Prof. Michael Finus

Professor Finus is the head of the Department of Economics.

His research focuses on all types of economic problems involving externalities (spillovers) between economic actors, where coordination and cooperation would generate global welfare gains, but which typically suffer from "free riders" (i.e. not everyone contributes their fair share). It examines what factors cause free-riding and how and through what measures this can be mitigated. Many of these problems relate to collective decision-making and public and global governance. International and global environmental problems such as climate change and overfishing are prominent examples.