Christopher Roth
ifo/CESifo Visiting Researcher
Christopher Roth, University of Cologne, CESifo Guest from 29 April to 3 May 2024.
Voice and Political Engagement
Christopher Roth and his collaborators have conducted a natural field experiment with a major European party to test whether giving party supporters more voice increases their engagement in the party's electoral campaign. In the experiment, the party asked a random subset of supporters for their opinions on the importance of different policy areas. Giving supporters opportunities to voice their opinions increases their engagement in the campaign as measured using behavioral data from the party's smartphone application. The researchers evidence highlights the importance of voice for increasing political engagement.
Mr. Roth’s work includes research on psychology and economics, political economy and macro-expectations. He is particularly interested in the role of attention, memory, and narratives in shaping belief formation. His work has examined a variety of topics, such as attitudes towards immigration, the welfare effects of social media, political correctness, intergroup contact, beliefs about racial discrimination, experimenter demand effects, the formation of macroeconomic expectations, and the determinants of political engagement. Methodologically, his work relies on online experiments and natural field experiments. At the ifo Institute he will be collaborating with Andreas Peichl and Sebastian Link to study attention among firms. In particular they will study the nature, origins and consequences of attention to economic topics.
Chris Roth is a Professor at the University of Cologne, having previously served as Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Warwick. He is co-editor at the Journal of the European Economic Association and on the editorial board of the Review of Economic Studies. He holds a DPhil and an MPhil in Economics from the University of Oxford as well as a BSc in Psychology from the University of Hagen and a BSc in Economics from the University of Warwick. He is also an Affiliate Member of the CESifo Research Network as well as of the CEPR.
