Axel Ockenfels (born 9 February 1969) is a German economist. He is professor of economics at the University of Cologne. He also is Director of the Cologne Laboratory of Economic Research, Speaker of the "University of Cologne Excellence Center for Social and Economic Behavior " (C-SEB), and Coordinator of the DFG research unit "Design & Behavior".

Career

Ockenfels received his Diplom in economics from the University of Bonn in 1994, where he studied under Reinhard Selten. He earned his doctoral degree in economics from the Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg in 1998, where his doctoral advisor was Joachim Weimann. Renowned for his research on behavioral and design economics, Ockenfels is considered one of the most influential German economists, both in fundamental research and in practical market design. He publishes in leading journals in economics, but also in business administration, information systems, psychology, and sociology, as well as in application-oriented outlets. His "Theory of Equity, Reciprocity, and Competition" (co-authored with Gary E. Bolton) is one of the most cited papers in economics. Ockenfels is a Member of the Berlin-Brandenburgische and of the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences, the Academic Advisory Board at the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, and Contributing Author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Other activities (selection)

Scientific organizations

Editorial boards

Recognition

Ockenfels was awarded the 1.5 million Euro Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize, Germany's highest research honor, by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) in 2005.

Selected publications