Erik Ø. Sørensen - Statsøkonomen

Erik Ø. Sørensen

Thu, 12 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Contact information

Department of Economics, NHH Norwegian School of Economics, Helleveien 30, N-5045 Bergen, Norway. (+47) 93 44 22 89. erik.sorensen@nhh.no

Current positions

Professor of economics at the Department of Economics, NHH Norwegian School of Economics, (co-)Principal Investigator at Centre for Experimental Research on Fairness, Inequality, and Rationality (FAIR).
FAIR compliance officer and head of the FAIR Data Infrastructure Unit.
Chair of the NHH Institutional Review Board.

Past positions

Member of Teknisk beregningsutvalg for klima/Norwegian commission for estimating emission effects of climate measures (2018-2023).
Professor II (part-time) at the Department of Economics, University of Oslo, member of the center for Equality, Social Organization, and Performance (2009-2016).
Associate professor of economics at the Department of Economics, NHH Norwegian School of Economics (2009-2012).
Post.doc at the EU-RTN Microdata, Department of Economics, VU University Amsterdam (Feb 2007-Feb 2009).
Juniorprofessor für Angewandte Ökonometrie, Department of Economics, University of Mannheim (Aug 2006-Feb 2007).

Publications

Fairness in Winner-Take-All Competitions. With Björn Bartling, Alexander W. Cappelen, Mathias Ekström, and Bertil Tungodden. Forthcoming in Review of Economics and Statistics.
The talent paradox: Why is it fair to reward talent but not luck? With Björn Bartling, Alexander W. Cappelen, Ingvild L. Skarpeid, and Bertil Tungodden. European Economic Review, Special issue in honor of Nora Szech, 185, 105268, 2026. Replication code:
Linking Social and Personal Preferences: Theory and Experiment With William R. Zame, Bertil Tungodden, Shachar Kariv, and Alexander W. Cappelen. Forthcoming in Journal of Political Economy. Replication code:
Attitudes to inequality: preferences and beliefs With Ingvild Almås, Alexander W. Cappelen and Bertil Tungodden. Published as part of the Deaton Review, in Oxford Open Economics, 3(i1), i64-i69, 2024.
The Development Gap in Economic Rationality of Future Elites. With Alexander W. Cappelen, Shachar Kariv, and Bertil Tungodden. Published in Games and Economic Behavior, 140, 866-878, 2023. Open data at Harvard Dataverse. Replication code:
Choice and personal responsibility: What is a morally relevant choice? With Alexander W. Cappelen, Sebastian Fest, and Bertil Tungodden. Published in Review of Economics and Statistics, 104(5), 1110-1119, 2022. Replication package: https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/HXZOCG
Global evidence on the selfish rich inequality hypothesis. With Ingvild Almås, Alexander W. Cappelen, and Bertil Tungodden. Published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(3), e2109690119, 2022. Public data at Harvard Dataverse. Replication code: .
Solidarity and Fairness in Times of Crisis. With Alexander W. Cappelen, Ranveig Falch, and Bertil Tungodden. Published in Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 186(1), 1-11, 2021.
You’ve got mail: A randomized field experiment on tax evasion. With Kristina Bott, Alexander W. Cappelen, and Bertil Tungodden. Published in Management Science. 66(7), 2801–2819, 2020.
Teaching through television: Experimental evidence on entrepreneurship education in Tanzania. With Kjetil Bjorvatn, Alexander W. Cappelen, Linda Helgesson Sekei and Bertil Tungodden. Published in Management Science, 66(6), 2308-2325, 2020.
Fairness in bankruptcies: an experimental study. With Alexander W. Cappelen, Roland I. Luttens and Bertil Tungodden. Published in Management Science, 65(6), 2832-2841. 2019.
The Effect of Fast and Slow Decisions on Financial Risk Taking. With Michael Kirchler, David Andersson, Caroline Bonn, Magnus Johannesson, Matthias Stefan, Gustav Tinghög, and Daniel Västfjell. Published in Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, 54(1), 37-59. 2017
Face-saving or fair-minded: What motivates moral behavior? With Alexander W. Cappelen, Trond Halvorsen and Bertil Tungodden. Published in Journal of the European Economic Association, 15(3), 540-557. 2017. Data and SI: https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/MGI9KA
Fairness and family background. With Ingvild Almås, Alexander W. Cappelen, Kjell G. Salvanes and Bertil Tungodden. Published in Politics, Philosophy & Economics, 16(2), 117-131. 2017.
Willingness to compete: Family matters. With Ingvild Almås, Alexander W. Cappelen, Kjell G. Salvanes and Bertil Tungodden. Published in Management Science, 62(8), 2149-2162. 2016.
Leadership and incentives. With Alexander W. Cappelen, Bjørn-Atle Reme and Bertil Tungodden. Published in Management Science, 62(7), 1944-1953. 2016. Data and SI: https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/I5GXB3
What explains the gender gap in college track dropout? Experimental and administrative evidence. With Ingvild Almås, Alexander W. Cappelen, Kjell G. Salvanes and Bertil Tungodden. Published in American Economic Review (papers and proceedings), 106(5), 296-302. 2016.
Good Skills in Bad Times: Cyclical Skill Mismatch and the Long-term Effects of Graduating in a Recession. With Kai Liu and Kjell G. Salvanes. Published in European Economic Review, 84(1), 3-17, 2016.
Luck, Choice and Responsibility An experimental study of fairness views. With Johanna Mollerstrom and Bjørn-Atle Reme. Published in Journal of Public Economics, 113, 33-40. 2015. Replication package:
Social preferences in the lab: A comparison of students and a representative population. With Alexander W. Cappelen, Knut Nygaard and Bertil Tungodden. Published in Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 117(4), 1306-1326. 2015. Data and SI: https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/QHDPSY
Equity theory and fair inequality: A neuroeconomic study. With Alexander W. Cappelen, Tom Eichele, Kenneth Hugdahl, Karsten Specht, and Bertil Tungodden. Published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(43), 15368–15372. 2014.
Bad times at a tender age – how education dampens the impact of graduating in a recession. With Kai Liu and Kjell G. Salvanes. Published in Nordic Economic Policy Review, 2014, 51-73.
An experimental study of prosocial motivation among criminals. With Sigbjørn Birkeland, Alexander W. Cappelen, and Bertil Tungodden. Published in Experimental Economics, 17(4), 501-511. 2014.
Do non-enforceable contracts matter? Evidence from an international lab experiment. With Alexander W. Cappelen, Rune Jansen Hagen and Bertil Tungodden. Published in Review of Income and Wealth, 60(1), 100-113, 2014.
When do we lie?. With Alexander W. Cappelen and Bertil Tungodden. Published in Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 93(), 258-265, 2013.
Give and Take in Dictator Games. With Alexander W. Cappelen, Ulrik H. Nielsen, Bertil Tungodden, and Jean-Robert Tyran. Published in Economics Letters, 118(2), 280-283, 2013.
Just Luck: An Experimental Study of Risk Taking and Fairness. With Alexander W. Cappelen, James Konow and Bertil Tungodden. Published in American Economic Review, 103(4), 1398-1413, 2013. See also erratum pointing out an error in Figure 2, published in 106(2), 476-77.
Needs vs entitlements – an international fairness experiment. With Alexander W. Cappelen, Kalle Moene and Bertil Tungodden. Published in Journal of the European Economic Association, 11(3), 574-598, 2013. Downloadable web-appendix.
Measuring unfair (in)equality. With Ingvild Almås, Alexander W. Cappelen, Jo Thori Lind and Bertil Tungodden. Published in Journal of Public Economics, 95(7-8), 488-499, 2011.
The importance of moral reflection and self-reported data in a dictator game with production. With Alexander W. Cappelen, Astri Drange Hole and Bertil Tungodden. Published in Social Choice and Welfare, 36(1), 105-120, 2011. Instructions with screenshots and translations.
Fairness and the Development of Inequality Acceptance. With Ingvild Almås, Alexander W. Cappelen, and Bertil Tungodden. Published in Science, 328(5982), 1176-1178, 2010.
Responsibility for what? Fairness and individual responsibility. With Alexander W. Cappelen and Bertil Tungodden. Published in European Economic Review, 54(3), 429-441, 2010.
The pluralism of fairness ideals: An experimental approach. With Alexander W. Cappelen, Astri Drange Hole and Bertil Tungodden. Published in American Economic Review, 97(3), 818-827, 2007.
The Neighbourhood is not what it used to be. With Oddbjørn Raaum and Kjell G. Salvanes. Published in Economic Journal, 116(1), 200-222, 2006.
The Impact of a Primary School Reform on Educational Stratification: A Norwegian Study of Neighbour and School Mate Correlations. With Oddbjørn Raaum and Kjell G. Salvanes. Published in Swedish Economic Policy Review, 10(2), 143-170, 2003.

Other writings

What Do You Owe Your Neighbor? The Pandemic Might Change Your Answer. Published online at The New York Times. With Alexander W. Cappelen, Ranveig Falch, Bertil Tungodden and Gus Wezerek.
Moral Appeals Can Help Reduce Tax Evasion. Published online at Harvard Business Review. With Kristina M. Bott, Alexander W. Cappelen and Bertil Tungodden.
Rettferdighet på hjernen. Published in Magma 2014, (2), 34-39. With Alexander W. Cappelen and Bertil Tungodden.
Rettferdig flaks. Published in Samfunnsøkonomen 127(6), 43-44 2013. With Alexander W. Cappelen and Bertil Tungodden.
Et valg i blinde? Norske ungdommers kjennskap til ulikheter i arbeidsmarkedet før de gjør sine utdanningsvalg. Published in Magma 15(5), 45-51 2012. With Kjell G. Salvanes and Ingvild Almås.
Lærer økonomer av sine feil? Published in Bergens Tidende, 30. juli 2012.
Sultkatastrofer og nødhjelp. Published in Fordeling og vekst i fattige land, (ed. Rune Jansen Hagen and Karl R. Pedersen). Fagbokforlaget, 1999. With Bertil Tungodden.
Krysseie og eierkonsentrasjon i det norsk-svenske kraftmarkedet SNF-rapport 15/98. With Nils-Henrik M. von der Fehr, Tore Nilssen and Lars Sørgard.

MET528 spring 2026

Tue, 13 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Last updated: 2026-01-27.

The course is divided into two parts. The first part concern philosophy of science and scientific-internal questions, the second part discusses scientific practice from external perspectives: Historical, ethical, political, sustainability, and the sociology of scientific practice.

R-squared and treatment effect sizes

Mon, 13 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I wrote this for my another purpose, and thought that I might as well make it public.

For a treatment-control contrast, let’s examine the regression model \[ y_i = \alpha + \beta x_i + \epsilon_i,\] with \(var(\epsilon_i)=\sigma^2\) and \(x_i\) being a 0/1 indicator variable for treatment (1) vs control (0). Assume that the proportion of treated units is \(p\). Now, since the OLS estimate is consistent (randomization), the limit of \(R^2=var(\widehat{y})/var(y)\) can be calculated to be \[ \lim_{n\rightarrow\infty}R^2 = \frac{\beta^2 p(1-p)}{\beta^2 p(1-p) + \sigma^2}.\] Expressing the treatment effect in standardized form (Glass \(\Delta\)), we can write \(\Delta=\beta/\sigma\), and then we have \[\lim_{n\rightarrow\infty}R^2 = \frac{\Delta^2 p(1-p)}{\Delta^2 p(1-p) + 1}.\] If we also assume that the treatment and control arms are equally large (\(p=1/2\), which gives us the largest possible \(R^2\) given the treatment effect), we get \(p(1-p)=1/4\) and
\[ \lim_{n\rightarrow\infty}R^2 = \frac{\Delta^2}{\Delta^2 + 4}.\]

Methods camp for new PhD students, August 2025

Thu, 21 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Methods Camp is a two-week intensive course designed to prepare all incoming PhD students in Economics by ensuring a solid foundation in essential technical tools before the main coursework begins.

The camp is divided into two one-week modules:

The first module deals with general mathematical tools: Calculus, Analysis, and Linear Algebra.
The second module is more specific and deals with probability and statistics.

Participation in the Methods Camp is voluntary, but there is a 90 minutes exam on the probability/statistics part Monday August 25, from 1015–1145 in Auditorium I, in order to evaluate if any further tutoring is necessary. One A4 sheet of paper with notes and a standard calculator is allowed.

MET528: Scientific Methods, Spring 2025

Mon, 16 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Last updated: 2025-04-08.

Methods Camp for new PhD students (August 2024)

Thu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

As of 2024-08-25.

Methods Camp is a two-week intensive course to get all incoming PhD students in economics to ensure that everyone are familiar with some technical tools before the main courses start. There are two week-long and separate parts: The first deals with general mathematical tools: Calculus, Analysis, and Linear Algebra. The second part is more specific and deals with probability and statistics.

Participation in the Methods Camp is voluntary, but all PhD students at the Economics Department are expected to sit a 90 minutes exam on the probability/statistics part 2024-08-26, in Karl Borch Auditorium, 1030-1200 in order to evaluate if some further tutoring is necessary. One A4 sheet of paper with notes is allowed.

MET 528: Scientific Methods, Spring 2024

Tue, 12 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Last updated: 2023-12-18, after coordination with the department.

Testing a blog post with Python

Wed, 22 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

These posts are written in Blogdown using Rstudio, which makes it possible to write R code and have it evaluated. It would be neat if it was also possible to have calculations made using Python create output in the same format. Apparently, that should be possible with the reticulate package.

An attempt: a piece of code from the Python Workshop last spring:

def find_root(f, lower, upper, eps=1e-6):
 assert sign(f(lower)) != sign(f(upper)), "No guarantee of solution in this interval!"
 l, u = lower, upper
 while ( abs( f(u) - f(l) ) > eps):
 midpoint = (l+u)/2
 y = f(midpoint)
 if sign(y)==sign(f(l)):
 l = midpoint
 else:
 u = midpoint
 # print(l, u, y)
 return midpoint, (l, u)
def sign(x):
 if x<0.0:
 return -1
 else:
 return 1

If it works, it should be possible to find solutions to nonlinear equation, such as \[ e^{2x} = 4.\]

Replication Report: Checking and Sharing Alt-Facts

Mon, 01 May 2023 00:00:00 +0000

In collaboration with Monica Beeder, I had the opportunity to participate in the 2022 Oslo Replication Games. During this event, we replicated the study conducted by Emeric Henry, Ekaterina Zhuravskaya and Sergei Guriev, titled “Checking and Sharing Alt-Facts,” published in the American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, Volume 14, Issue 3 (2022), pages 55-86.

The abstract of our replication report:

Henry et al (2022) examine whether people are willing to share “alternative facts” espoused by right-wing populist parties before the 2019 European elections in France and how this interacted with the availability of fact-checking information. They find that both imposed and voluntary fact-checking reduce the likelihood of sharing false statements by approximately 45%, and that imposed and voluntary fact-checking have similar effect sizes. We reproduce these findings and introduce several alternative estimates to assess the robustness of the original results, including resolving an inconsistency in the handling of pre-treatment controls. Overall, our results align with the results of the original paper. The differences we find are small in absolute magnitude but, since many effects were small, not always trivial in terms of relative differences. This replication supports the conclusions of the original paper.

Methods Camp for new PhD students (August 2023)

Thu, 23 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

as of 2023-07-24.

Participation in the Methods Camp is voluntary, but all SAM economics students are expected to sit a 3 hour exam on a date and time to be determined in order to evaluate if some further tutoring is necessary.

MET528 term paper

Thu, 12 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Topics

The term paper should discuss a meta scientific topic of relevance to the practice of economics. It is important to keep the meta perspective. For the most part mainstream economics papers are not suitable term papers for MET528.

It is important that you choose a topic that involves a clear question that you will be able to conclude on. You want to avoid writing a long discussion that just abruptly ends or taper off.

pppindexr

Thu, 29 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

I have published an R package to github. It provides functions to work with international comparisons of real incomes (Geary Khamis, EKS, and CCD real income indices).

See the website here: https://erikosorensen.github.io/pppindexr/index.html

Here is how it is installed:

# install.packages("devtools")
devtools::install_github("ErikOSorensen/pppindexr")

It comes with the Neary (2004) data installed, and here is how to calculate the three supplied indices for the 60 countries in Neary’s paper, listing six of the low income countries:

MET528, Scientific methods, Spring 2023

Tue, 06 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Last updated: 2023-04-17 (added ‘*’s to readings).

Oslo's Replication Games

Mon, 05 Sep 2022 00:00:00 +0000

On 2022-10-27, there is a replication challenge in Oslo, organized by Andreas Kotsadam at the Frisch Center. I plan to attend, and hope to be joined by others from FAIR!

Methods Camp for new PhD students (August 2022)

Tue, 16 Aug 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Participation in the Methods Camp is voluntary, but all SAM economics students are expected to sit a 3 hour exam on Monday August 29, 0900-1200 in order to evaluate if some further tutoring is necessary.

MET528 - Spring 2022 - week I

Mon, 03 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

As of 2022-02-25:

Lectures first week

2022-01-31 (Monday): 1015-1200 in Karl Borch.
2022-02-01 (Tuesday): 1415-1600 in Karl Borch.
2022-02-02 (Wednesday): 1015-1200 in Karl Borch.
2022-02-03 (Thursday): 0815-1000 in Karl Borch.
2022-02-04 (Friday): 1015-1200 in Karl Borch.

Topics and readings

Official course website

These topics won’t map cleanly into lectures, but it summarizes what we’ll aim to cover for this part of the course.

For readings not linked to below, I’ll do my best to make the readings available at the start of the course.

MET528 - Spring 2022 - week II

Mon, 03 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

As of 2022-02-25:

Lectures second week

2022-02-28 (Monday): 1015-1200 in Karl Borch.
2022-03-01 (Tuesday): 1415-1600 in Karl Borch.
2022-03-02 (Wednesday): 1015-1200 in Karl Borch.
2022-03-03 (Thursday): 0815-1000 in Karl Borch.
2022-03-04 (Friday): 1015-1200 in Karl Borch.

Topics and readings

These topics won’t map cleanly into lectures, but it summarizes what we’ll aim to cover for this part of the course.

For readings not linked to below, I’ll do my best to make the readings available at the start of the course.

Method Friday Dec 3, 2021: Precise nulls, negative results and "small effects"

Fri, 03 Dec 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Friday December 3rd was a “Method Friday.” The full title of the topic was “Precise nulls, negative results and small effects: Equivalence tests and consequences for planning the power of studies.”

A reference for this topic is Lakens, Scheel and Isager’s 2018 paper, Equivalence Testing for Psychological Research: A Tutorial.

Computer Friday Nov 19, 2021: Documenting data (FAIR data at FAIR)

Mon, 15 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Background

Demands on data documentation are increasing as more pressure is put on researchers to provide FAIR data, ideally also FAIR data that are openly available. (It is confusing to talk about FAIR data at FAIR, but we’ll have to find a way to live with that.) The data produced from a research product is now often seen as a primary research product, in need of much more resources and attention than it has been afforded previously.

Some FAIR data and open science twitter feeds

Mon, 15 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Marlis put me on to the twitter feed of the AEA data editor, and inspired me to make a list of FAIR data and open science twitter feeds to follow. List may be extended on occasion.

Second week of met528 moved online

Mon, 08 Mar 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Unfortunately, in light of the still quite unstable virus situation, I have decided that the second week of teaching (Mar 15 - Mar 19) will also be online only.

Methods Camp for new PhD students (August 2021)

Sun, 21 Feb 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Last updated August 16, 2021.

Participation in the Methods Camp is voluntary, but all SAM economics students are expected to sit a 3 hour exam immediately after the camp in order to evaluate if some further tutoring is necessary. This exam will take place Monday August 30, from 1200–1500, at your desks.

MET528 - spring 2021 - week I

Sun, 31 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Topics and readings

These topics won’t map cleanly into lectures, but it summarizes what we’ll aim to cover for this part of the course.

For readings not linked to below, I’ll do my best to make the readings available at the start of the course.

Why do we need a philosophy of science? The practical and political problem of “demarcation.”
- Ben Goldacre (2008). “The Doctor will sue you now”, Chapter 10 in Bad Science.
- Alan Sokal (1996). Transgressing the boundaries: Toward a transformative hermenutics of quantum gravity. Social Text 46/47: 217-252.
- Alan Sokal (1996). Transgressing the Boundaries: An Afterword. Dissent 43(4): 93-99.
- John Baez (2006). The Bogdanoff Affair.
Popper and some classical challenges

MET528 - spring 2021 - week II

Sun, 31 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Reading list completed March 14, 2021.

Note: Thursday March 18 we meet 1317-1500 instead of the formerly advertised 1015-1200 (so as not to crash with micro).

Topics and readings

These topics won’t map cleanly into lectures, but it summarizes what we’ll aim to cover for this part of the course.

For readings not linked to below, I’ll do my best to make the readings available at the start of the course.

First week of MET528 moved online

Mon, 25 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

In light of the slightly unstable virus situation, I have decided that the first week of teaching (Feb 1 - Feb 5) will be online only.

MET528 (spring 2021)

Sun, 17 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

The aim is that students should know and discuss the most common arguments made on the knowledge-theoretical grounding of scientific practice in economics and related fields such as finance and management science. The practice of science is also a social practice and we attempt to turn our social science perspective on this practice. The course also introduces students to the most relevant topics in the ethics of social science research in our disciplines.

Third attempt at Computer Friday meeting on version control

Wed, 25 Mar 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The Corona virus will be with us for some time to come. We cannot let it stop us from getting going with Computer Friday. Friday March 27 we’ll attempt an online workshop. Given the success of the first online Choice Lab coffee meeting, the plan is to run it through Microsoft Teams, at 1400. I’ll arrange that you get an invitation to a meeting you can click on. The topic of the day will be version control, in particular the subversion system that Choice Lab researchers have been using since 2007.

Computer Friday: New attempt at version control meeting

Wed, 11 Mar 2020 00:00:00 +0000

CANCELLED BECAUSE OF CORONA VIRUS CONCERNS! Last Friday we had some technical issues. We won’t let that hold us back, and there will be a new attempt on Friday March 13 – in FAIR-1. The topic of the day will be version control, in particular the subversion system that Choice Lab researchers have been using since 2007.

From the manual for subversion:

Subversion is a free/open source version control system (VCS). That is, Subversion manages files and directories, and the changes made to them, over time. This allows you to recover older versions of your data, or examine the history of how your data changed. In this regard, many people think of a version control system as a sort of “time machine.”

A new regular event at FAIR -- Computer Friday

Wed, 04 Mar 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Computer Friday is a new regular event at FAIR: Every Friday at 1400, all FAIR members and guests are invited to join for a workshop and/or lecture that is intended to develop functional literacy with both specific and general purpose computer technologies. The specific lectures and workshops will introduce and teach infrastructure and software technologies of use in our research practice, such as version control, survey software, frameworks for programming experiments, software to control disclosure of personal data and such. The general purpose technologies we will cover over a longer time horizon will be general programming skills, databases, maybe network concepts.

First computer Friday: Version control

Wed, 04 Mar 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Friday March 6 we’ll have the first Computer Friday meeting – in FAIR-1. The topic of the day will be version control, in particular the subversion system that Choice Lab researchers have been using since 2007.

From the manual for subversion:

Subversion is a free/open source version control system (VCS). That is, Subversion manages files and directories, and the changes made to them, over time. This allows you to recover older versions of your data, or examine the history of how your data changed. In this regard, many people think of a version control system as a sort of “time machine.”

Methods Camp for new PhD students (August 2020)

Mon, 27 Jan 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Participation in the Methods Camp is voluntary, but all economics students are expected to sit a 3 hour exam immediately after the camp in order to evaluate if some further tutoring is necessary.

MET528 (spring 2020)

Sun, 19 Jan 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The aim is that students should know and discuss the most common arguments made on the knowledge-theoretical grounding of scientific practice in economics and related fields such as finance and management science. The practice of science is also a social practice and we attempt to turn our social science perspective on this practice. The course also introduces the students to the most relevant topics in the ethics of social science research in our disciplines.

MET528 (spring 2020): First part of the course

Sun, 19 Jan 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Topics and readings

These topics won’t map cleanly into lectures, but it summarizes what we’ll aim to cover for this part of the course.

For readings not linked to below, I’ll do my best to make the readings available at the start of the course.

Why do we need a philosophy of science? The practical and political problem of Demarcation, and the proposed solution of Karl Popper.
- Ben Goldacre (2008). “The Doctor will sue you now”, Chapter 10 in Bad Science.
- Alan Sokal (1996). Transgressing the boundaries: Toward a transformative hermenutics of quantum gravity. Social Text 46/47: 217-252.
- Alan Sokal (1996). Transgressing the Boundaries: An Afterword. Dissent 43(4): 93-99.
- John Baez (2006). The Bogdanoff Affair.
Popper, with some classical challenges
- * Samir Okasha (2002). Philosophy of Science: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press.
- * Larry Laudan (1983). “The Demise of the Demarcation Problem.” In Cohen, R. S. & Laudan, L. (Eds.), Physics, Philosophy and Psychoanalysis: Essays in Honor of Adolf Grünbaum, D. Reidel Publishing Company, 111-127.
- H. M. Collins (1983). The Sociology of Scientific Knowledge: Studies of Contemporary Science. Annual Review of Sociology, 9: 265-285.
Scientific explanations
- * Joseph Heath (2005). Methodological Individualism. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2005 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.)
- Emile Durkheim (1938). Social Facts. Reprinted in M&M, page 433-440.
- * Kevin Hoover (2009) Microfoundations and the Ontology of Macroeconomics. in Harold Kincaid and Donald Ross, editors, Oxford Handbook of the Philosoph of Economic Science. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009; ch. 14, pp. 386-409.
Causality and economic explanations
- The JASA debate on causality
  - * Paul W. Holland (1986). Statistics and Causal Inference. Journal of American Statistical Association, 81(396): 945-960.
  - Donald B. Rubin (1986). Statistics and Causal Inference: Comment: Which Ifs Have Causal Answers. Journal of American Statistical Association, 81(396): 961-962.
  - D. R. Cox (1986). Statistics and Causal Inference: Comment. Journal of American Statistical Association, 81(396): 963-964.
  - Clark Glymour (1986). Statistics and Causal Inference: Comment: Statistics and Metaphysics. Journal of American Statistical Association, 81(396): 964-966.
  - Clive Granger (1986). Statistics and Causal Inference: Comment. Journal of American Statistical Association, 81(396): 967-968.
  - Paul W. Holland (1986). Statistics and Causal Inference: Rejoinder. Journal of American Statistical Association, 81(396): 967-968.
- * James J. Heckman (2008). Econometric Causality International Statistical Review, 76(1): 1-27.
Statistical and scientific practice
- * Milton Friedman (1953). The Methododology of Positive Economics. Reprinted in M&M, page 647-660.
- * John H. Cochrane (1989). The Sensitivity of Tests of the Intertemporal Allocation of Consumption to Near-Rational Alternatives. American Economic Review, 79(3): 319-337.
- John P.A. Ioannidis (2005). Why Most Published Research Findings Are False. PLoS Med, 2(8): 696-701.
- Simonsohn, Uri; Nelson, Leif D.; Simmons, Joseph P. (2014). J. P-Curve: A Key to the File Drawer, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 143(2), 534-547.
- * Christensen, Garret, and Edward Miguel (2018). Transparency, Reproducibility, and the Credibility of Economics Research. Journal of Economic Literature, 56(3): 920-80.
- Dale J. Poirier (1988). Frequentist and Subjectivist Perspectives on the Problems of Model Building in Economics. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2(1): 121-144.

MET528 (spring 2020): Second part of the course

Sun, 19 Jan 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Topics and readings

These topics won’t map cleanly into lectures, but it summarizes what we’ll aim to cover for this part of the course.

For readings not linked to below, I’ll do my best to make the readings available at the start of the course.

The ethics of research and policy advice
- * National guidelines for research ethics in the social sciences, law and humanities.
Economists making things happen
- * Michel Callon (2007). What Does It Mean to Say That Economics Is Performative? Chapter 11, p. 311-357 of Do Economists make Markets (ed by MacKenzie, Muniesa and Siu), Princeton University Press.
- Gerald R. Faulhaber and William J. Baumol (1988). Economists as Innovators: Practical Products of Theoretical Research, Journal of Economic Literature, 26(2), 577-600.
- * Ferraro et al (2005). Economics Language and Assumptions: How Theories can Become Self-Fulfilling. Academy of Management Research. 30(1), 8-24.
- Luigi Zingales (2013). Preventing Economists’ Capture. In Preventing Regulatory Capture: Special Interest Influence and How to Limit it. Edited by Daniel Carpenter and David Moss.
The history of a scientific subject These readings are not selected only for their contents, but for the different approaches to writing intellectual history they represent.

What Explains the Gender Gap in College Track Dropout? Experimental and Administrative Evidence

Thu, 12 May 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Sammen med kollegaer har jeg et notat i årets utgave av American Economic Review (Papers and Proceedings), om “What Explains the Gender Gap in College Track Dropout? Experimental and Administrative Evidence”. Med Ingvild Almås, Alexander W. Cappelen, Kjell G. Salvanes og Bertil Tungodden.

Sammendrag:

We exploit a unique data set, combining rich experimental data with high-quality administrative data, to study dropout from the college track in Norway, and why boys are more likely to drop out. The paper provides three main findings. First, we show that family background and personal characteristics contribute to explain dropout. Second, we show that the gender difference in dropout rates appears both when the adolescents select into the college track and after they have started. Third, we show that different processes guide the choices of the boys and the girls of whether to drop out from the college track.

Erik Ø. Sørensen

Thu, 05 May 2016 21:48:51 -0700

I am a professor of Economics at NHH Norwegian School of Economics. You can contact me at: erik.sorensen@nhh.no.

I trained as a labour economist, specializing in human capital accumulation. More recently, I have been using experiments to work on models of social preferences and on how to adapt stochastic choice models to such models. I have a strong interest in software infrastructure for supporting research in economics.

C-programming for economists

Fri, 20 Feb 2015 00:00:00 +0000

The C Programming Language is the book you need on C, nothing compares to this book. One of the best written non-fiction books I know. Clear, with realistic examples, and a useful reference to the library. And it is surprisingly brief: This is not one of the huge tomes that use bulk for advertising. Programmers know that this is the most important book on C. Buy this book. I keep one copy at work and one at home.

Om å tenke som en 12-åring

Mon, 29 Sep 2014 00:00:00 +0000

I dag har vi et leserinnlegg i Dagens Næringsliv for å klare opp misforståelser i samme avis i forrige uke, hvor Forbrukerrådets Jorge Jensen brukte vår forskning til støtte for at dem som gjerne pruter på boliglån burde belønnes med lavere rente. (I etterkant av vårt innlegg har DN enda et oppslag hvor Forbrukerrådet står på sitt.)

Her er teksten:

I Dagens Næringsliv 25. september kommenterer underdirektør Jorge Jensen i Forbrukerrådet BN Banks politikk om å gi alle boliglånskunder den samme lånerenten. Jensen hevder både at en slik rentepolitikk er barnslig urettferdig, og at vår forskning ved Norges Handelshøyskole støtter denne tolkningen. Det første er en tvilsom moralsk vurdering, det siste er definitivt feil.

Ingen fusjon mellom NHH og UiB nå?

Sat, 30 Aug 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Nå ser det ut som om muligheten for å få til en fusjon mellom Norges Handelshøyskole og universitetet i Bergen dessverre har gått tapt for denne gang. Forslaget har møtt en skråsikker motstand i media fra folk identifisert med NHH. Viserektor Helge Thorbjørnsen slår an en nesten harselerende tone om “frieriet” fra universitetet. Argumentene mot sammenslåing er blanda og diffuse. Jeg har ikke lett for å forstå hvordan en sammenslåing med universitetet ville gjøre det vanskeligere å rekruttere “glitrende professorer i regnskap, revisjon og finans.” Thorbjørnsen trekker også fram at handelshøyskoler må være autonome for å bli akkrediterte, men dette har de tydeligvis klart å løse på andre institusjoner: NHH er stolt over sin EQUIS- akkreditering - og de fleste EQUIS-akkrediterte institusjoner er handelshøyskoler som også er del av universiteter.

Ikke enorme virkninger av ROT fradrag likevel

Fri, 20 Jun 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Tidligere denne uka kunne en lese i Dagens Næringsliv at Virke hadde utreda seg til at staten ville få 70 mrd økte skatteinntekter dersom vi innførte ROT-fradrag.

Spent på hvordan Virke kunne ha kommet til å så friskt anslag tok jeg kontakt med Virke for å be om en kopi av utredninga deres. Litt mail-veksling med en hyggelig kar hos Virke avdekka at anslaget på 70 milliarder er FAFOs anslag for hvor mye svart arbeid det utføres i Norge, basert på en antakelse om at det er like mye svart arbeid i Norge som i Sverige (Andersen, Eldring og Røed Steen 2014, s. 20), og at det var media som hadde overdrevet og gjort dette til et anslag på økte skatteinntekter fra et ROT-fradrag.

Lærer økonomer av sine feil?

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Finanskriser ser ut til å komme og gå uten at det får konsekvenser for hvordan økonomer tenker om faget sitt.

Økonomer er ute av stand til å varsle finanskriser, valutakurser, boligpriser og flere andre fenomener mange er opptatt av. Det bekymrer oss i svært liten grad. Mens det nok finnes stemmer som mener den siste tidas kriser burde få faget til å gå i seg selv, er vi økonomer flest såre fornøyd med situasjonen. Det virker provoserende på mange, for det ser ut som om økonomer nekter å lære av sine feil.

Kuratering av datasett

Sun, 29 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Steve Easterbrook har skrevet en lang og interessant blogpost om et initiativ til et massivt nytt arkiv for historiske temperaturdata. Før en har tenkt seg ordentlig om virker det som noe som burde være en overkommelig jobb. Alle observasjoner har en temperatur, geografiske koordinater og et tidspunkt?

Men http://www.surfacetemperatures.org/ satser mer fundamentalt enn som så. De har ambisjon om å arkivere data på flere forskjellige nivåer:

instrumentlesinger, kanskje i form av scan av håndskrevne papir-logger
Data slik de ble skrevet inn i lokalt format
Data konvertert til et felles format
Data konsolidert i “databank”.
Kvalitetskontrollert avleda produkt, korrigert for skjevheter ved målestasjonene.
Homogenisert ferdig produkt, interpolert, i et felles koordinatsystem osv..

Og de ønsker å dokumentere hvordan høyere-nivå former av data avhenger av lavere-nivå former.

Marc Hauser tatt for fusk?

Sat, 21 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Marc Hauser, en av de mest prominente forskerne på hvordan moral kanskje er et naturlig instinkt hos mennesker og aper, og forfatter av Moral Minds: The nature of right and wrong, ser ut til å være tatt i forskningsfusk. Men det er ikke klokkeklart nøyaktig hva Hauser har gjort, i følge Harvard (som har etterforsket i tre år!) dreier det seg om:

data acquisition, data analysis, data retention, and the reporting of research methodologies and results.

Ekteskapsmarkeder, sosialhjelp og alenemødre - totalmodellen

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Radarparet Mike Keane og Ken Wolpin har ny artikkel ute om utdanning og karrierevalg over livssyklen, “The Role of Labor and Marriage Markets, Preference Heterogeneity, and the Welfare System in the Life Cycle Decisions of Black, Hispanic, and White women”. Mye på en gang. Bakgrunner er den store bekymringen, særlig fra høyresida i USA, for at unge svarte kvinner ender opp som ugifte stønadsavhengige tenåringsmødre fordi sosialhjelpsystemet oppfordrer til det eller pga fattigdoms-kulturer som gjør dem passive.

Jonas Bendiksen: Om å bo og arbeide i slum

Wed, 04 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Politikkanalyse med utrolig overbevisning

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Charles Manski (North Western University), en av mine største helter, har et nytt NBER arbeidsnotat ute om Policy Analysis With Incredible Certitude. Manski skjelner mellom analytiske praksiser som er ulogiske (illogical) og dem som er utrolige (incredible). De utrolige praksisene forsøker å konkludere fra forutsetninger og data til konklusjoner om konsekvenser av politikk på overdrevent selvsikkert vis. Manskis posisjon, utarbeida gjennom mange bøker og artikler, er at “the credibility of inference decreases with the strength of the assumptions maintained”, og at vi i mange tilfeller burde nøye oss med å påpeke skiller mellom hva som er mulig under rimelige forutsetninger og hva som er umulig (også i boka Social Choice with Partial Knowledge of Treatment Response).

Visvas: nødvendige kriser

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Knut Olav Åmås skriver et hyllningsskrift i Aftenposten til bullshitteren Richard Florida (geograf ?). Det gjør han av og til med ujevne mellomrom (feks i 2005 og 2008). Florida er overbevist om at det er en ny, bohem-aktig, kreativ, tolerant og urban klasse som er veien framover til vekst og velstand. Nå ser det ikke ut som om Florida har mye nytt å komme med nå heller: Folk burde bo tett i store byer, kunnskap og ideer blir viktigere osv…

Er det egentlige klimaproblemet kulturelitens diskontering av framtida?

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0000

I siste utgave av Nytt Norsk Tidsskrift, av den nye redaktøren eksplisitt stilet til “kultureliten”, skriver Olav Gjelsvik, professor i filosofi ved Universitetet i Oslo om hvor lite reflekterte økonomer er i forhold til klimaspørsmålet (“Tenke langt og handle rett”, Nytt Norsk Tidsskrift, 27(1-2), s 22-31).

Foranledningen er at et utvalg nedsatt av det britiske finansministeriet, ledet økonomen Nicholas Stern (LSE), har konkludert at vi må gjøre mer for å svare på klimautfordringene enn det noen, men ikke alle, økonomer har hevdet før. Gjelsvik identifiser, antakelig helt korrekt, spørsmålet om tidspreferanseraten som den sentrale uenigheten. Stern-rapporten har satt denne nær null, dvs. at nytte i framtida skal gis nesten like stor vekt som nytte i dag, og flere økonomer mener det er for lavt i forhold til markedsatferd.

Dagbladet og størrelsen på den svarte økonomien

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Dagbladet fokuserer på økonomisk kriminalitet i sommer, og hevder det har dukket opp nye “Sjokktall om norske mafiapenger”, og at en nå må oppjustere anslaget på den svarte økonomien fra 5 til 15 prosent av nasjonalproduktet. Det er Friedrich Schneider ved Johannes Kepler universitetet i Linz som har levert de nye tallene, og leder for skattekrim øst, Jan-Egil Kristiansen mener det er “overraskende og oppsiktsvekkende”. Jeg synes det er minst like oppsiktsvekkende at svart-arbeidende norske håndverkere tydeligvis har organisert seg som en mafia.