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Research

The research projects of the chair are focused on current problems at the interface of corporate management and corporate accounting. The research focus in particular lies in the area of Behavioral Management Accounting. The main research method used is the economic experiment. Further information on the main research areas and the publications of the individual employees is provided on the respective employee page.

Experiments

Since the winter semester 2008/2009, Prof Gillenkirch and his team have been conducting economic experiments at the University of Osnabrück in the research areas of corporate management and corporate accounting and controlling. All students of the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, as well as students from other faculties, are cordially invited to take part in these experiments.

A good knowledge of German is a prerequisite for participation. An experiment usually lasts 60-90 minutes. During this time, participants make economic decisions and can earn money, often over 20 euros. In other words, the experiments organised by the Chair of Management Accounting and Corporate Management are all about making money in the service of science!

Laboratory

Together with the Department of Environmental Economics and Microeconomics, we run the research laboratory LaER, Laboratory for Economics Research, at the University of Osnabrück. For further information on the laboratory please visit www.laer.uni-osnabrueck.de

For further information on the employees, please visit www.wiwi.uni-osnabrueck.de/forschung/laer/people.html

Experimental economic research

Experimental research is a relatively new method of gaining knowledge in economics. Although experiments were already carried out in the 1930s to 1950s, this only happened very occasionally. In the 1960s, the later Nobel Prize winners Vernon Smith and Reinhard Selten helped experimental economic research to gain greater recognition, which continued to grow over the years.

Their importance has increased considerably since the 1980s in particular, as it became possible to conduct experiments on computer networks, which significantly improved the possibilities and efficiency of data collection. In earlier years, experiments were carried out using paper and pencil, which meant that interaction between participants and subsequent data collection was sometimes difficult. Nowadays, the use of computers makes it possible to automate the course of the experiment sessions and to enable participants to exchange information with each other without wasting time. In addition, possible sources of error, such as allocations and calculations, are minimised by the computer program.

The objectives of experimental economic research can be divided into two main areas. On the one hand, experiments serve to test and possibly falsify predictions of theories in a controlled environment. They can therefore be seen as feedback for theoretical research. Experimental research also makes it possible to reduce the discrepancy between theoretical assumptions and real conditions in a controlled manner and can therefore also subject the theory to a kind of stress test or investigate the influence of variables on decision-making situations about which little can be said theoretically. On the other hand, the interplay between theory and experimental evidence is not unidirectional, in the sense that only theory provides starting points for experiments. Rather, experiments also serve to uncover empirical regularities, which in turn can serve as a starting point for the development of new theories.

The great advantage of experimental economic research compared to other methods of data collection is that individual variables that can influence decisions can be changed under controlled and replicable conditions. This allows the influence of individual variables and the interaction of several variables to be analysed in detail. The data is generated by the participants making real decisions in economically relevant situations during the experimental sessions. Similar to the wealth of the actors acting in the comparable real or model-theoretical situation, the remuneration of the experiment participants also depends on the decisions they (and possibly other people) make in the corresponding situation.