21st Annual Rothschild Lecture Series Featuring Prof. Botond Köszegi

The 21st annual Rothschild Lecture series at the JKU featured Hungarian expert Botond Köszegi from the Central University of Europe.

F.l.: Winter-Ebmer, Pernsteiner, Köszegi
F.l.: Winter-Ebmer, Pernsteiner, Köszegi

Botond Köszegi, a former professor at the University of California in Berkeley, specializes in Behavioral Economics and is the recipient of multiple ERC grants. His presentation focused on the way information problems and costs of retrieving information make choosing complex products difficult. “Complex products” refers to products that have multiple, sometimes hidden, costs. This includes many products, such as mobile phone contracts, credit agreements, and employment contracts. In these kinds of cases and when it comes to these types of contracts, it makes sense for the state to regulate the secondary components such as, for example, roaming charges for mobile phones and general contract terms. The significant advantage of having this kind of regulation is that the consumer’s search behavior can focus on more companies, thus boosting market competition for goods and services.