Bruno Frey
Encyclopedia
Bruno S. Frey in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
) is a Swiss economist
Economist
An economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...
and a professor at the University of Zurich
University of Zurich
The University of Zurich , located in the city of Zurich, is the largest university in Switzerland, with over 25,000 students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of theology, law, medicine and a new faculty of philosophy....
. He may be best known for his critique of Homo economicus
Homo economicus
Homo economicus, or Economic human, is the concept in some economic theories of humans as rational and narrowly self-interested actors who have the ability to make judgments toward their subjectively defined ends...
or economic man, arguing that it places excessive emphasis on extrinsic motivation rather than intrinsic motivation. Frey has written, co-written or edited more than a dozen books and has written more than 350 journal articles, mostly in economics journals, but also in political science, sociology and psychology. In 2011, Frey was criticised for and admitted to self-plagiarism on his work relating to the Titanic disaster.
Career
He studied economics at the University of BaselUniversity of Basel
The University of Basel is located in Basel, Switzerland, and is considered to be one of leading universities in the country...
, obtaining a doctorate in economics in 1965. In 1969 he was appointed as an associate professor of economics at the University of Basel. From 1970 to 1977, he was a full professor of public finance at the University of Konstanz
University of Konstanz
The University of Konstanz is a university in the city of Konstanz in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It was founded in 1966, and the main campus on the Gießberg was opened in 1972. As one of nine German Excellence Universities today University of Konstanz is counted among Germany's most prestigious...
in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. Frey was appointed as a full professor of economics at the Institute for Empirical Research in Economics (IEW) of the University of Zurich
University of Zurich
The University of Zurich , located in the city of Zurich, is the largest university in Switzerland, with over 25,000 students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of theology, law, medicine and a new faculty of philosophy....
(UZH) in 1977.
Frey was also appointed managing editor of Kyklos
Kyklos
The Kyklos is a term used by some classical Greek authors to describe what they saw as the political cycle of governments in a society. It was roughly based on the history of Greek city-states in the same period. The concept of "The Kyklos" is first elaborated in Plato's Republic, chapters VIII...
, a Swiss journal on political economy
Political economy
Political economy originally was the term for studying production, buying, and selling, and their relations with law, custom, and government, as well as with the distribution of national income and wealth, including through the budget process. Political economy originated in moral philosophy...
, in 1969. He maintains that position to this day.
His first book, Umweltökonomie (Environmental Economics), was published in Göttingen
Göttingen
Göttingen is a university town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Göttingen. The Leine river runs through the town. In 2006 the population was 129,686.-General information:...
in 1972. During his career, he has been a prolific author, publishing hundreds of articles in economics as well as in a number of different fields including sociology, political science, and psychology. Some of his work has reached the top journals of the economics profession, such as The Journal of Political Economy and the American Economic Review
American Economic Review
The American Economic Review is a peer-reviewed academic journal of economics publishing seven issues annually by the American Economic Association. First published in 1911, it is considered one of the most prestigious journals in the field. The current editor-in-chief is Penny Goldberg . The...
. He is one of the most cited authors in economics according to [Research Papers in Economics]].
Self-plagiarism
During 2010 and 2011, Bruno Frey, along with coauthors Benno Torgler and David Savage, had four of their articles concerning the Titanic disaster published in academic journals: “Behavior under Extreme Conditions: The Titanic Disaster.” in the Journal of Economic Perspectives, “Interaction of natural survival instincts and internalized social norms exploring the Titanic and Lusitania disasters.” in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, “Noblesse oblige? Determinants of survival in a life-and-death situation.” in the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organizations, and “Who perished on the Titanic? The importance of social norms.” in Rationality and Society. Soon after these articles began to get published, several weblogs reported on a possible violation of academic integrity by Bruno Frey and his coauthors concerning these works.On May 3, 2011, editor of the Journal of Economic Perspectives
Journal of Economic Perspectives
The Journal of Economic Perspectives is an economic journal published by the American Economic Association. The journal is very broad in its scope...
David Autor wrote a letter to Bruno Frey stating that he was informed of this possible self-plagiarism by his readers, and that previously he had only been aware of one of Frey's other articles concerning the Titanic Disaster. Frey offered his apologies to David Autor in a public letter, accepting the charges and asking the editor not to punish junior author David Savage who was a PhD student of Benno Torgler at the time.
For this offence, Bruno Frey, Benno Torgler, and David Savage were placed on a list of plagiarism offenders at Research Papers in Economics
Research Papers in Economics
Research Papers in Economics is a collaborative effort of hundreds of volunteers in 57 countries to enhance the dissemination of research in economics. The heart of the project is a decentralized database of working papers, preprints, journal articles and software components. The project started...
.
Selected Bibliography
- Bruno S. Frey & Stephan Meier, 2004. "Social Comparisons and Pro-social Behavior: Testing "Conditional Cooperation" in a Field Experiment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(5), pages 1717-1722, December.
- Frey, Bruno S & Oberholzer-Gee, Felix, 1997. "The Cost of Price Incentives: An Empirical Analysis of Motivation Crowding-Out," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(4), pages 746-55, September.
- Frey, Bruno S, et al, 1984. "Consensus and Dissension among Economists: An Empirical Inquiry," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 74(5), pages 986-94, December
- Frey, Bruno S & Oberholzer-Gee, Felix & Eichenberger, Reiner, 1996. "The Old Lady Visits Your Backyard: A Tale of Morals and Markets," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 104(6), pages 1297-1313, December.
A complete list of his articles, books, chapters, and other writings can be found here.
Academic honours
- 1965: Genossenschaftspreis of the philosophical-historical Faculty of the University of Basle
- 1996: Vernon Prize 1996 of the Association for Public Policy and Management United States of America
- 1998: Honorary doctorate of the University St. Gallen (Switzerland) and the University of Goeteborg (Sweden)
- 2005: Distinguished CESifo Fellow
- 2005: Academic Affiliate, Judge School of Business, Cambridge University (UK)
- 2007: Gustav Stolper-Prize, of the Verein für SocialpolitikVerein für SocialpolitikThe Verein für Socialpolitik is an important society of economists in the German-speaking area. The Society, which covers all branches of economics was founded in 1873. Among its members were eminent economists like Gustav von Schmoller and Adolph Wagner.It annually awards the Gossen Prize to...
- 2008: Friedrich von Wieser-Prize, Prague Conference on Political Economy
- 2009: Honorary doctorate of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgium)
- 2010: Honorary doctorate of the Université Paul Cézanne Aix-Marseille III (France)
- 2011: Honorary doctorate of the University Innsbruck (Austria)