My research is rooted in behavioral economics and thus interdisciplinary intertwines economics with psychology. In my research, I apply methods like laboratory and online experiments as well as surveys and simulation games to investigate human decision making as individuals, in groups, and in organizations.
In my PhD research, I explored participative pricing mechanisms, such as Pay-What-You-Want. I am fascinated by this innovative pricing mechanism, in which people pay voluntary amounts – even if they don’t have to. In particular, I investigate which circumstances trigger the voluntary payment decision.
In general, my research interests are:
- Behavioral and Experimental Economics
- Behavior and Decision-Making under Uncertainty
- Prosocial Behavior and Cooperation
- Simulation and Serious Games
- Interpersonal Closeness
- Participative Pricing Mechanisms, such as Pay-What-You-Want
- Cognitive Biases
- Resilience
- Complex Problem-Solving
- Social Norms
- Audience Effect and Social Image Concerns
- Design of Climate Change Negotiations
- Immorality Judgments
- Intercultural Teamwork
Publications
- forthcoming: Hofmann, Elisa: Pay-What-You-Want als Preismodell für Kulturbetriebe. Handbuch Kulturmanagement.
- Abstract accepted: Gröschke, Daniela, Elisa Hofmann, Nadine D. Müller, and Judith Wolf: Organizational resilience in hospitals before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Zeitschrift für Gemeinwirtschaft und Gemeinwohl (ZGuG), Themenheft Resilienz.
- 2023: Hofmann, Elisa, Deliah Bolesta, and Aya Adra: Immorality Judgments and Framing Effects in Voluntary Payment Settings. Jena Economic Research Papers 2023-10, Friedrich Schiller University Jena.
- 2022: Hofmann, Elisa, Lucas Kyriacou, and Klaus M. Schmidt: A Model United Nations Experiment on Climate Negotiations. Jahrbücher für Nationalökonomie und Statistik (Journal of Economics and Statistics).
- 2022: Gröschke, Daniela, Elisa Hofmann, Nadine D. Müller, and Judith Wolf: Individual and organizational resilience – Insights from health care providers in Germany during the COVID-19 pandemic. Frontiers in Psychology.
- 2021: Müller, Nadine D., Judith Wolf, Elisa Hofmann, and Daniela Gröschke: Integratives Konzept zur ganzheitlichen Förderung von Resilienz in Krankenhäusern. Jena Studies in Intercultural Communication and Interactions, 2021/03, Friedrich Schiller University Jena.
- 2021: Hofmann, Elisa, Michael E. Fiagbenu, Asri Özgümüs, Amir M. Tahamtan, and Tobias Regner: Who is watching me? Disentangling audience and interpersonal closeness effects in a Pay-What-You-Want context. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, Volume 90.
- 2020: Hofmann, Elisa: The power of close relationships and audiences: Interpersonal closeness and payment observability as determinants of voluntary payments. Jena Economic Research Papers 2020-016, Friedrich Schiller University Jena.
- 2016: Hofmann, Elisa: Zahl doch einfach, was du willst! Warum sich Pay-What-You-Want für deutsche Kinos lohnt. Marburg: Tectum-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-8288-3799-7
Work in Progress
- Evaluating the Methodological Robustness of Social Norm Measurements (with Deliah Bolesta) [Working Paper coming soon]
- Pay-What-You-Want and Uncertainty (with Tobias Regner) [Working Paper coming soon]
- Strategic Avoidance of Pay-What-You-Want Schemes [Working Paper coming soon]
- What fosters cooperation in international climate negotiations? A qualitative analysis of Model United Nations conferences [Working Paper coming soon]