Scholars

Behavioral economist Martin Binder is a professor of economics at Bard College Berlin. He was previously a visiting professor of normative economics and business ethics at the University of Kassel (2013–14) and a research fellow at the University of Sussex (2012–13) and the Max Planck Institute of Economics (2004–12), conducting research in the fields of behavioral and evolutionary economics. Binder’s research interests are focused on behavioral and normative economics, and especially subjective well-being (“happiness”) research. His work has appeared in internationally recognized journals such as the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Economica, Ecological Economics, Social Science & Medicine, Journal of Economic Psychology, and Small Business Economics. In 2009–11, Binder received a grant from the European Commission to research knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship and social well-being. He does extensive refereeing and is a member of the editorial board of Social Indicators Research. His recent publications include:

• “’…Do It with Joy!’ – Subjective Well-Being Outcomes of Working in Non-profit Organizations,” Journal of Economic Psychology, Vol. 54 (June 2016);
• “Environmental Concerns and Subjective Well-Being: Antecedents and Outcomes of Environmental Activism in Germany” (with A.-K. Blankenberg), Ecological Economics,Vol. 124 (April 2016);
• “Heterogeneity in the Relationship between Unemployment and Subjective Well-Being: A Quantile Approach” (with A. Coad), Economica, Vol. 82 (October 2015);
• “Autonomy-enhancing Paternalism” (with L. K. Lades), Kyklos, Vol.68 (February 2015);
• “From Average Joe’s Happiness to Miserable Jane and Cheerful John: Using Quantile Regressions to Analyze the Full Subjective Well-Being Distribution“ (with A. Coad), Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Vol. 79 (August 2011; and
• Elements of an Evolutionary Theory of Welfare (Routledge, 2010).

Binder holds a Habilitation in economics from the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (habilitation project: “Wirtschaftlicher Wandel und menschliches Wohlergehen,” 2012); a Ph.D. in economics (2009), an MA in philosophy (2004), and an M.Sc. in business administration (Dipl.-Kfm., 2003) from RWTH Aachen; and a B.Sc. in economics (2002) from Florida Atlantic University. His dissertation, which explores the normative consequences of measuring societal progress and development via measures of subjective well-being, was published by Routledge in 2010.