Ernst Fehr has always seen what others missed – the connections between disciplines, the institutions that research needs to thrive, and the partnerships that make lasting impact possible. As he celebrates his 70th birthday, the UBS Center takes this as an opportunity to highlight a career that has shaped behavioral economics as a field, and Zurich’s Department of Economics as a world-class institution. Explore a selection of work, conversations, and tributes that reflect the breadth of his contribution.

What if shareholders care about more than profits? In his UBS Center Opinions lecture at Universität Zürich, Nobel laureate Oliver Hart challenged one of the central assumptions of modern corporate governance. Drawing on ideas from his forthcoming book Citizen Investors, he argued that shareholders are not merely investors seeking financial returns, but citizens whose social and moral preferences deserve a greater role in corporate decision-making.

Former Swiss Federal Councillor Kaspar Villiger paid tribute to Ernst Fehr on the occasion of his 70th birthday at the UZH Department of Economics' Annual Research Night, a flagship event jointly hosted with the Excellence Foundation Zurich. Reflecting on his own career in business, government, and finance, Villiger described how Fehr’s research transformed not only economics, but also our understanding of human behavior, institutions, and society. His tribute was a reminder that Fehr’s influence extends far beyond academia.

Ernst Fehr has spent decades studying what really motivates human behavior – fairness, reciprocity, and the social preferences that standard economics long ignored. He asked questions that the discipline was not yet ready to embrace – and when his ideas met resistance, he looked for new ways to test them. In the latest episode of Thought Supply, he sits down with colleague Roberto Weber to reflect on his research, his intellectual journey, and the questions that still keep him up at night.

He humanized economics and led the department of economics at the University of Zurich to the top. The most cited economist in the German language area conveys a positive message: human beings are not purely self-interested. In doing so, he revolutionized the way his profession analyzes the world.