Professor Benno Torgler

Faculty of Business & Law,
School of Economics & Finance
Biography
Benno Torgler is Professor of Economics in the School of Economics and Finance, QUT. He was also Adjunct Professor at the EBS Universität für Wirtschaft und Recht, Germany (2012-2015) and an ARC Future Fellow (2011-2015). Before coming to QUT he was:- a Research Affiliate and Lecturer - MacMillan Center, Leitner Program in International and Comparative Political Economy - Yale University
- a Visiting Scholar - Law and Economics Program - University of California-Berkeley
- a Visiting Scholar - Andrew Young School of Policy Studies - Georgia State University.
Research interests His primary research interest lies in the area of economics, but he has also published in journals with a political science, social psychology, sociology and biology focus.
- Behavioral and experimental economics
- Non-market economics
- Illegal activities (e.g., tax evasion, corruption, shadow economy, money laundering)
- Sportometrics
- Public finance
- Political economy and public policy
- Law and economics
- Environmental economics
- Sociology/economics of science.
Media Response His work has appeared in more than 300 newspapers and (scientific) magazines worldwide, including:
- TIME magazine
- New York Times
- Wall Street Journal
- The New Yorker
- Boston Globe
- Los Angeles Times
- ScienceNews
- SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN
- Wired
- Discover Magazine
- Washington Post
- Spiegel
- VanityFair
Selected Media Coverage
Wall Street Journal: The Clark Medal’s Midas Touch
The New Yorker: Dodger Mania- Boston Globe: Sperm Donation Finds Online Market
Wired: Climbing in the Himalaya? Rope up Wisely
TIME magazine: Titanic vs. Lusitania: How People Behave in a Disaster
New York Times: How the Men Reacted as the Titanic and Lusitania Went Under
Scientific American: Sinking Ships Imply Altruism Takes Time
Personal details
Positions
- Professor
Faculty of Business & Law,
School of Economics & Finance
Discipline
Applied Economics
Field of Research code, Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2008
Qualifications
- Ph.D
Professional memberships and associations
- Since 2015 Elected Member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts.
- Since 2015 Fellow of the Centre for Emergency and Disaster Management (Community Research Fellow).
- Since 2015 Member of the Lions Club of Brisbane Central.
- Since 2013, Fellow of the CESifo Research Network in Germany.
- Since 2008 Board Member of the National Centre for Econometric Research (NCER) in Australia.
- Since 2004 Research Fellow at the Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA) in Switzerland.
Selected publications
- Koessler A, Torgler B, Feld L, Frey B, (2019) Commitment to pay taxes: Results from field and laboratory experiments, European Economic Review, 115, pp. 78-98.
- Whyte S, Chan B, Torgler B, (2018) Do men and women know what they want? Sex differences in online daters' educational preferences, Psychological Science, 29 (8), pp. 1370-1375.
- Dulleck U, Fooken J, Newton C, Ristl A, Schaffner M, Torgler B, (2016) Tax compliance and psychic costs: Behavioral experimental evidence using a physiological marker, Journal of Public Economics, 134, pp. 9-18.
- Morton R, Muller D, Page L, Torgler B, (2015) Exit polls, turnout, and bandwagon voting: Evidence from a natural experiment, European Economic Review, 77, pp. 65-81.
- Pagan A, Torgler B, (2015) Use '4Rs' criteria to assess papers [Correspondence], Nature, 522, pp. 34.
- Page L, Savage D, Torgler B, (2014) Variation in risk seeking behaviour following large losses: A natural experiment, European Economic Review, 71, pp. 121-131.
- Torgler B, Piatti M, (2013) A century of American Economic Review: insight and analysis of critical success factors in journal publishing, Palgrave Macmillan UK.
- Chan H, Torgler B, (2013) Science prizes: Time-lapsed awards for excellence, Nature, 500 (7460), pp. 29.
- Frey B, Savage D, Torgler B, (2010) Interaction of natural survival instincts and internalized social norms exploring the Titanic and Lusitania disasters, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 107 (11), pp. 4862-4865.
- Schaltegger C, Torgler B, (2007) Government accountability and fiscal discipline: A panel analysis using Swiss data, Journal of Public Economics, 91 (1-2), pp. 117-140.
QUT ePrints
For more publications by Benno, explore their research in QUT ePrints (our digital repository).
Awards
- Type
- Recipient of a Nationally Competitive Research Fellowship
- Reference year
- 2011
- Details
- Fellowship Type: ARC Principal Research FellowshipProject Title: The Role of Moral Sentiments and Emotions in Human Nature: An Interdisciplinary Empirical ApproachExternal Reference : FT110100463Years Awarded: 2011-2015Total Funding Awarded: $861,766
Research projects
- Title
- Scientist Career Path: An Explorative Analysis
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- DP180101169
- Start year
- 2018
- Keywords
- Title
- Microeconomic Impacts of Australian Natural Disasters
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- 78632294
- Start year
- 2017
- Keywords
- Title
- Incentivizing Attendance and Performance at School: A Field Experiment
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- 78382271
- Start year
- 2016
- Keywords
- Title
- The Role of Moral Sentiments and Emotions in Human Nature: An Interdisciplinary Empirical Approach
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- FT110100463
- Start year
- 2011
- Keywords
- Emotions; Experiments; Moral Sentiments
- Title
- Determining Urban Water Conservation And Management Strategies: A Novel Approach Using Field Experiment And Survey Data
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- DP0988254
- Start year
- 2009
- Keywords
- Urban Water Conservation; Demand Side Management Instruments; Behavioural Economics; Environmental Psychology; Public Acceptability; Field Experiments
- Title
- Should Rational Individuals Be Optimistic? Theory, Survey Evidence, Experimental Evidence, And Policy Implications.
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- DP0987840
- Start year
- 2009
- Keywords
- Behavioural Economics; Experiments; Information Management; Expectations; Surveys; Data Analysis
- Title
- Using Heart Rate Variability Measurements To Identify The Effects Of Stress On Decision Making
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- LP0884074
- Start year
- 2008
- Keywords
- Experimental Economics; Neuroeconomics; Organizational Design
Supervision
Current supervisions
- Collective Impact: Closing the Gap in educational outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Queensland
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Associate Professor Bronwyn Ewing, Professor Grace Sarra
Completed supervisions (Doctorate)
- Beyond Deterrence: An Empirical and Experimental Analysis of Tax Compliance Behaviour in Indonesia (2017)
- Essays on Top Scholars: A Scientometrics Approach (2017)
- An empirical examination of the consequences of national pride: analyses of survey and experimental data (2015)
- Essays in the Political Economy of Voting and Reforms (2014)
- Decision making under pressure: A behavioural economics perspective (2013)
- The Importance of Individual Characteristics in Experimental Economic Research (2013)
- Behavioural Evidence for Social Preferences (2011)