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 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

• 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.