Blog

Thoughts and insights from our work applying behavioral science to social problems.

With 30+ Million People out of Work, it’s Time to Invest in College Completion

by Katherine Flaschen and Ben Castleman

This is part of a series of posts about our ongoing partnership with the University of Virginia’s Nudge4 Solutions Lab and the community college systems of Tennessee and Virginia to increase degree attainment among adult students in the U.S. by designing and testing behaviorally informed solutions.  Less than half of adults in the United States have a postsecondary […]

Could Temporary, Behaviorally Informed Changes to WIC Be Program Fixtures?

by Antonia Violante & Allison Yates-Berg

Since the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of people have lost their jobs or are finding it even harder to stretch their paycheck to meet their needs. Many are finding that they need social safety net programs to ensure the health and well-being of their families, often for the first time. One of these […]

ideas42 Stands for Racial Justice

by ideas42

We are disgusted by the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery. We are angry about the ongoing racism faced by Black people. This anger is not new in the US, as Black Americans have faced a long history of racist violence driven not by a few bad actors, but by systemic racism […]

ideas42 Seminar Series: A Talk with Stefano DellaVigna

by ideas42

With the ideas42 Seminar Series, we invite leading scholars to share their insights and what inspires their exploration into human behavior. We were pleased to welcome Stefano DellaVigna, the Daniel Koshland, Sr. Distinguished Professor of Economics and Professor of Business Administration at the University of California, Berkeley. His recent paper, RCTs to Scale: Comprehensive Evidence from […]

COVID-19 Is Different—Charitable Giving Should Be Too

by Sarah Welch, Cecilia Shang, Katy Davis, & Piyush Tantia

The COVID-19 pandemic is unlike anything we’ve seen, but our urge to help others in crisis is familiar. When disaster strikes, a common arc unfolds: Media coverage and stories abound, non-profit organizations spearhead relief efforts, solicitations to donate are shared, and dollars come pouring in. These one-time, urgent campaigns are important and play a critical […]

Doing More with Less: Behavioral Insights for Humanitarian Cash and Vouchers

by Meghann Perez, Senior Associate, ideas42 & Holly Welcome Radice, Cash and Markets Technical Advisor, CARE

Cash and voucher assistance changed humanitarian response forever. In 2015, the High Level Panel on Cash Transfers directed humanitarian agencies  to implement unconditional cash transfers at scale whenever possible, and the advice was heeded. Preliminary findings suggest an estimated 60 percent scale-up of total cash and voucher delivery from 2016 to 2018—from US$2 billion in […]

Making Government COVID-19 Communications More Effective

by Rebecca Oran & Octavio Medina

This is part of a series of posts about behavioral science and COVID-19. Click here to read about some of the most important behaviors during this pandemic—like seeking medical help, responding to humanitarian crises, and adapting to remote work in a global outbreak. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many public benefits programs in the United […]

Using Behavioral Science to Change Malaria Testing Practices in Nigeria

by Sriram Sridharan, Faraz Haqqi & Emily Zimmerman

“We don’t gamble with human life up here […] You know the main killer in Africa is this malaria.” – Doctor, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria Most health care providers in Nigeria know the protocols for testing and treating patients for malaria. When asked, providers correctly explain that every case of fever should be tested, and […]

How Expert-Curated Guidance Helps Donors Follow Through

by Omar Parbhoo

The tragic impact of COVID-19 is being felt in every corner of the globe. But amid this crisis, millions of people are stepping up in inspiring ways to help one another. New emergency response funds have been created and existing charities are being retooled to meet the immense needs of the moment. While the scale […]

Behavioral Design for Public Agencies’ COVID-19 Response

by Rachel Rosenberg

This is part of a series of posts about behavioral science and COVID-19. Click here to read about some of the most important behaviors during this pandemic—like seeking medical help, responding to humanitarian crises, and adapting to remote work in a global outbreak. Across the country, tens of thousands of new cases of COVID-19 are reported every […]