Franz Ostrizek

Franz Ostrizek serves as an Assistant Professor (tenure track) in the Department of Economics at Sciences Po, Paris since 2022, and maintains a Research Affiliate position at the Institute on Behavior and Inequality (briq) at the University of Bonn.

His academic credentials include:

• PhD in Economics from Princeton University (2020)
• MSc in Economics from the Institute for Advanced Studies (Vienna)
• Magister in Law from the University of Vienna

Ostrizek's research bridges microeconomic theory and behavioral economics, specializing in behavioral mechanism design, performance evaluation systems, and incentive structures under misspecified beliefs. His work investigates how cognitive limitations—particularly 'cursedness' (systematic underinference from statistical patterns)—affect information processing in strategic environments. He develops theoretical models showing how principals can optimize evaluation technologies in dynamic employment relationships and design screening mechanisms that account for cognitive biases and externalities.

His publication trajectory (2015-2025) reveals a consistent focus on information economics and behavioral mechanism design, with increasing emphasis on cursed equilibrium applications. Recent work examines transparency policies in information markets, dynamic principal-agent problems with learning, and screening mechanisms incorporating both payoff-types and externality-influence dimensions. His methodology combines rigorous theoretical modeling with behavioral insights to address real-world incentive design challenges.

Key recognitions include:

• 2021 Young Economist Award (Austrian Economic Association)
• William S. Dietrich II Summer Grant (Princeton Economic Theory Center, 2019)
• Hamid Biglari *87 Behavioral Science Fellowship (Kahneman-Treisman Center)
• Fifth-year fellowship (Griswold Center for Economic Policy Studies)

Ostrizek's research has been supported by prestigious fellowships including the Hamid Biglari Fellowship and Princeton's Summer Grant program. While specific student advising details aren't documented in the source material, his tenure-track position at Sciences Po involves mentoring graduate researchers. Current grant activities focus on extending his work on cursed equilibrium applications to labor market design.

He maintains active research affiliations with briq (Bonn) as a Research Affiliate and IZA (Institute of Labor Economics) as an associated member, participating in collaborative projects on behavioral inequality and information economics.