Topic: Behavioral Economics
How to Harness Individual Outrage for Lasting Social Change
A practical guide to enlisting, mobilizing and continually engaging like-minded people
How to Spot a Nudge Gone Rogue
Researchers find common warning signs in persuasion projects that went wrong
How-To Guide for Happiness Surveys, Which Increasingly Drive Public Policy
Advice for researchers aims to help improve both data collection and its interpretation
Ignorance — About One’s Investments, Anyway — Isn’t Always Bliss
Valentin Haddad’s research looks at the phenomenon of “information aversion,” when individual investors stop tracking their portfolios for fear of bad news
In China, Big Investors Have Brilliant Timing ― Or Do They Know Someone?
A scan of a million brokerage accounts finds the wealthy trade ahead of market-moving news
Instilling Ownership Feelings Leads to Greater Care of Common Resources
Research could assist stewardship of public lands
Institutions Make Mistakes: Which Should We Seek to Prevent; Which Ought We Fix After the Fact?
In experiments, people endorsed seemingly harsh policies — only to reverse course after the fact
Is Amazon’s Fake Review Response 94 Days Too Late?
Phony posts are largely very short-term campaigns
Is Anyone Happy about the College Textbook Market?
Buyers find the tomes heavy, costly and too frequently revised, while sellers might like to kill the used book market entirely
It’s OK if the Boss Earns More, but a Problem When Co-Workers Do
Study of a large corporation explores how salary comparisons affect employee behavior
Kids Who Moved from Public Housing More Likely to Vote as Adults
Demolition of Chicago projects dispersed thousands to other areas
Lack of Urgency Can Undermine a Popular Behavioral Nudge
Encouraging pre-commitment to a future behavior helps people do hard things — but it can backfire
Lifelong Decisions Based on a Momentary Mood
Fatigue during a morning class dissuades some from rewarding majors
Maximizing Retirement Savings: More Nudging Required
Tweaking 401(k) website design and language can significantly boost worker contributions, yet HR doesn’t always see these opportunities
Momentum Investing: It Works, But Why?
After a quarter century of sprawling study, it’s time to narrow the focus and settle on an explanation
Motivating Households in India to Reduce Energy Consumption
The same message that works with U.S. households is effective in the developing world