Welcome to my website! I am a professor of Empirical Microeconomics at Leuphana University Lüneburg and Vice-Dean for Research of Leuphana’s School of Public Affairs.
I am the lead-PI of a Research Cluster on Behavioral Economics and Societal Transformation, funded by the VolkswagenStiftung and the Ministry for Science and Culture of Lower Saxony. As part of the cluster, we operate the Niedersachsenpanel, a population-representative participant pool comprising >5000 individuals who take part in economic experiments and surveys.
My research lies at the intersection of Applied Microeconomics and Behavioral Economics. I am particularly interested in social identity, environmental and sustainability economics, digitalization and artificial intelligence, and labor and personnel economics. My work is primarily empirical and combines experimental and observational methods to study individual decision-making and its implications for markets and public policy.
Recent news
News Archive
Research
Research interests
Representative publications
Smartphone Bans and Workplace Performance
Chadi, Adrian, Mario Mechtel and Vanessa Mertins (2022) · Experimental Economics 25, 287–317
Distributional Effects of Carbon Pricing by Transport Fuel Taxation
Jacobs, Leif, Lara Quack and Mario Mechtel (2022) · Energy Economics 114, 106290
The Structure and Behavioral Effects of Revealed Social Identity Preferences
Hett, Florian, Mario Mechtel and Markus Kröll (2020) · Economic Journal 130(632), 2569–2595
Do Children Cooperate Conditionally? Adapting the Strategy Method for First-Graders
Hermes, Henning, Florian Hett, Mario Mechtel, Felix Schmidt, Daniel Schunk and Valentin Wagner (2020) · Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 179, 638–652
Social Identity and Social Free-Riding
Bernard, Mark, Florian Hett and Mario Mechtel (2016) · European Economic Review 90, 4–17
Conspicuous Consumption and Political Regimes: Evidence from East and West Germany
Friehe, Tim and Mario Mechtel (2014) · European Economic Review 67, 62–81
Full publication list
Tohoff, Lukas and Mario Mechtel (2025) · Journal of Sports Economics 26(5), 499–542
Competition and Moral Behavior: A Meta-Analysis of Forty-Five Crowd-Sourced Experimental Designs
Huber, Christoph, Anna Dreber et al. incl. Mario Mechtel (2023) · PNAS 120(23), e2215572120
Distributional Effects of Carbon Pricing by Transport Fuel Taxation
Jacobs, Leif, Lara Quack and Mario Mechtel (2022) · Energy Economics 114, 106290
Smartphone Bans and Workplace Performance
Chadi, Adrian, Mario Mechtel and Vanessa Mertins (2022) · Experimental Economics 25, 287–317
Do Nonprofessional Investors Value the Assurance of Integrated Reports?
Gerwanski, Jannik, Mario Mechtel and Patrick Velte (2022) · European Management Journal 40(1), 103–126
The Structure and Behavioral Effects of Revealed Social Identity Preferences
Hett, Florian, Mario Mechtel and Markus Kröll (2020) · Economic Journal 130(632), 2569–2595
Do Children Cooperate Conditionally?
Hermes, Henning, Florian Hett, Mario Mechtel et al. (2020) · Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 179, 638–652
The Effect of a Ban on Late-Night Off-Premise Alcohol Sales on Violent Crime
Baumann, Florian, Achim Buchwald, Tim Friehe, Hanna Hottenrott and Mario Mechtel (2019) · International Review of Law and Economics 60, 105850
The Impact of Peer Presence on Cheating
Bäker, Agnes and Mario Mechtel (2019) · Economic Inquiry 57(2), 792–812
Registered Replication Report on Mazar, Amir, and Ariely (2008)
Verschuere, Bruno, Ewout H. Meijer, Mario Mechtel et al. (2018) · Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science 1(3), 299–317
Registered Replication Report on Srull and Wyer (1979)
McCarthy, Randy J., John J. Skowronski, Mario Mechtel et al. (2018) · Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science 1(3), 321–336
Positional Income Concerns and Personality
Friehe, Tim, Mario Mechtel and Markus Pannenberg (2018) · Applied Economics Letters 25(14), 1024–1028
The Role of Task Meaning on Output in Groups: Experimental Evidence
Bäker, Agnes and Mario Mechtel (2018) · Managerial and Decision Economics 39(2), 131–141
Gambling to Leapfrog in Status?
Friehe, Tim and Mario Mechtel (2017) · Review of Economics of the Household 15(4), 1291–1319
Social Identity and Social Free-Riding
Bernard, Mark, Florian Hett and Mario Mechtel (2016) · European Economic Review 90, 4–17
Conspicuous Consumption and Political Regimes: Evidence from East and West Germany
Friehe, Tim and Mario Mechtel (2014) · European Economic Review 67, 62–81
It's the Occupation, Stupid! Explaining Candidates' Success in Low-Information Local Elections
Mechtel, Mario (2014) · European Journal of Political Economy 33, 53–70
Electoral Cycles in Active Labor Market Policies
Mechtel, Mario and Niklas Potrafke (2013) · Public Choice 156(1–2), 181–194
How Much do Others Matter? Explaining Positional Concerns for Different Goods
Hillesheim, Inga and Mario Mechtel (2013) · Journal of Economic Psychology 34, 61–77
Beating Thy Neighbor: Derby Effects in German Professional Soccer
Bäker, Agnes, Mario Mechtel and Karin Vetter (2012) · Journal of Economics and Statistics 232(3), 224–246
Red Cards: Not Such Bad News for Penalized Guest Teams
Mechtel, Mario, Agnes Bäker, Tobias Brändle and Karin Vetter (2011) · Journal of Sports Economics 12(6), 621–646
Employment Protection and Temporary Work Agencies
Baumann, Florian, Mario Mechtel and Nikolai Stähler (2011) · LABOUR 25(3), 308–329
Recent working papers
Markets, Consumer Social Responsibility, and Group IdentityR&R Experimental Economics
Abellán, Miguel, Mario Mechtel, Fabian Paetzel and Christoph Schütt
Access is not Usage: Selection, Take-Up and the Impact of LLM AssistanceUnder review
Lohse, Johannes, Mario Mechtel and Mark Praet
Markets, Social Responsibility and the Replacement ExcuseUnder review
Abellán, Miguel, Janina Kraus and Mario Mechtel
Consumer Social Responsibility in Experimental Markets with(out) SellersUnder review
Abellán, Miguel and Mario Mechtel
How Workplace Humor Affects Impressions of Technical and Relational CompetenceUnder review
Bäker, Agnes and Mario Mechtel
Demand Reactions to Carbon Pricing and Dynamic Distributional EffectsForthcoming submission
Mechtel, Mario and Lara Quack
Ongoing research
An Experimental Test of the Behavioral Effects of Climate Protection PoliciesIn progress
Gleuwitz, Nissen and Mario Mechtel
Students' AI Literacy and Causal Evidence on the Productivity Effects of AI UseIn progress
Hammer, Siegfried, Johannes Lohse, Mario Mechtel and Mark Praet
Others' Perception of Your Being Ahead: The Role of InformationIn progress
Friehe, Tim and Mario Mechtel
Determinants of the Relative Importance of Social Identity and Individual Status ConsiderationsIn progress
Friehe, Tim, David D. Loschelder and Mario Mechtel
Social Identity and VotingIn progress
Denter, Philipp and Mario Mechtel
Bio & CV
Academic positions
Education
Grants & funding
Scholarships & awards
Teaching
Leuphana University Lüneburg (since 2015)
Principles of Economics (BA)
Lecture & tutorial · Winter terms 21/22, 22/23, 24/25, 25/26
Microeconomics 1 / Mikroökonomik 1 (BA)
Lecture · Summer terms 16–18 (English) / Summer terms 19–26 (German)
Microeconomics 2 / Mikroökonomik 2 (BA)
Lecture · Summer terms 17–19 (English) / Summer terms 20–26 (German)
Behavioral Economics (BA)
Lecture & tutorial · Summer term 16 – Winter term 25/26
Behavioral Public Economics (MA)
Seminar · Summer term 19 – Winter term 25/26
Experimental Methods (MA)
Seminar · Summer terms 25-26
Grundlagen der Finanzwissenschaft (BA)
Lecture & tutorial · Winter terms 18/19 – 21/22
Microeconomics for Non-Economists (MA)
Lecture · Winter terms 17/18 – 21/22
Experimental Economics (PhD)
Lecture · Summer term 25
Publishing in Economics (PhD)
Lecture · Winter term 25/26
University of Trier (2012–2015) & Eberhard Karls University Tübingen (2007–2012)
Verhalten in Organisationen, Integrierte Einführung (BWL), Labor/Personnel Economics seminars
Lectures, tutorials & seminars · University of Trier
Soziale Sicherung, Wirtschafts- und Finanzpolitik, Einführung in das wissenschaftliche Arbeiten
Lectures & tutorials · Eberhard Karls University Tübingen
Media and Transfer
Media coverage (Selection)
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung · Süddeutsche Zeitung · Die Zeit · SPIEGEL · DIE WELT · Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung · Hamburger Abendblatt · NDR · SWR Fernsehen · RTL · Sat.1 · BR Radio · Focus · Deutsche Welle · Spektrum der Wissenschaft · The European · 11FREUNDE · WDR Cosmo · Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung · Rundblick Niedersachsen · and many others
Science communication & policy transfer
Public events
Various public events hosted at Leuphana University Lüneburg (e.g., with journalists, researchers, and practitioners), most recent one: Link
Guest lectures & panel discussions
E.g., IHK Lüneburg, Employers' Association Lüneburg–North-East Lower Saxony
Science slams
From 2010–2026, various venues, varying success (ranging from first to second-to-last place, right-skewed distribution). Two examples: Berlin (SO36) · Hamburg (Uebel & Gefährlich)
Joachim Herz Foundation — "Teach Economy" Project
Scientific advisor; contributed to concept, content, screenwriting and moderation of three educational films for secondary school teachers. Watch an example on Vimeo.
Collaborators
Co-authors from joint publications and research projects
My first PhD student. Co-author on five (and counting) papers.
We did our PhDs together. Five joint papers.
Extremely valuable postdoc during my PhD. Two joint papers.
Co-author.
Former colleague and co-author.
We studied together and (almost) wrote a paper together.
One of the founding fathers of our research cluster. Co-author.
One of my longest-standing co-authors.
My Doktorvater.
We studied together. Four (or more) joint papers.
Co-author.
My first postdoc. Two (or more) joint papers, with more to come.
Colleague at Leuphana. Three (or more) joint papers and projects. Trajectory looks promising.
Psychologist at Leuphana. Several joint projects and papers.
One of the founding fathers of our research cluster. Co-author.
Colleague in a DFG project. One joint paper.
Former student. Now co-author. That’s how things are supposed to work.
Collaborators in our Research Cluster „Behavioral Economics and Societal Transformation“
Current PhD Students
Niedersachsenpanel
The Niedersachsenpanel is a population-representative participant pool comprising more than 5,000 individuals from Lower Saxony, Germany’s second-largest federal state by area. It was established to facilitate behavioral economics research using representative samples and to study societal transformation and economic decision-making. The panel is part of the research cluster Behavioral Economics and Societal Transformation, a collaboration of seven universities and the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology, funded by the Volkswagen Foundation and the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture.
By combining representative survey data with state-of-the-art experimental methods, the Niedersachsenpanel enables researchers to investigate how individuals respond to major societal challenges, including climate change, digitalization and artificial intelligence, migration, demographic change, and political polarization. Repeated surveys and online experiments with the same participants allow researchers to identify causal behavioral mechanisms and to analyze changes in attitudes and decision-making over time.
The panel constitutes a unique research infrastructure for behavioral economics, political economy, and related social sciences. It facilitates interdisciplinary collaboration and evidence-based policy research and serves as the foundation for numerous projects on consumer behavior, labor markets, political preferences, social identity, and the design and evaluation of public policies.
More information: niedersachsenpanel.de