Peter P. Wakker

Peter P. Wakker is a professor of decision under uncertainty at the Erasmus School of Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands. He is a leading scholar in behavioral economics, focusing on risk, ambiguity, and decision theory, with extensive interdisciplinary research in economics, psychology, medicine, and mathematics.

• Erasmus School of Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam

His research interests center on decision making under uncertainty, including foundational work in prospect theory, utility functions, weighting functions, and ambiguity. He has made seminal contributions to the understanding of risk aversion, loss aversion, and the mathematical modeling of preferences. His work bridges theoretical formalism with empirical validation, influencing both economics and psychology.

His recent publications reflect a sustained focus on ambiguity, risk, and utility theory, with key contributions to source theory, average utility maximization, and critiques of existing models. These works span journals such as Management Science, Journal of Economic Theory, and Theoretical Economics, indicating a strong influence in decision science.

• Medical Decision Making Career Achievement Award (2007)
• Frank P. Ramsey Medal (2013)
• Honorary doctorate in economics, University of St. Gallen (2016)
• Top 2% of most influential scientists worldwide (Stanford University list)
• Most influential Dutch economist in multiple years

Wakker advises numerous PhD students and leads the Behavioral Economics research group at ESE. He has collaborated with leading figures in the field, including Nobel laureates, and his work has been supported by extensive publications and datasets. He frequently contributes to public discourse, particularly on insurance and risk.

His research group is active in experimental and theoretical work, with regular group meetings and collaborations. He has developed online courses on risk and ambiguity and behavioral economics, further extending his academic impact.