Economics of Well-Being, Culture and Human Development

Early skill development and healthcare are crucial for later educational and workplace success. However, the most critical factors for this success and the best means of facilitating their development are only beginning to be understood. Economics of Well-Being, Culture, and Human Development investigates these factors in a multi-pronged way.

Fundamentally, we try to understand the cultural effects that determine the development of motivational and cognitive skills as well as good health practices. This line of basic research links directly to applied questions such as: How can early skill development be enhanced? How do cultural factors facilitate or impair early skill development and lifelong well-being? Practically, we assist firms, public entities, and NGOs in working to improve the schooling system and the welfare of society.

Exemplary project: Promoting the Abandonment of Female Circumcision in Sudan (C. Efferson, E. Fehr, S. Vogt)

Female circumcision is a puzzle because it can lead to a number of health problems that cause females considerable harm throughout their lives. Why, then, do loving parents decide to circumcise their young daughters? Our research uses a number of laboratory and field experiments to try and answer this question in Sudan. In particular, we attempt to analyze the cultural processes that sustain female circumcision by identifying the different norms and beliefs that influence perceptions of women's health, beauty, and marriage prospects. Apart from potentially improving our scientific understanding of how social norms evolve culturally, a rigorous analysis of the relevant processes in Sudan can also inform the design of applied programs that promote the voluntary abandonment of female circumcision and other dangerous practices that negatively impact child development and social well-being.

Selected research projects

• Relationship between Childhood Misbehavior and Later Education and Labor Market Outcomes (C. Segal)
• Neural Foundations of Basic Non-Cognitive Skills (E. Fehr, T. Hare, C. Ruff, P. Tobler)
• Early Childhood Intervention: Pioneering Large-Scale Studies in Public Schools (E. Fehr, T. Hare, D. Schunk)
• How Can We Abolish Girls’ Genital Cutting? (C. Efferson, E. Fehr, S. Vogt)
• Effect of Civil Wars on Children (F. Zilibotti)
• Economics of Cultural Transmission (M. Saez-Marti)
• Altruism and Consumption Externalities, Analyzed via Self-Reported Happiness (R. Winkelmann)

Courses on the Economics of Well-Being, Culture, and Human Development involve principles and techniques drawn from the fields of economics, education, medicine, neuroscience, psychology, and sociology. This topic is suitable for students interested in using a multidisciplinary approach to address key basic scientific questions and to apply those insights in order to promote early life skill development and well-being. For students who focus on this area, there are a wide range of excellent employment opportunities with private firms, academic and public organizations, and NGOs that aim to improve human development in the cognitive, social-motivational, and health domains The following list provides examples of courses particularly related to our topic.

List of courses

More detailed information on each module can be found by copying the 8-digit code into the search field of the University’s course catalogue.

Course catalogue

Bachelor's level

Master's level

Doctoral level

The following Faculty members research and/or teach in Economics of Well-Being, Culture and Human Development.

Department of Economics (IVW)

Prof. Dr. Pietro Biroli
Prof. Dr. Lorzeno Casaburi
Prof. Dr. Ernst Fehr
Prof. Todd Hare, PhD (main contact for topic)
Prof. Dr. Guilherme Lichand
Prof. Dr. Christian Ruff
Prof. Dr. Philippe Tobler
Prof. Dr. Rainer Winkelmann
Prof. Dr. Josef Zweimüller

Department of Business Administration (IBW)

Prof. Dr. Carmit Segal