Our former research assistant Mark Schmidt successfully defended his doctoral thesis on 17 April and achieved the special grade "excellent". The title of the thesis was: "Simulation-based Analysis of Product Costing Systems and Errors in Product Cost Information". Our warmest congratulations and best wishes for the future!

Our teaching project on norm-driven sustainable behavior has now officially begun. We look forward to an exciting year with the Hamburg Open Online University.

We are happy to announce that our recent paper "Robust design heuristics for product costing systems: a replication and extension using an ABC cost hierarchy" has been published in the Journal of Business Economics. In the paper we examine the robustness of costing system design guidelines in the presence of an ABC cost hierarchy and find that refinements in costing systems irregularly lead to improvements in allocation accuracy. Authors: Matthias Meyer and Mark Schmidt

We are excited to announce the launch of our new project, "Social Norms as Drivers of Sustainability: Learning in a Virtual Laboratory" supported by the HOOU@TUHH program. This initiative explores the influence of social norms on sustainability through innovative tools like interactive simulations and the user-friendly NetLogo software. Our project aims to bridge academia and society, encouraging participants to engage with sustainable practices and fostering long-term behavioral change for resilient communities. Stay tuned for updates and opportunities to get involved!

Prof. Meyer presented our Agent-Based Model (ABM) of fraud dynamics in organizations, combined with empirical measurements of descriptive norm sensitivities, at the GOR-Arbeitsgruppe “Simulation und Optimierung komplexer Systeme” meeting at Bielefeld University, held on November 7-8, 2024. The aim of the meeting was to bring together German-speaking ABM and complexity researchers to exchange on the latest trends in the field. During the event, Prof. Meyer also participated in a panel discussion on model validation and calibration, where he highlighted the innovative use of re-usable building blocks in ABM models.

Our research associate Christian Stindt presented our paper "Strengthening public governance in democracies: The influence of norm sensitivities on public institutions’ resilience to financial statement fraud" in a poster session at this year's NoBeC Conference at the University of Pennsylvania. DOI 10.15480/882.13561

We presented two papers at the SSC. Research associate Sebastian Achter: "Assessing and improving literature review practices for agent-based models: A meta-review". Co-authors: Melania Borit (UiT the Arctic University of Norway), Prof. Dr. Matthias Meyer. Research associate Christian Stindt: "Combining vignette surveys with agent-based modeling: Insights on fraud dynamics with empirically calibrated norm sensitivities." Co-authors: Prof. Dr. Matthias Meyer, research associate Alexandra Eckert.

Our research associate Alexandra Eckert presented a proposal for a vignette study on the "Potential of social norms to curb fraud" in the Doctoral Colloquium and obtained feedback on it. Aim of the study is to identify norm sensitivities in relation to fraud prevention in an organizational context. Co-authors: Prof. Dr. Matthias Meyer, research associate Christian Stindt

Our research associate Christian Stindt presented a proposal for a vignette study on the "Potential of social norms to curb fraud" in the Doctoral Colloquium and obtained feedback on it. Aim of the study is to identify norm sensitivities in relation to fraud prevention in an organizational context. Co-authors: Prof. Dr. Matthias Meyer, research associate Alexandra Eckert

Our research associate Lasse Kehrhahn presented two papers at the MSAR: "Product family design and costing errors". Co-authors: Prof. Dr. Matthias Meyer, Ole Meßerschmidt. "Unveiling errors in product costs: determinants of over- and under costing." Co-authors: Prof. Dr. Matthias Meyer, research associate Mark Schmidt.

The congress is the largest venue for the exchange of progressive thinking in controlling and accounting in Europe. Under the title “Dilemma of product undercosting” our research associate Mark Schmidt presented the results of a computer simulation developed jointly with Lasse Kehrhahn. The study addresses the complex challenges associated with the underpricing of products and offers profound insights for pricing decisions in companies. Our research associate Alexandra Eckert presented the results of a joint simulation study on fraud dynamics in organizations, co-authored with Prof. Matthias Meyer, highlighting possible new approaches to curbing fraud. Both presentations stimulated an interesting dialogue between the researchers and EAA participants.

The conference is a prominent event in Germany, a key gathering for the academic management accounting community, providing a platform for researchers to present their work, discuss current trends, and network with colleagues from around the world. Our research associate Alexandra Eckert presented the results of a joint simulation study on fraud dynamics in organizations, co-authored with Prof. Matthias Meyer, highlighting possible new approaches to curbing fraud.

For three weeks this March, our Post-Doc Dr.-Ing. Kai G. Mertens had the honor of exchanging research and delivering lectures to the students and faculty of the Department of Accounting and Business Law at Aalto University in Finland.

Sebastian Achter, Collaborative Forecasting (2023). Insights into the accuracy of social scientists’ forecasts of societal change. Nature Human Behaviour. 7, 484–501. doi:10.1038/s41562-022-01517-1

Kai G. Mertens, Christoph Rennpferdt, Erik Greve, Dieter Krause, Matthias Meyer (2022). Reviewing the intellectual structure of product modularization: Toward a common view and future research agenda. Journal of Product Innovation Mangement. 40 (1), 86-119, ISSN: 1540-5885.

Lucia Bellora-Bienengräber, Clemens Harten and Matthias Meyer (2022). The effectiveness of risk assessments in risk workshops: The role of calculative cultures. Journal of Risk Research. 26 (2), 163-183.

Markus B. Baum, Nils Crasselt, Christoph Gehrig, Sebastian Göbel, Udo Haase, Peter Kajüter, Markus Kimpel, Andreas Kindler, Sabine Kösling-Guse, Tanja Küppers, Matthias Mahlendorf, Matthias Meyer, Oliver Müller,Robert Obermaier, Stefani Rahmel, Georg Schneider, Christopher Sessar, Erik Strauß, Claude Tomaszewski, Christof Weinhardt, Barbara E. Weißenberger, Sebastian Wolf (2022). Sechs Thesen zur Transformation des Controllerbereichs beim Einsatz neuer digitaler Technologien. Controlling - Zeitschrift für erfolgsorientierte Unternehmenssteuerung"

Sebastian Achter, Melania Borit, Edmund Chattoe-Brown, Peer-Olaf Siebers (2022). RAT-TS: a reporting standard for improving the documentation of data use in agent-based modelling. International Journal of Social Research Methodology.

Prof. Dr. Matthias Meyer gave a presentation with the title "The role of measurement error-induced variance in information" at the Schmalenbach working group "Digital Reporting" on 28th of January 2022.

Clemens Harten, Matthias Meyer, Lucia Bellora-Bienengräber (2021). Talking about the likelihood of risks: an agent-based simulation of discussion processes in risk workshops. Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change. ISSN: 1832-5912.

Iris Lorscheid, Matthias Meyer (2021). Toward a better understanding of team decision processes: combining laboratory experiments with agent-based modeling. Journal of Business Economics. 91 (5).