Nikos Nikiforakis

Professor of Economics; Co-director of the Center for Behavioral Institutional Design (C-BID); Co-director of the Social Science Experimental Laboratory (SSEL) Affiliation: NYU Abu Dhabi

Research Websites: Social Science Experimental Laboratory (SSEL) Center for Behavioral Institutional Design (C-BID)

Research Areas: Experimental Economics, Behavioral Economics, Public Economics


Nikos Nikiforakis’ research interests are predominantly in behavioral and public economics. His main body of work consists of experimental studies (lab, field and online) investigating factors that impact on the evolution of cooperation. Recently, he has conducted experiments in order to understand the causes and consequences of social inequalities. 

His work has been published in leading economic journals such as the American Economic Review, Journal of Public Economics, European Economic Review and Games and Economic Behavior, as well as in leading interdisciplinary journals such as the Nature Communications, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. He is one of the founding researchers of the Center for Behavioral Institutional Design, and the co-Director of the Social Science Experimental Laboratory.

Prior to joining NYUAD, Nikos held senior positions at the University of Melbourne (Australia), the Max Planck Institute (Germany) and the CNRS (France). Nikos is Associate Editor at the European Economic Review, and the Journal of Economic Psychology, and on the editorial board of the Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics.

Courses Taught