"Improving Rational Insurance Decisions by Providing Clients with Risk Information"
at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies

The Experimental Economics Center (ExCEN) is pleased to announce the first event in its Distinguished Lecture Series. The lecture on Wednesday, October 17, 2007, at 2:30 pm will be given by Dr. Peter P. Wakker, professor at the Econometric Institute at Erasmus University, Rotterdam, and at the Department of Quantitative Economics at the University of Maastricht. Professor Wakker is the highest ranked economist in the Netherlands. His specialty is decision theory, an area in which he is a world leader. As a decision theorist, experimental economist, and econometrician, Dr. Wakker is very skilled in explaining implications of both theory and data for applied work including health policy. (Abstract)

The lecture will be held in the Andrew Young School's seminar room, located on the 7th Floor of the AYSPS Building at 14 Marietta Street, NW. Directions and parking information is here.

• Seminar: The ExCEN Lecture will begin at 2:30pm in the 7th Floor Seminar Room. The seminar is open to all.
• Reception immediately following: Students, faculty and staff are invited to engage in conversation with Dr. Wakker after the seminar.

About Peter Wakker

Peter P. Wakker was recently listed as one of the 100 "Most-Cited Scientists in Economics & Business" by Essential Science Indicators (ESI). He earned his Ph.D. in Economics from CentER, Tilburg University, The Netherlands, and has a master's degree in mathematics.

Dr. Wakker's main research interest is decision making under risk, where he investigates descriptive deviations from fully rational choice to obtain prescriptive improvements of decisions. He is published in top journals in many fields, such as in Annals of Statistics, Psychological Review, Management Science, Medical Decision Making, Econometrica , and the Quarterly Journal of Economics. He is the recipient of many awards, including the New Investigator Award in Mathematical Psychology (1992), the publication awards of the Dutch Society for Medical Technology Assessment (2001 & 2005), and the publication award of the Decision Analysis Society (2002 & 2003). He is the highest quality-weighted-publishing Dutch economist (1994, 1998, 2003, 2007).

Dr. Wakker will receive the Career Achievement Award at the 29th Annual Meeting of the Society for Medical Decision Making, October 20-24, 2007, in Pittsburgh.

Two of his recently published papers include:

• Mohammed Abdellaoui, Carolina Barrios, & Peter P. Wakker (2007), "Reconciling Introspective Utility with Revealed Preference: Experimental Arguments Based on Prospect Theory," Journal of Econometrics 138, 356-378.
• Diecidue, Enrico, Peter P. Wakker, & Marcel Zeelenberg (2007), "Eliciting Decision Weights by Adapting de Finetti's Betting-Odds Method to Prospect Theory," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty 34, 179-199.

His papers with applications to health economics and policy include:

• Post, Piet N., Anne M. Stiggelbout, & Peter P. Wakker (2001), "The Utility of Health States Following Stroke; a Systematic Review of the Literature," Stroke 32, 1425-1429.

Upcoming seminars and other school events are posted on the AYSPS Calendar.