Episode 31: Danae Arroyos-Calvera on how uncertainty shapes cooperation in public good games

This episode’s guest is Danae Arroyos-Calvera, Associate Professor in Behavioural and Experimental Economics at the University of Birmingham. She discusses her research on cooperation, moral wiggle room, and plausible deniability in public goods games. The conversation explores the challenge of translating lab findings to policy, the importance of publishing null results, and the balance between image, incentives, and fairness in human behaviour. In the final part, Danae shares advice for early-career researchers on trusting the process, asking for what you need, and handling tough seminar questions with confidence.

Guest: Danae Arroyos-Calvera, Associate Professor, University of Birmingham Host: Fanny Tallgren, Andrea De Palma

Timestamps: (00:20) Danae’s research background in behavioural economics (07:25) The “Limits of Moral Wiggle Room” experiment (23:00) Results and implications (27:00) From lab to policy and the value of null results (42:00) Advice for PhD students and young researchers