Research Interests
- Behavioral Economics, Decision under Risk and Uncertainty, Environmental Economics, Game Theory
Ph.D., Economics, Iowa State University
Tigran Melkonyan is a Professor of Economics in the Department of Economics, Finance & Legal Studies at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. Prior to joining the University of Alabama, he held faculty appointments at the University of Maryland (College Park), the University of Nevada (Reno), the University of Exeter, and the University of Warwick. He has also served as a Visiting Scholar at CY Cergy Paris and the International Monetary Fund, and has consulted for the United Nations Development Programme as well as several other international organizations.
Tigran’s research focuses on decision-making under risk and uncertainty, applied game theory, and environmental economics. His work has appeared in leading journals across economics, management, and psychology, including Management Science, Journal of the European Economic Association, Academy of Management Review, Psychological Review, Trends in Cognitive Sciences, Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Economic Theory, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, International Journal of Industrial Organization, Journal of Mathematical Economics, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, and Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, among others.
“Ambiguity Attitudes and Beliefs in Strategic and Non-strategic Interactions.” (with Z. Dorobiala). Journal of Risk and Uncertainty. Forthcoming
“Revising Beliefs in Light of Unforeseen Events.” (With C.K. Becker, E. Proto, A. Sofianos, S.T. Trautmann.) Journal of the European Economic Association. November 2025.
“Fairness Preferences over Allocation of Scarce Medical Resources.” (With Z. Yang and Z. Safra). Social Science & Medicine. November 2025.
“Medical Decision Making under Risk and Uncertainty: Anesthetists’ Decision to Attend Operations.” (with Z. Yang, Y. Hanoch, Z. Safra, O. Potparic, J. Palmer). Risk Analysis. May 2025.
“The Social Contract in Miniature: How Virtual Bargaining Supports Team Production.” (With H. Zeitoun and N. Chater.) Academy of Management Review. July 2023.
“The Paradox of Social Interaction: Shared Intentionality, We-Reasoning and Virtual Bargaining.” (With N. Chater and H. Zeitoun.) Psychological Review. April 2022.
“Incomplete Preferences, Willingness to Pay, Willingness to Accept, and Elicitation.” (With Robert Chambers and John Quiggin.) Economic Theory. 2021.
“Justice in an Uncertain World: Evidence on Donations to Cancer Research.” (With Zvi Safra and Sinong Ma.) Journal of Risk and Uncertainty. 2021.
“Is allocation affected by the perception of others’ irresponsible behavior and by ambiguity?” (With Zvi Safra and Sinong Ma.) Risk Analysis. 2019.
“The Social Character of Moral Reasoning.” (With Nick Chater and Hossam Zeitoun.) Behavioral and Brain Sciences. 2019.
“Collusion in Bertrand versus Cournot competition: A Virtual Bargaining Approach.” (With Hossam Zeitoun and Nick Chater.) Management Science. 2018.
“Ambiguity and the Economic Rhetoric of Climate Change.” (With Robert Chambers.) Journal of Environmental Economics and Management. 2017.
“Intrinsic Variability in Group and Individual Decision-Making.” (With Zvi Safra.) Management Science. 2016.
“Unwritten Rules: Virtual Bargaining as a Foundation for Social Interaction, Culture and Society.” (With Jennifer Misyak, Hossam Zeitoun, and Nick Chater.) Trends in Cognitive Science. 2014.
“Food Scares in an Uncertain World.” (With Robert Chambers.) Journal of the European Economic Association. 2013.