Alexander W. Cappelen
Curriculum vitae
Alexander W. Cappelen
NHH Norwegian School of Economics
Department of Economics
Email: [email protected]
Homepage: nhh.no/en/employees/faculty/alexander-wright-cappelen/
Academic Position
 Professor, Department of Economics, NHH, 2006–present.
 Associated Researcher, Centre for the Study of Equality, Social Organization, and Performance (a
research centre funded by The Research Council of Norway as a Centre of Excellence), Department
of Economics, University of Oslo, 2007–present.
Academic Leadership
 Vice-chair, Department of Economics, NHH, 2013–present.
 Director, The Choice Lab, 2011–present.
 Head of Centre for Ethics and Economics, NHH, 2001–present
 Program director, Centre for Applied Research at NHH, 2008–present.
Visiting Researcher
 University of California, Berkeley, Department of Economics and Department of Philosophy, fall
2009–spring 2010.
 Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Center for Economic Studies, fall 2007.
 Harvard University Program in Ethics and Health, Harvard University, fall 2005.
 Wissenschaftszentrum, Berlin, summer 2003.
 Columbia University, Department of Philosophy, fall 2000.
Commissions of Trust
 The board of Rafto Prize Fund, 2012-present.
 The government committee appointed to combat tax flight from poor countries, 2008–2009.
 The National Committee for Research Ethics in the Social Sciences and the Humanities, 2003–2008.
 The Ethics Council at the Confederation of Norwegian Business and Industry, 2003–2009.
 The government committee appointed to propose ethical guidelines for the Norwegian Government
Petroleum Fund, 2002–2003.
 The program committee for research on corporate social responsibility in The Research Council of
Norway, 2002–2003.
 Norwegian Scientific Council for Economics, 2005-2007 (board member, 2007–2009).
Major Research Grants
 Research grant from The Research Council of Norway, 2017 (Research Project: Understanding
Paternalism”, NOK 11 million).
 Research Grant from NORFACE, 2014 (Research project: “Fairness, personal responsibility and the
welfare state”, EUR 1.5 million).
 Research Grant from The Research Council of Norway, 2014 (Research Project: “The welfare state
and fairness in markets”, NOK 11.2 million)
 Research Grant from The Research Council of Norway, 2009 (Research project: “Moral preferences,
labor markets and welfare Policy”, NOK 8.6 million).
 Research Grant from The Research Council of Norway, 2009 (PhD-project: Individual generosity
and socio-economic characteristics, NOK 2.4 million).
 Research Grant from The Research Council of Norway, 2007 (Research project: “Responsibility,
individual choice, and redistributive policy”, NOK 7.3 million).
 Research Grant from The Research Council of Norway, 2005 (Research project: “A liberal
egalitarian approach to disability”, NOK 0.9 million).
 Research Grant from The Research Council of Norway, 2002 (Research project: “From
circumstances to choice: Implications of the new genetics for social justice and health policy”,
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Alexander W. Cappelen
NOK 2.8 million).
Teaching and Supervision
 Bachelor: Microeconomics, Ethics, Behavioral economics.
 Master: Behavioral economics, Public economics.
 PhD: Behavioral economics, Ethics
 I organize numerous PhD activities and currently supervise three PhD students.
 Teaching awards: National award for outstanding quality in teaching (2013); NHH Student prize for
excellence in teaching (2003, 2008 and 2015); NHH prize for excellence in teaching (2011).
Editorial Positions
 Management Science, Associate Editor, 2013–present.
 Economics and Philosophy, Editorial Board, 2011–present
 Nordic Journal of Applied Ethics, Editorial Board, 2007–present
 Nordic Journal of Political Economy, 2004–2010.
 Editor of the collection The Economics of Fairness (to be published) in the Edward Elgar series “The
International Library of Critical Writings in Economics” (together with Bertil Tungodden).
Referee
American Economic Review, Brain and Behavioral Science, Developmental Psychology, Economica,
Economics and Philosophy, Econometrica, Economic Journal, Ethics and International Affairs, European
Economic Review, European Journal of Political Economy, Experimental Economics, Games and Economic
Behavior, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organizations, Journal of Econometrics, Journal of Economic
Psychology, Journal of Peace Research, Journal of Public Economics, Journal of the European Economic
Association, Nordic Journal of Applied Ethics, Management Science, Nordic Journal of Political Economy,
Philosophy, Politics& Economics, Review of Income and Wealth, Scandinavian Journal of Economics,
Social Choice and Welfare, World Development.
Organization of International Research Activities
I am the co-founder of The Choice Lab (thechoicelab.no), which has established itself as a hub for
behavioural and experimental economics in Europe. It has been selected as a top priority research
center of international excellence at NHH and was recently granted status as Senter for Fremdragende
Forskning as part of the Centre for Experimental Research on Fairness, Inequality and Rationality. The
Choice Lab organizes a number of seminars, workshops and conferences and has an extensive visitor
program.
Publications in international refereed journals
1. ‘Is It OK to Get Paid More for Being Lucky?’, (co-authors Ingvild Almås, and Bertil Tungodden), in
Harvard Business Review, March 9, 2017.
2. ‘What Explains the Gender Gap in College Track Dropout? Experimental and Administrative
Evidence’, (co-authors Ingvild Almås, Kjell G. Salvanes, Erik Ø. Sørensen and Bertil Tungodden),
in American Economic Review (P&P),106(5), 296-302, 2016.
3. ‘Face-saving or fair-minded: what motivates moral behavior?’, (co-authors Trond Halvorsen, Erik Ø.
Sørensen and Bertil Tungodden), forthcoming in Journal of the European Economic Association.
4. ‘Fairness and the proportionality principle’, (co-author Bertil Tungodden), forthcoming in Social
Choice and Welfare.
5. ‘Fairness is intuitive’, (co-authors Ulrik H. Nielsen, Bertil Tungodden, Jean-Robert Tyran, Erik
Wengström, forthcoming in Experimental Economics.
6. ‘Willingness to compete: family matters’, (co-authors Ingvild Almås, Kjell G. Salvanes, Erik Ø.
Sørensen and Bertil Tungodden), forthcoming in Management Science.
7. ‘Fairness and family background’, (co-authors Ingvild Almås, Kjell G. Salvanes, Erik Ø. Sørensen
and Bertil Tungodden), forthcoming in Politics, Philosophy and Economics.
8. ‘Leadership and incentives’, (co-authors Bjørn Atle Reme, Erik Ø. Sørensen and Bertil Tungodden),
forthcoming Management Science.
9. ‘Certification and socially responsible production’, (co-author Tone Ognedal), forthcoming in
Economics of Governance.
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Alexander W. Cappelen
10. ‘Social preferences in the lab: A comparison of students and a representative population’, (coauthors Knut Nygaard, Erik Ø. Sørensen and Bertil Tungodden), Scandinavian Journal of
Economics, 117 (4), 1306-1326, 2015.
11. ‘Equity theory and fair inequality: a neuroeconomic study’, (co-authors Tom Eichele, Kenneth
Hughdahl, Karsten Specht, Erik Ø. Sørensen and Bertil Tungodden), Proceedings of the National
Academy of Science, 111 (43), 15368–15372, 2014.
12. ‘An experimental study of pro-social behavior among prisoners’, (co-authors Sigbjørn Birkeland,
Erik Sørensen and Bertil Tungodden), Experimental Economics, 17, 501-5011, 2014.
13. ‘Do non-enforceable contracts matter? Evidence from an international lab experiment’, (co-authors
Rune Jansen Hagen, Erik Ø. Sørensen and Bertil Tungodden), in Review of Income and Wealth,
60(1), 100-113, 2014.
14. ‘When do we lie?, (co-authors Erik Ø. Sørensen and Bertil Tungodden), forthcoming in, Journal of
Economic Behavior & Organizations, 93, 258-265, 2013.
15. ‘Just Luck: An Experimental Study of Risk Taking and Fairness’, (co-authors James Konow, Erik
Sørensen and Bertil Tungodden), in American Economic Review, 103(4), 1398-1413, 2013.
16. ‘Give and Take in Dictator Games’, (co-authors Ulrik Haagen Nielsen, Erik Ø. Sørensen, Bertil
Tungodden and Jean-Robert Tyran), forthcoming in Economics Letters, 118(2), 280-283.
17. ‘Heterogeneity in fairness views: A challenge to the mutualistic approach?’, (co-authors Bertil
Tungodden), in Brain and Behavioral Science, 36(1): 84-85, 2013.
18. 429-441.
19. ‘Rich meet poor – an international experiment’, (co-authors Karl Ove Moene, Erik Sørensen and
Bertil Tungodden), in Journal of the European Economic Association, 11(3), 574-598, 2013.
20. ‘The importance of framing and self-reported data in a dictator game with production’, (co-authors
Astri Drange Hole, Erik Sørensen and Bertil Tungodden), in Social Choice and Welfare, 36(1), 105120, 2011.
21. ‘Measuring unfair inequality. Theory and evidence from Norwegian data’, (co-authors Ingvild
Almås, Jo Thori Lind, Erik Sørensen and Bertil Tungodden), Journal of Public Economics (2011),
488-499.
22. ‘Distributive interdependencies in liberal egalitarianism’, (co-author Bertil Tungodden), Social
Choice and Welfare (2011), volume 36 (1), 35-47.
23. ‘Demand for childhood vaccination: Insights from behavioural economics’, (co-authors Ottar
Mæstad and Bertil Tungodden), Forum for Development Studies, 2010, volume 37, Issue 3, 349 –
364.
24. ‘Disability, freedom and responsibility”, (co-authors Ole F. Norheim and Bertil Tungodden),
Politics, Philosophy and Economics, 2010, volume 9, issue 4, 411-423.
25. ‘Fairness and the development of inequality acceptance’, (co-authors Ingvild Almås, Erik Sørensen
and Bertil Tungodden), Science, 2010, 328 (5982): 1176-1178.
26. ‘The challenge of a rising skill premium for redistributive taxation’, (co-author Kjetil Bjorvatn),
International Tax and Public Finance, 2010, volume 17, Number 1, 15-24.
27. ‘Responsibility for what? An experimental approach to responsibility and fairness’, (co-authors Erik
Ø. Sørensen and Bertil Tungodden), European Economic Review 2010, 54(3), 429-441.
28. ‘Rewarding Effort’, (co-author Bertil Tungodden), Economic Theory, 2009, 39(3): 425-441.
29. ‘Genomics and Equal Opportunity Ethics’, (co-authors Ole Frithjof Norheim and Bertil Tungodden),
Journal of Medical Ethics, 2008, volume 34, 361-364.
30. ‘The Pluralism of Fairness Ideals: An Experimental Approach’, (co-authors Astri D. Hole, Erik Ø.
Sørensen and Bertil Tungodden), American Economic Review, 2007, 97(3): 818-827.
31. ‘National responsibility and the just distribution of debt relief’, (co-authors Rune J. Hagen and Bertil
Tungodden), Ethics and International Affairs, 2007, volume 21.
32. ‘Redistribution and marginal productivity reward’, (co-author Bertil Tungodden), Research on
Economic Inequality, 2007, volume 15, 1-6.
33. ‘Local autonomy and interregional equality’, (co-author Bertil Tungodden), Social Choice and
Welfare, 2007, 28(3): 443-460.
34. ‘The liberal egalitarian paradox', (co-author Bertil Tungodden), Economics and Philosophy, 2006,
22(3): 393-408.
35. ‘Responsibility, fairness and rationing in health care’, (co-author Ole Frithjof Norheim), Health
Policy, 2006, volume 76, 312-319.
36. ‘Relocating the responsibility cut: Should more responsibility imply less redistribution’, (co-author
Bertil Tungodden), Politics, Philosophy and Economics, 2006, 3: 353-362.
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Alexander W. Cappelen
37. ‘Redistribution and the nature of altruism’, (co-author Kjetil Bjorvatn), Economics of Governance,
2005, volume 7, 133-142.
38. ‘Responsibility in health care – a liberal egalitarian approach’, (co-author Ole Frithjof Norheim) in
Journal of Medical Ethics, 2005, 31, 476-480.
a. Reprinted in Ethical Issues In Modern Medicine, (eds. Arras, J. D. et al), McGraw Hill,
2007.
39. ‘Two approaches to stakeholder identification’ in Journal for Business, Economics and Ethics, nr 3,
2004.
40. ‘Inequality, Segregation, and Redistribution’, (co-author Kjetil Bjorvatn) in Journal of Public
Economics, 2003, volume 87, number 7-8.
41. ‘Reward and responsibility – how should we be affected when others change their effort’, (co-author
Bertil Tungodden) in Politics, Philosophy and Economics, 2003, 2 (2): 191 - 211.
42. ‘Redistributive Tax Policies and Inequality: An Assessment of Recent Country Comparative
Studies’, (co-author Kjetil Bjorvatn) DICE report 1/2003.
43. ‘Redistribution and Reward’, (co-author Bertil Tungodden) in Finanzarchiv N. F. 2002, volume 59:
120 - 140.
44. ‘The Moral Rationale for International Fiscal Law’, Ethics and International Affairs, vol. 15, nr 1,
2001.
45. ‘National and International Distributive Justice in Bilateral Tax Treaties’, Finanzarchiv N. F., Bd.
56, 1999, pp. 424 – 442.
Contributions to books
46. ‘Fairness and Tax Policy’, (co-author Bertil Tungodden), in Taxation and Political Philosophy,
Martin O'Neill and Shepley Orr eds (2017), Oxford University Press.
47. ‘Pension funds, Sovereign-Wealth Funds and Intergenerational Justice’, (co-author Runa Urheim), in
Spheres of Global Justice (ed. Merle, Jean Christophe), 2013, Springer.
48. ‘Responsibility and international distributive justice’, in Real World Justice, Pogge T. and A.
Føllesdal eds. (2005), Kluwer.
49. Attracting the Winners - the competitiveness of five European maritime countries, with Erik W.
Jacobsen et al, Kolofon, 2003
50. ‘Redistribution in a Divided World’, i Årbok for Nordisk Skatteforskning 2001, Universitetsforlaget.
Publications in Norwegian refereed journals
51. ‘Rettferdig ulikhet’, (co-authors Ingvild Almås, Ingar Haaland, Erik Ø. Sørensen and Bertil
Tungodden), in Magma (6), 38-43, 2015.
52. ‘Rettferdighet på hjernen’, (co-authors Erik Ø. Sørensen and Bertil Tungodden) in Magma (2), 3439, 2014.
53. ‘Rettferdig flaks’, (co-authors Erik Ø. Sørensen and Bertil Tungodden), in Samfunnsøkonomen
127(6), 43-44 2013.
54. ‘Adferdsøkonomi og økonomiske eksperimenter’, (co-author Bertil Tungodden), Magma, nr 5, s. 2630, 2012.
55. ‘Insentiver og innsats’, (co-author Bertil Tungodden), Magma, nr 5, s. 38-44, 2012.
56. ‘Effektivitet og etikk – tanken om en moralsk arbeidsdeling’, (co-author Bertil Tungodden, Praktisk
Økonomi og Finans, volume 4, 2006.
57. ‘Helsepolitikk og individuelt ansvar’, Tidsskrift for Velferdsforskning, volume 5, nr. 2, 2005.
58. ‘Etiske retningslinjer for petroleumsfondet’, in Norsk Økonomisk Tidsskrift, volume 118, 2004.
59. ‘Revisors samfunnsansvar’, Revisjon og Regnskap, volume 5, 2004.
60. ‘Likhet, ansvar og skattepolitikk, RØST nr 2, 2004.
61. ‘Etikk i petroleumsfondet’, Økonomisk Forum nr 7, oktober 2003.
62. ‘Rawls, Økonomisk Forum nr 5, juni 2003.
63. ‘Bedriftslederes samfunnsansvar’, Magma - tidsskrift for økonomi og ledelse, nr. 5, 2001.
64. ‘Hvem skal skattelegge hvem? – en normativ analyse av retten til å skattelegge’, Norsk
Statsvitenskaplig Tidsskrift 02/2001.
65. ’Allmenningens Allmenninteresse’, Magma – tidsskrift for økonomi og ledelse, nr. 1, 1999.
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Alexander W. Cappelen
Work in Progress
66. ‘The effect of early education on social preferences’, (co-authors John List, Anya Semek and Bertil
Tungodden), invited resubmission in Journal of Political Economy.
67. ‘Fairness in bankruptcy situations: an experimental study’, (co-authors Roland Luttens, Erik Ø.
Sørensen and Bertil Tungodden), invited resubmission in Management Science.
68. ‘Teaching through television: experimental evidence on entrepreneurship education in Tanzania’,
(co-authors Kjetil Bjorvatn, Linda Helgesson Sekei, Erik Ø. Sørensen and Bertil Tungodden), invited
resubmission in Management Science.
69. ‘Cutthroat capitalism versus cuddly socialism: Are Americans more meritocratic and efficiencyseeking than Scandinavians?’, (co-authors Ingvild Almås and Bertil
70. ‘Second-best fairness: false positives and false negatives in distributive choices’, (co-authors
Cornelius Cappelen and Bertil Tungodden), NHH Discussion Paper 14/2016.
71. ‘The freedom to choose undermines the willingness to redistribute’, (co-authors Sebastian Fest, Erik
Ø. Sørensen and Bertil Tungodden), NHH Discussion Paper 27/2014.
72. ‘You’ve got mail: a randomized field experiment on tax evasion’, (co-authors Kristina Bott, Erik Ø.
Sørensen and Bertil Tungodden), NHH department of Economics Discussion Paper 26/2014
73. ‘Is there a Development Gap in Rationality’, (co-authors Shachar Kariv, Erik Ø. Sørensen and Bertil
Tungodden), NHH department of Economics Discussion paper 07/2014,
74. ‘Willingness to compete in a gender equal society’, (co-authors Ingvild Almås, Kjell G. Salvanes,
Erik Ø. Sørensen and Bertil Tungodden), NHH Discussion Paper 24/12.
75. ‘Tax policy and fair inequality’, (co-author Bertil Tungodden), NHH Discussion Paper 03/12.
76. ‘Modeling Individual Choices in Experiments: Random utility versus random behavior’, (co-authors
Astri Drange Hole, Erik Sørensen and Bertil Tungodden). NHH Discussion Paper 07/09.
Honours
 Bronsesvampen (Student prize at NHH for excellence in teaching), 2015.
 “Akademikerprisen”, National award for outstanding quality in research and research dissemination
awarded by Akademikerne, 2013
 National award for outstanding quality in teaching (together with Bertil Tungodden Ministry of
Education and Research, Norway - the award also comes with a grant of NOK 1 million to NHH),
2013.
 NHH pris for fremdragende lærerinnsats (NHHs prize for excellence in teaching), 2011.
 Bronsesvampen (Student prize at NHH for excellence in teaching), 2007.
 Ingvar Wedervangs Pris til Yngre forskere, (prize for excellence in research in economics awarded
every 4th year), 2006.
 Bronsesvampen (Student prize at NHH for excellence in teaching), 2003.
Invited Seminars (selected)
University of Innsbruck, University of Zürich, Harvard University, University of Munich, University of
Berkeley, University of Stanford, University of Oxford, University of Oslo, University of Berkeley, Rady
School of Business, New York University, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin, Rotterdam University, Prague
University.
Organization of international conferences (since 2005, selected)
 7th Nordic Conference on Behavioral and Experimental Economics, co-organizer, 2012.
 2nd Annual International Conference, Harvard University Program in Ethics and Health:
Responsibility for Health: Ethical Issues, co-organizer, 2007.
 Conference on Disability and Equal Opportunity, main organizer, 2006.
Leadership in the Training and Advancement of Young Scientists
 Supervision of PhD students: I have been/am the main supervisor of four PhD-students, three of
which are still in the PhD-program. I have also been involved in the supervision of all PhD-students
affiliated with The Choice Lab and have co-authored papers with many of them. During the last
three years, I have had the main responsibility for the progress of the PhD students at the Department
of Economics at NHH.
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Alexander W. Cappelen

Organization of PhD activities: I organize a number of activities for PhD students across the world. I
co-organize the annual Spring School in Behavioral Economics at University of California, San
Diego together with Uri Gneezy (University of California, San Diego), which gathers 30-40 PhD
students from the US and Europe and many of the leading researchers in behavioural and
experimental economics. I organize an annual PhD-course at The Choice Lab that attracts 40-50
PhD students from all over Europe, where the main speakers in previous years have been Matthias
Sutter (University of Cologne), Uri Gneezy (University of California, San Diego), David Laibson
(Harvard University), John List (University of Chicago), Shachar Kariv (UC Berkeley), Marc
Fleurbaey (Princeton University), John Roemer (Yale University), and James Konow (Loyola
Marymount University). I organize an annual PhD workshop at The Choice Lab, where 8-10
promising PhD students from different parts of Europe are invited to present their ongoing work.

Facilitating research activities for young researchers: At The Choice Lab, I provide extensive
facilitation of research activities for young researchers and we have numerous young scholars
visiting us from Europe and the US.
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