On December 4 and 5, 2008, 100 leading scholars (including junior faculty and graduate students) in the fields of decision sciences, economics of information, political economy, catastrophic risk management and insurance gathered from several different countries for a special conference at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

“The Irrational Economist,” a conference and book writing in honor of Howard Kunreuther, convened to

(1) recognize and amplify the contributions made by Professor Howard Kunreuther at the crossroads of these distinct fields in over nearly four decades of research on the occasion of his 70th birthday

(2) bring together leading scholars in each of these fields, who would not typically meet (our conferences/annual society meetings are often silo-oriented) to exchange ideas and cross multiple perspectives on some of today's most pressing research questions

(3) make a deliberate effort to lay the ground for future multidisciplinary research in these fields over the next decade

Contributors and participants examined insights from the theoretical and empirical literature on decision sciences, history, economics and finance, risk management, and insurance; reported some of the most recent findings; and drew implications from this work for policy in the management of global risks (natural hazards, climate change, technological hazards, terrorism and national security, and sustainable development and education). This event also served as a natural venue to reflect on our role as academics, and consider ways to make sure we are making a difference toward positive societal changes.

The conference produced powerful interactions among the invited scholars to capture as much substantive thinking and debate as possible. We believe that the unique opportunities presented by gathering such a diverse group of leading thinkers will result in the development of significant new research agendas as well as new research partnerships.

A book titled The Irrational Economist: Making Decisions in a Dangerous World will compile contributions from the conference panelists as well as from several other contributors (including several Nobel Laureates). It aims to distill the knowledge of these scholars into a valuable reference for researchers, practitioners from industry, and policy makers. The book will be edited by Erwann Michel-Kerjan and Paul Slovic and will be published in early 2010, by Public Affairs Press. Public Affairs is part of Perseus Books Group, which was named “Publisher of the Year” in 2007 by Publishers Weekly .

  Erwann Michel-Kerjan
  Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
  erwannmk@wharton.upenn.edu

   Paul Slovic
   Decision Research, University of Oregon
   pslovic@uoregon.edu