Blog

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

ideas42 Seminar Series: A Talk with Mario Macis

ideas42’s network of academic affiliates represent some of the world’s foremost experts in behavioral science. With the ideas42 Affiliate Series, we invite leading scholars to share their insights and what inspires their exploration into human behavior. Our New York office was pleased to host Mario Macis of Johns Hopkins University today. Mario’s research focuses on incentives, pro-social […]

Making Small Changes to Save Big: Redesigning Mexican Retirement Account Statements

by Andrew Fertig

For most Americans, in addition to warmer weather, Spring means tax season. Compiling a year’s worth of financial records can be a tedious and confusing task, but it can also be a time of reflection—to thoughtfully consider how we used our money, and where there might be some room for improvement. We’re also able to […]

ideas42 Affiliate Series: A Talk with Heather Schofield

ideas42’s network of academic affiliates represent some of the world’s foremost experts in behavioral science. With the ideas42 Affiliate Series, we invite them to share their insights and what inspires their exploration into human behavior. Our New York office recently had the pleasure of hosting Heather Schofield– our newest Affiliate an assistant professor in the Department of […]

New, Behaviorally Informed NYC Summonses Hit the Streets

Every year, hundreds of thousands of low-level tickets, known as summonses, are issued in New York City. Police officers use them for an array of non-arrestable offenses like riding a bike on the sidewalk, littering, or consuming alcohol in public, many of these tickets can only be resolved by showing up to court on an […]

Understanding (and Improving) Some Rules of Thumb in Agriculture

by Marina Dimova, Dana Guichon & Michael Stern

Did your parents ever tell you to put a little more green on your plate? How about orange? Or maybe you’ve heard the phrase eat the rainbow. It may seem a bit odd to talk about nutrition in terms of colors, but we’d bet that thinking about green and orange probably got you to eat […]

Introducing Gov42

by Gov42 Team

Tax Day – April 18 – is just around the corner. But you probably don’t need the reminder since you effortlessly filed your return in January, right? Taxes are a pain. You have to track down documents, navigate jargon, and answer countless questions. On top of the hassles, it’s anxiety-inducing to figure out how much […]

Three Myths About the Underbanked, Part Two: “I Can Tell You Exactly Where My Paycheck Is Going”

by Katy Davis & Nicki Cohen

Why we’re wrong about lower income consumers, a three-part series Products and services that help low- and moderate-income (LMI) consumers manage their day-to-day finances and improve their long-term financial health are a clear need that hasn’t yet been solved by mainstream or alternative financial providers. Why haven’t the needs of LMI consumers been met by […]

Guest Post: FinLab Pushes Financial Health Agenda, One Challenge At a Time

by Financial Solutions Lab

This blog originally appeared on the CFSI/JP Morgan Chase Financial Solutions Lab Medium. ideas42 is proud to serve as a behavioral advisor to the Lab.  In New York, 22-year-old Sean had been using a savings app called Even for about eight weeks when he realized something that surprised him: by automatically saving his higher-than-average income, he’d […]

Nudgespotting: An Investigation of Traffic Nudges

by DJ Neri for Misbehaving

This post originally appeared on the Misbehaving Blog, powered by ideas42 and the Center for Decision Research at the University of Chicago. Welcome back to Nudgespotting! Today we’ll take a look at several attempts to make you a better driver and discover how creating a “simple” nudge can be a not-so-simple task.  Recently, on a […]