the part of the students, it is clear that aspects that are beneficial to their own career are decisive when choosing an employer. These include, for example, the offer of qualification measures and structured promotion opportunities. In terms of employer attractiveness, we are pleased to see that regional companies are also able to make attractive offers to their applicants.
This text was translated with DeepL on 26/02/2026

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The productivity of working relationships depends on a number of endogenous factors that arise from the working relationship itself, e.g. the type and amount of salary paid. However, there are also exogenous factors that can influence the success of a working relationship but do not arise from it. In this project, for example, the influence of monetary stability, the organizational structure of the company and promotion opportunities within the company on the productivity of working relationships will be investigated. Since in reality a large number of factors interact, some of which cannot be observed, the influence of a single factor cannot be filtered out, or only with great difficulty. This project is therefore based on controlled laboratory experiments that make it possible to measure the specific influence of the determinants on the productivity of labor relations.
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This experiment is a 2x2 design with a monotonous and a creative task. The aim is to investigate the influence of a 15-minute active break on work productivity in both tasks. An active break is defined as a break during which the participants stand and perform a light physical activity (e.g. stretching and breathing exercises). Test subjects who take a passive break (sitting) serve as a comparison group. The exercises are standardized, performed by an appropriately trained trainer and played to the participants via video. While the participants with active breaks take part in the exercises, the participants with passive breaks simply watch the video from their seats. The remuneration is incentive-compatible in all four treatments, i.e. the higher the quality of the work assessed by a jury, the higher the payout.
This text was translated with DeepL on 26/02/2026

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