Call of Duty: The Effects of Phone Calls on Blood Donor Motivation
Little is known about the long-term effects of interventions aimed at increasing turnout among voluntary blood donors. Lorenz Götte and his co-researchers have used a retrospective natural experiment with blood donors in Zurich between 2010 and 2013. They determined that behavioural interventions are effective at increasing donation rates in the short run. However, they can crowd out the intrinsic motivation of the most motivated donors. Thus, blood donation services should avoid interventions for highly motivated donors and target them at irregular donors.
Mr Götte's research interests are in the field of economics and psychology, a field that examines systematic departures from the assumptions of the standard economic model. His research focuses on applications in labour economics. Current projects examine the extent and consequences of downward nominal wage rigidity, and how departures from full inter-temporal maximisation can impact labour supply in surprising ways. Lorenz Götte is also interested how social identity shapes organisations as well as incentives within organisations.
Mr Götte has published in the American Economic Review, the Review of Economic Studies, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and Science. He is an IZA Research Fellow as well as Research Affiliate of the Centre for Economic Policy Research.
Lorenz Götte is Professor in the Department of Economics of the University of Bonn. He is also Director of the Doctoral Program in Behavioral Economics and Experimental Research of the Conférence des universités de la suisse occidentale. He completed his undergraduate and graduate studies at the University of Zurich and a post-doc at the University of California at Berkeley. Previously, Mr Götte was a senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and Professor at the University of Geneva and the University of Lausanne.