Laurence Martel

Title of Dissertation: Beyond the quick fix: A deeper impact of behavioural economics for organizations

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Philipp Schreck
University: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg
Scholarship: KSG Scholarship
Cohort: 7th Cohort, since 2020
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

• Short Abstract

  The last few decades have seen the consecration of behavioural economics from all angles. The impact of the field in the world of consultancies and think tanks is striking. The Bank of Sweden awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences to both Daniel Kahneman (2002) and Richard Thaler (2017), important figures of the field, and books addressing behavioural economics have conquered the imagination of the general public and policy makers alike. Despite the growing fascination over the results, the integration of the empirical study of individual behaviours within systematic organizational frameworks remains patchy. This discrepancy appears common to many fields, from experimental philosophy to field economics, but is growing within behavioural insight research. Behavioural economics is increasingly associated with quick fix solutions to policy implementation challenges (Loewenstein and Chater 2017).

  A victim of nudging (Thaler and Sunstein 2008), the well-known behavioural economics implementation method, could perhaps be the broader project of behavioural economics itself. The popularity and efficiency of nudging has lead to a shift towards so-called easy, cheap, and reversible tools. In turn, within the behavioural economics practice, the field becomes a resource for last-mile solutions (Soman 2015). Behavioural economics has yet to define its role within the deeper work of organizational thinking, which is still building on an understanding of humans as homo economicus. Nudging, whilst remaining a good tool, does not translate the rich behavioural economics program into its interventions.

  The field of behavioural business ethics appears particularly fertile with regards to the last mile solution pitfall. In order to partake to the axiological role of ethics within an organization, ethics have to root to the core of the organization and can't pose strictly as quick fixes. In the course of my doctoral research, I am to understand how behavioural business ethics can play a more structural role for organizations and shall reach towards a deeper approach of applied behavioural ethics within the field of management.

• Research Interests

  • Ethics
  • Behavioural Business Ethics
  • Behavioural Economics

• Education

  • 2016, MSc. Politics, Economics, & Philosophy, Universität Hamburg, Germany
  • 2013, B.A. Philosophy, Université Laval & Universität Johannes-Guttenberg, Canada & Germany
  • 2011, Certificate in Theology, Université Laval, Canada

• Professional and Academic Career

  • 2016- 2019, Regional Sales Director (APAC,BeNeLux, CEE), Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England
  • 2013, Working student in ethics, Université Laval, Québec, Canada 
  • 2012-2013, International Trade Officer, MCUL, Québec & Sao Paulo, Canada & Brazil

• Publications

  • N/A

• Conference Contributions: Talks

  • N/A

• Conference Contributions: Posters

  • N/A

• Memberships

  • N/A