As if we couldn't think for ourselves when it comes to pouring hot liquids down our throats, the warnings about hot tea and coffee are ubiquitous. “Caution Handle with Care I’m Hot,” says one cup. "Caution Contents Hot," says another, with variations on the theme repeated in thousands of restaurants and cafes around the world. Businesses, it seems, don't trust us to be careful … [Read more...] about When Too Much Choice Distorts Electoral Results
Behavioral Economics
How A Simple Sign Helped Cut Household Emissions by 17%
When the bitter chill of winter descends on the cities of south-central Chile, residents load up their wood-burning stoves with firewood, turn the dampers, or levers, on their stoves down to keep the wood burning longer and settle in to enjoy the crackle and warmth of log-heated homes. Energy produced by wood-fuel burning is around 4 to 6 times cheaper than that of … [Read more...] about How A Simple Sign Helped Cut Household Emissions by 17%
Behavioral Science and the Struggle for Social Cohesion
Renos Vakis is a Lead Economist with the World Bank's Poverty and Equity Global Practice and co-head of its Mind, Behavior and Development Unit. An expert on poverty who has written extensively about both Latin America and South Asia, he helps direct the unit's efforts to apply behavioral science to anti-poverty policies in areas ranging from financial inclusion to early … [Read more...] about Behavioral Science and the Struggle for Social Cohesion
What Behavioral Economics Reveals About Sharing and Cooperation
By Juan Camilo Cárdenas Disappearing forests. Overfishing. Chronic water shortages. These are all major challenges for economists in a 21st century of population pressures and climate change. Thankfully, they also have new tools. Economists used to think of people as overwhelmingly rational and self-interested, driven above all to maximize their short-term material … [Read more...] about What Behavioral Economics Reveals About Sharing and Cooperation
Leveraging Behavioral Science for Savings and Health
Alexandra De Filippo is a principal advisor at the North American division of The Behavioral Insights Team (BIT), an organization widely known as the "Nudge Unit." Since its inception, BIT has used behavioral science in wide-ranging efforts that include, among many others, increasing tax collection and electoral participation rates, boosting organ donation and reducing medical … [Read more...] about Leveraging Behavioral Science for Savings and Health