Paul J. Zak (born 9 February, 1962 in Santa Barbara, California) is one of the founders of the field of neuroeconomics. He is a Professor at Claremont Graduate University in Southern California. Zak received undergraduate degrees in mathematics and economics at San Diego State University, a PhD in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania, and completed a fellowship in brain imaging at Massachusetts General Hospital. His research was the first to identify the role of the neuropeptide oxytocin in mediating trusting behaviors between unacquainted humans in 2004. Zak directs the Center for Neuroeconomics Studies at Claremont Graduate University. His book Moral Markets: The Critical Role of Values in the Economy will be published by Princeton University Press in 2008.
Publications
- Paul J. Zak, "Neuroeconomics", Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 359:1737-1748, 2004.
- Paul J. Zak, Robert Kurzban and William T. Matzner, "The Neurobiology of Trust", Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1032:224–227, 2004.
- Michael Kosfeld, Markus Heinrichs, Paul J. Zak, Urs Fischbacher, & Ernst Fehr. Oxytocin Increases Trust In Humans, Nature, 435:473–476, 2005.
- Paul J. Zak, Robert Kurzban, and William T. Matzner. "Oxytocin is Associated with Human Trustworthiness", Hormones and Behavior, 48, 522–527, 2005.
- Paul J. Zak, Karla Borja, Robert Kurzban, and William T. Matzner, "The Neuroeconomics of Distrust: Physiologic and Behavioral Differences Between Men and Women", American Economic Review, 95(2): 360-363, 2005
- Zak, P.J. Stanton, A.A., Ahmadi, A. 2007. Oxytocin increases generosity in humans. PloS ONE 2(11): e1128.
