Dr Berg specializes in behavioral economics. He teaches microeconomics, financial economics, psychology and economics, business statistics and econometrics. In 2014, Berg received a 156,000 AUD grant with Toby Handfield (Monash University) to collect experimental data and produce new theoretical findings as part of the project: "Pathologies of Moral Cognition." Berg was invited to become a member of the International Social Science Council (United Nations) Food Futures Network in 2013. Since moving to University of Otago in 2012, Berg has published 15 new scholarly works.
Berg's articles in the field of behavioral economics appear in journals such as Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Psychological Review, and Social Choice and Welfare and his joint work with the Center for Adaptive Behavior and Cognition at the Max Planck Institute-Berlin is published by Oxford University Press. Berg serves as Associate Editor for Global Economics and Management Review (Elsevier) and is an Associate Editor for Review of Behavioral Economics. He sits on the Editorial Boards of Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly Journal of Socio-Economics) and Global Business and Economics Review. Berg was a Fulbright Scholar in 2003 and Visiting Research Scientist at the Max Planck Institute-Berlin in 2005 and at Osaka University in 2008 and 2009. His research has been cited in the Financial Times, Business Week, Canada's National Post, The Village Voice, The Advocate and Atlantic Monthly.
Before becoming an economist, Berg recorded and toured internationally with jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson. He performed with Clark Terry, John Scofield, Alan Broadbent, Stephen Scott, Burnadette Peters, Larry Goldings, Bill Stewart, Christy Moore, and many others. His songwriting was featured in the 2012 feature film Coin De Rue. He performs regularly in Dunedin.
Kim, J.Y. and Berg, N. (2017), Reexamining the Schmalennsee Effect. Economics: The Open-Access,Open-Assessment E-Journal. [B]
Berg, N and Gabel, T. (2017), Did tax cuts on earned income reduce Social Assistance participation in Canada?. Australian Tax Forum 32(1) 2017. [A]
Akhtaruzzaman, A., Berg, N. and Hajzler, C. (2017), Return Of Capital Dominates Return On Capital?: FDI in Developing Countries. European Journal of Political Economy. [A]
Akhtaruzzaman, A., Berg, N. and Lien, D. (2017), Confucius Institutes and FDI flows from China to Africa. China Economic Review. [A]
Todd, P. M., Gigerernzer, G., & the ABC Research Group* (2012). Ecological Rationality: Intelligence in the World. Oxford University Press. (*includes N Berg)
Berg, N. (2005) Decision-making environments in which unboundedly rational decision makers choose to ignore relevant information, Global Business and Economics Review 7(1): 59-73.
Berg, N. (2005) Finance, psychology, economics and the design of successful institutions. In W. Jingping (Ed.), Shanghai Forum 2005, Economic Globalization and the Choice of Asia: Finance (pp. 502-509). Shanghai: Fudan University Press.
Berg N. (2005) Psychological economics and the size of government: On anti-, anti-anti-, ... , (anti-)n, In Yasin, Y. (ed.), Economic Modernization and Cultivation of Institutions (Proceedings of the 6th Annual Conference of the State University - Higher School of Economics, Moscow), HSE Publishing House, pp. 367-375.
Berg, N. and Hoffrage, U. (2005) Environmental determinants of simple decision rules: No cognitive limitations needed, In Opwis, K. and Penner, I. (eds.) Proceedings of KogWis05: The German Cognitive Science Conference 2005, Schwabe, Basel, pp. 9-14.
Berg, N. (2003) Sometimes we have to choose between freedoms, Dallas Morning News, February 21, p. 23A.
Berg, N. (2003) We must discuss who gets what, Dallas Morning News, January 10, p.21A.
Berg, N. (2003) Review of Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word, by Kennedy, R., in Magill's Literary Annual 2002: Essay-Reviews of 200 Outstanding Books Published in the United States During 2002, pp. 586-589, Pasadena, CA, Salem Press.
Berg, N. (2003) Review of Soros: The Life and Times of a Messianic Billionaire, by Kaufman, M.T., in Magill's Literary Annual 2002: Essay-Reviews of 200 Outstanding Books Published in the United States During 2002, pp. 794-798, Pasadena, CA, Salem Press.
Berg, N. (1998), Review of Logical Dilemmas: The Life and Work of Kurt Gödel, by Dawson, J.W. Jr., in Magill's Literary Annual: Books of 1997, pp. 517-521, Pasadena, CA, Salem Press.
Berg, N. and Buckles, B. (2013), Do residential real estate values over-react to the announcement of court-ordered scattered-site public housing?: Dallas case study.
Berg, N., and Buckles, B. (2012), Utility-controlled power grids Versus Independent System Operator (ISO)s: Measuring the effect of ISOs on electric transmission line capacity.
Trinh, K. A., Berg, N., Garces-Ozanne, A., & Knowles, S. (2022). Why did they not borrow? Debt-averse farmers in rural Vietnam. Developing Economies, 60(4), 228-260. doi: 10.1111/deve.12336
Journal - Research Article
Berg, N., & Kim, J.-Y. (2022). Optimal online-payment security system and the role of liability sharing. Economic Modelling, 110, 105805. doi: 10.1016/j.econmod.2022.105805
Journal - Research Article
Akhtaruzzaman, M., Berg, N., Lien, D., & Wu, Y. (2022). News coverage of Confucius Institutes in the pre-Trump era. Economic & Political Studies, 10(2), 155-180. doi: 10.1080/20954816.2020.1870025
Journal - Research Article
Rakhmah, T., Connelly, S., & Berg, N. (2021). Firm-level barriers to geothermal power project development in New Zealand. Proceedings of the 15th Otago Energy Research Centre (OERC) Symposium: The Challenge of Net Zero by 2050. Retrieved from https://www.otago.ac.nz/oerc/symposia
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Berg, N., Kim, J.-Y., & Lee, K. M. (2021). Why is parochialism prevalent?: An evolutionary approach. Journal of Economic Interaction & Coordination, 16, 769-796. doi: 10.1007/s11403-021-00328-3
Journal - Research Article
Berg, N., Kim, J.-Y., & Seon, I. (2021). A performance-based payment: Signaling the quality of a credence good. Managerial & Decision Economics, 42, 1117-1131. doi: 10.1002/mde.3295
Journal - Research Article
Berg, N., Kim, J.-Y., & Park, J. (2021). Why do firms sell gift cards although consumers prefer cash to gift cards? Economic Modelling, 96, 379-388. doi: 10.1016/j.econmod.2020.03.020
Journal - Research Article
Rakhmah, T., Connelly, S., & Berg, N. (2020). Quantifying firm-level barriers to more effective private sector involvement in the transition to low carbon energy solutions. Proceedings of the 14th Annual Otago Energy Research Centre (OERC) Symposium: New Energy Futures post COVID-19. Retrieved from https://www.otago.ac.nz/oerc
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Berg, N., & Watanabe, Y. (2020). Conservation of behavioral diversity: On nudging, paternalism-induced monoculture, and the social value of heterogeneous beliefs and behavior. Mind & Society, 19, 103-120. doi: 10.1007/s11299-020-00228-2
Journal - Research Article
Berg, N., Kim, J.-Y., & Jang, J.-U. (2020). Should refusal to sell be illegal? Australian Economic Papers, 59, 1-12. doi: 10.1111/1467-8454.12165
Journal - Research Article
Rakhmah, T., Connelly, S., & Berg, N. (2019, August). Quantifying firm-level barriers to more effective private sector involvement in the transition to low carbon energy system. Verbal presentation at the School of Geography Postgraduate Symposium, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Forsyth, C., Nel, E., Berg, N., & McPherdran, S. (2019, August). Firearms in the community: A study of place, socio-economic value and urban-rural contracts. Verbal presentation at the School of Geography Postgraduate Symposium, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Berg, N., Connelly, S., & Rakhmah, T. (2019). Quantifying firm-level barriers to more effective private sector involvement in the transition to low carbon energy system. Proceedings of the 13th Otago Energy Research Centre (OERC) and Otago Climate Change Network (OCCNET) Energy & Climate Change Symposium. (pp. 7-8). Retrieved from https://www.otago.ac.nz/oerc
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Berg, N., & Kim, J.-Y. (2019). A good advisor. Bulletin of Economic Research, 71(3), 558-572. doi: 10.1111/boer.12180
Journal - Research Article
Berg, N. (2018). Decentralization mislaid: On new paternalism and skepticism toward experts. Review of Behavioral Economics, 5(3-4), 361-387. doi: 10.1561/105.00000099
Journal - Research Article
Berg, N., & Kim, J.-Y. (2018). Free expression and defamation. Law, Probability & Risk, 17(3), 201-223. doi: 10.1093/lpr/mgy003
Journal - Research Article
Berg, N., & Kim, J.-Y. (2018). Price discrimination in public healthcare. Australian Economic Papers, 57(2), 181-192. doi: 10.1111/1467-8454.12114
Journal - Research Article
Berg, N., & Kim, J.-Y. (2018). Plea bargaining with multiple defendants and its deterrence effect. International Review of Law & Economics, 55, 58-70. doi: 10.1016/j.irle.2018.04.002
Journal - Research Article
Berg, N., Prakhya, S., & Ranganathan, K. (2017). A satisficing approach to eliciting risk preferences. Journal of Business Research, 82, 127-140. doi: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2017.08.029
Journal - Research Article
Berg, N., & Preston, K. L. (2017). Willingness to pay for local food?: Consumer preferences and shopping behavior at Otago Farmers Market. Transportation Research Part A, 103, 343-361. doi: 10.1016/j.tra.2017.07.001
Journal - Research Article
Kim, J.-Y., & Berg, N. (2017). Reexamining the Schmalensee effect [Economics (Vol. 11)]. doi: 10.5018/economics-ejournal.ja.2017-5
Working Paper; Discussion Paper; Technical Report
Berg, N., & Gabel, T. (2017). Did tax cuts on earned income reduce welfare participation in Canada? Australian Tax Forum, 32(1), 175-195.
Journal - Research Article
Akhtaruzzaman, M., Berg, N., & Lien, D. (2017). Confucius Institutes and FDI flows from China to Africa. China Economic Review, 44, 241-252. doi: 10.1016/j.chieco.2017.02.004
Journal - Research Article
Akhtaruzzaman, M., Berg, N., & Hajzler, C. (2017). Expropriation risk and FDI in developing countries: Does return of capital dominate return on capital? European Journal of Political Economy, 49, 84-107. doi: 10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2017.01.001
Journal - Research Article
Berg, N., & Gabel, T. (2017). Who was affected by new welfare reform strategies? Microdata estimates from Canada. Applied Economics, 49(14), 1395-1413. doi: 10.1080/00036846.2016.1218428
Journal - Research Article
Bento, P., Nikolaeva, R., Simaens, A., Berg, N., & Lengler, J. (2016). Time for a pause. Global Economics & Management Review, 21(1-2), 1. doi: 10.1016/j.gemrev.2015.03.001
Journal - Research Other
Berg, N., Biele, G., & Gigerenzer, G. (2016). Consistent Bayesians are no more accurate than non-Bayesians: Economists surveyed about PSA. Review of Behavioral Economics, 3(2), 189-219. doi: 10.1561/105.00000034
Journal - Research Article
Berg, N., & Nelson, T. D. (2016). Pregnancy and dropout: Effects of family, neighborhood, and high school characteristics on girls' fertility and dropout status. Population Research & Policy Review, 35(6), 757-789. doi: 10.1007/s11113-016-9410-4
Journal - Research Article
Berg, N., & Kim, J.-Y. (2016). Equilibrium national border and its stability. Prague Economic Papers, 25(6), 637-654. doi: 10.18267/j.pep.582
Journal - Research Article
Kim, J.-Y., Lee, M. H., & Berg, N. (2016). Peak-load pricing in duopoly. Economic Modelling, 57, 47-54. doi: 10.1016/j.econmod.2016.04.012
Journal - Research Article
Berg, N., El-Komi, M., & Kim, J.-Y. (2016). Market segmentation and non-uniform Shariah standards in Islamic finance. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 132(Suppl.), 39-49. doi: 10.1016/j.jebo.2016.03.019
Journal - Research Article
Berg, N., & Kim, J.-Y. (2016). Harsh norms and screening for loyalty. Bulletin of Economic Research, 68(3), 205-217. doi: 10.1111/boer.12045
Journal - Research Article
Berg, N., & Gabel, T. (2015). Did Canadian welfare reform work? The effects of new reform strategies on social assistance participation. Canadian Journal of Economics / Revue canadienne d'economique, 48(2), 494-528. doi: 10.1111/caje.12134
Journal - Research Article
Berg, N., & Kim, J.-Y. (2015). Quantity restrictions with imperfect enforcement in an over-used commons: Permissive regulation to reduce over-use? Journal of Institutional & Theoretical Economics, 171, 308-329.
Journal - Research Article
Lim, Y., Kim, J.-Y., & Berg, N. (2015). Price asymmetry revisited from a marketing perspective. Economic Modelling, 49, 314-319. doi: 10.1016/j.econmod.2015.05.008
Journal - Research Article
Bento, P., Nikolaeva, R., Simaens, A., Berg, N., & Lengler, J. (2014). Why Global Economics and Management Review? Global Economics & Management Review, 19(1-2), 1-2. doi: 10.1016/j.gemrev.2015.03.001
Journal - Research Other
Berg, N. (2014). The consistency and ecological rationality approaches to normative bounded rationality. Journal of Economic Methodology, 21(4), 375-395. doi: 10.1080/1350178X.2014.969910
Journal - Research Article
Berg, N., & Kim, J.-Y. (2014). Prohibition of Riba and Gharar: A signaling and screening explanation? Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 103(Suppl.), S146-S159. doi: 10.1016/j.jebo.2014.02.016
Journal - Research Article
Kim, J.-Y., & Berg, N. (2014). Quantity restrictions with imperfect enforcement in an over-used commons: Permissive regulation to
reduce over-use? [Economics Discussion Papers No. 1406]. Dunedin, New Zealand: School of Business, University of Otago. 22p.
Working Paper; Discussion Paper; Technical Report
Monti, M., Pelligra, V., Martignon, L., & Berg, N. (2014). Retail investors and financial advisors: New evidence on trust and advice taking heuristics. Journal of Business Research, 67(8), 1749-1757. doi: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2014.02.022
Journal - Research Article
Berg, N., & Gabel, T. (2014). New reform strategies and welfare participation in Canada [Economics Discussion Papers No. 1402]. Dunedin, New Zealand: School of Business, University of Otago. 35p.
Working Paper; Discussion Paper; Technical Report
Berg, N. (2014). Success from satisficing and imitation: Entrepreneurs' location choice and implications of heuristics for local economic development. Journal of Business Research, 67(8), 1700-1709. doi: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2014.02.016
Journal - Research Article
Hoffrage, U., Hertwig, R., ABC Research Group, including Berg, N. (Eds.). (2013). Simple heuristics in a social world. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 641p.
Edited Book - Research
Berg, N., Abramczuk, K., & Hoffrage, U. (2013). Fast acceptance by common experience: Augmenting Schelling's neighborhood segregation model wwith FACE-recognition. In R. Hertwig, U. Hoffrage & the ABC Research Group (Eds.), Simple heuristics in a social world. (pp. 225-259). New York: Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195388435.003.0008
Chapter in Book - Research
Berg, N., Biele, G., & Gigerenzer, G. (2013). Does consistency predict accuracy of beliefs? Economists surveyed about PSA [Economics Discussion Papers No. 1308]. Dunedin, New Zealand: School of Business, University of Otago. 39p.
Working Paper; Discussion Paper; Technical Report
Berg, N., & Kim, J.-Y. (2013). Prohibition of Riba and Gharar: A signaling and screening explanation? [Economics Discussion Papers No. 1314]. Dunedin, New Zealand: School of Business, University of Otago. 35p.
Working Paper; Discussion Paper; Technical Report
Berg, N., & Gabel, T. (2013). Effects of new welfare reform strategies on welfare participation: Microdata estimates from Canada [Economics Discussion Papers No. 1304]. Dunedin, New Zealand: School of Business, University of Otago. 34p.
Working Paper; Discussion Paper; Technical Report
Todd, P. M., Gigerenzer, G., ABC Research Group, including Berg, N. (Eds.). (2012). Ecological rationality: Intelligence in the world. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Edited Book - Research
Bennis, W. M., Katsikopoulos, K. V., Goldstein, D. G., Dieckmann, A., & Berg, N. (2012). Designed to fit minds: Institutions and ecological rationality. In P. M. Todd, G. Gigerenzer & ABC Research Group (Eds.), Ecological rationality: Intelligence in the world. (pp. 409-427). New York: Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195315448.003.0126
Chapter in Book - Research
Monti, M., Boero, R., Berg, N., Gigerenzer, G., & Martignon, L. (2012). How do common investors behave? Information search and portfolio choice among bank customers and university students. Mind & Society, 11(2), 203-233. doi: 10.1007/s11299-012-0109-x
Journal - Research Article
Berg, N. (2012). Risk in housing markets. In S. J. Smith (Ed.), International encyclopedia of housing and home. (pp. 193-203). Amsterdam: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-08-047163-1.00172-7
Chapter in Book - Research
Kameda, T., Tsukasaki, T., Hastie, R., & Berg, N. (2011). Democracy under uncertainty: The wisdom of crowds and the free-rider problem in group decision making. Psychological Review, 118(1), 76-96. doi: 10.1037/a0020699
Journal - Research Article
Berg, N. (2010). Behavioral economics. In R. C. Free (Ed.), 21st Century economics: A reference handbook (Vol. 2). (pp. 861-872). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Chapter in Book - Research
Berg, N., & Gigerenzer, G. (2010). As-if behavioral economics: Neoclassical economics in disguise? History of Economic Ideas, XVIII, 1.
Journal - Research Article
Berg, N., Hoffrage, U., & Abramczuk, K. (2010). Fast acceptance by common experience: FACE-recognition in schelling's model of neighborhood segregation. Judgment & Decision Making, 5(5), 391-410.
Journal - Research Article
Berg, N., & Hoffrage, U. (2010). Compressed environments: Unbounded optimizers should sometimes ignore information. Minds & Machines, 20(2), 259-275. doi: 10.1007/s11023-009-9167-1
Journal - Research Article
Finin, T., Joshi, A., Kargupta, H., Yesha, Y., Sachs, J., Bertino, E., … Berg, N., … Adamic, L. (2009). Assured information sharing life cycle. Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Intelligence and Security Informatics (ISI). (pp. 307-309). IEEE. doi: 10.1109/ISI.2009.5137331
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Full paper
Berg, N., & Merrifield, J. (2009). Experiments to generate new data about school choice: Commentary on "Defining continuous improvement and cost minimization possibilities through school choice experiments" and Merrifield's reply. Journal of School Choice, 3(4), 397-413. doi: 10.1080/15582150903425822
Journal - Research Article
Berg, N., & Lien, D. (2009). Sexual orientation and self-reported lying. Review of Economics of the Household, 7(1), 83-104. doi: 10.1007/s11150-008-9038-1
Journal - Research Article
Berg, N., & Hoffrage, U. (2008). Rational ignoring with unbounded cognitive capacity. Journal of Economic Psychology, 29(6), 792-809. doi: 10.1016/j.joep.2008.03.003
Journal - Research Article
Berg, N., & Faria, J. (2008). Negatively correlated author seniority and the number of acknowledged people: Name-recognition as a signal of scientific merit? Journal of Socio-Economics, 37(3), 1234-1247. doi: 10.1016/j.socec.2007.03.012
Journal - Research Article
Berg, N., & Maital, S. (2007). Tailoring globalisation to national needs and well-being: One size never fits all. Global Business & Economics Review, 9(2-3), 319-334. doi: 10.1504/GBER.2007.013708
Journal - Research Article
Berg, N., Gu, A. Y., & Lien, D. (2007). Dynamic correlation: A tool for hedging house price risk? Journal of Real Estate Portfolio Management, 13(1), 17-28.
Journal - Research Article
Berg, N., & Gigerenzer, G. (2007). Psychology implies paternalism? Bounded rationality may reduce the rationale to regulate risk-taking. Social Choice & Welfare, 28(2), 337-359. doi: 10.1007/s00355-006-0169-0
Journal - Research Article
Berg, N. (2007). Introduction: Behavioural economics, business decision making and applied policy analysis. Global Business & Economics Review, 9(2-3), 123-125.
Journal - Research Other
Berg, N., & Lien, D. (2006). Same-sex sexual behaviour: US frequency estimates from survey data with simultaneous misreporting and non-response. Applied Economics, 38(7), 757-769. doi: 10.1080/00036840500427114
Journal - Research Article
Berg, N. (2006). A simple Bayesian procedure for sample size determination in an audit of property value appraisals. Real Estate Economics, 34(1), 133-155. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-6229.2006.00162.x
Journal - Research Article
Berg, N., & Lien, D. (2005). Does society benefit from investor overconfidence in the ability of financial market experts? Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 58(1), 95-116. doi: 10.1016/j.jebo.2003.10.011
Journal - Research Article
Berg, N. (2004). No-decision classification: An alternative to testing for statistical significance. Journal of Socio-Economics, 33(5), 631-650. doi: 10.1016/j.socec.2004.09.036
Journal - Research Article
Berg, N., & Lien, D. (2003). Tracking error decision rules and accumulated wealth. Applied Mathematical Finance, 10(2), 91-119. doi: 10.1080/1350486032000088912
Journal - Research Article
Berg, N. (2003). Normative behavioral economics. Journal of Socio-Economics, 32(4), 411-427. doi: 10.1016/S1053-5357(03)00049-0
Journal - Research Article
Berg, N., & Lien, D. (2002). Measuring the effect of sexual orientation on income: Evidence of discrimination? Contemporary Economic Policy, 20(4), 394-414. doi: 10.1093/cep/20.4.394
Journal - Research Article