Appointment: Christian Biener

1 February 2021. In 2009, he obtained his diploma in Business Administration from Goethe University Frankfurt. After that, he moved to the University of Ulm, where he was awarded summa cum laude foor his PhD and graduated as a Doctor of Philosophy in Political and Economic Sciences. The title of his doctoral thesis was “Essays on Microinsurance: Efficiency, Insurability, and Pricing”. In his thesis, he focused on how to provide efficient insurance solutions in developing and emerging countries. On completion of his doctoral thesis, Christian Biener moved to the University of St.Gallen as a post-doctoral researcher, where he obtained his habilitation in 2017. As a post-doctoral researcher, he completed research visits at outstanding institutions in Germany (University of Mannheim) and America (University of Wisconsin-Madison). He has been a Member of the Executive Board (Deputy Director) for the Institute of Insurance Economics at the University of St.Gallen since 2019.

Research: Decisions involving risk and uncertainty

Professor Christian Biener’s research concentrates on empirical and theoretical questions regarding decisions involving risk and uncertainty, with a particular focus on risk management and insurance decisions. In this research, he combines theoretical behaviour modelling with primary experimental and secondary real data to describe the decisions of individuals in this context more precisely. The knowledge gained from his behavioural economics and psychological research plays an especially significant role here in designing interventions with positive effects on welfare. One example in this context is his work on the use of pro-social preferences in group insurance policies to increase insurance cover by reducing negative incentives (moral hazard). This mechanism addresses a key problem in the provision of insurance solutions. Professor Christian Biener’s current research projects also have a strong focus on the role of preferences regarding risk and uncertainty in insurance decisions, behavioural changes through the use of new technologies like chat bots, the welfare implications of options in insurance markets and the role of trust and social norms in insurance markets.

He has produced many excellent articles, which have been published in interdisciplinary and technical academic journals. Some of his key contributions include articles in the Journal of Risk and Insurance, Journal of Public Economics, European Economic Review and Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, which are some of the most prestigious publications in his field.

Many years of extensive teaching experience

Professor Christian Biener has many years of extensive teaching experience in the fields of risk management and insurance. He teaches Bachelor, Master and PhD-level courses as well as executive education as a lecturer and guest lecturer. Using a combination of realistic experiments, empirical examples and familiar concepts, he teaches students to work on general problems and question concepts.