We speed and drive aggressively out of overconfidence, and we disregard commonsense safety measures from too much optimism. We may even use a mobile phone while driving, preferring the short-term convenience of using the phone over greater long-term rewards like safety. We engage, in other words, in time discounting, the tendency to assign a lower value to future rewards than … [Read more...] about Improving Road Safety with Behavioral Economics
When It Comes to Taxes, Gender Matters
Do women and men behave differently when confronted with taxes? Various studies around the world show that women are more likely than men to pay their taxes, presumably because they are more risk-averse and have greater tax morale, the intrinsic motivation to pay taxes. If that is so, authorities might want to adjust their strategies to take into account gender when trying to … [Read more...] about When It Comes to Taxes, Gender Matters
Inviting Creative Thinkers to Our Free Online Behavioral Economics Course
Behavioral economics is now firmly established as an essential tool in everything from product design and marketing to education and law enforcement. The realization that people have cognitive biases and often make decisions irrationally is not only an important psychological insight. It has also opened up a whole new area of policy innovations over the last 15 years in which … [Read more...] about Inviting Creative Thinkers to Our Free Online Behavioral Economics Course
A New Report Stresses Reforms to Boost Productivity and Seize Markets in an Uncertain World
Latin American and Caribbean institutions moved forcefully to head off dangers in 2023. Central banks swiftly raised interest rates in the face of inflation, and governments imposed well-considered fiscal policies that brought average primary balances to a level superior to that before the COVID-19 pandemic. Along with strong financial regulation and supervision and resilient … [Read more...] about A New Report Stresses Reforms to Boost Productivity and Seize Markets in an Uncertain World
Do Disability Employment Quotas Work?
People with disabilities (PwD) continue to face barriers to employment worldwide, with large gaps in employment between those with disabilities and those without. In Latin America and the Caribbean, for example, 24-35 year-old men with disabilities have a 24% lower employment rate than their non-disabled counterparts, and there’s a 12% disparity for similarly aged women. This … [Read more...] about Do Disability Employment Quotas Work?