Blog

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

Madagascar: Expanding the Bandwidth of the Extreme Poor

by ideas42 & The World Bank

This post originally appeared on World Bank Voices blog and was co-authored by ideas42 and members of the World Bank. It is 8 AM. The winter sun begins to appear over the gray-green mass of trees above the village of Tritriva in Madagascar’s central highlands. The courtyard of a stone church is already filled with […]

Smartphones: A Nudger’s Best or Worst Friend? An ideas42 Affiliate Post

by Ben Castleman

This post, written by ideas42 affiliate Ben Castleman, originally appeared on The Brown Center Chalkboard blog at Brookings.edu  It goes without saying that mobile technology and smartphones have transformed our lives. Tasks that, not so many years ago, mainly happened in person or on paper now take place in the palm of our hands. Day […]

New World Bank Team Mainstreams the Adoption of Behavioral Science in International Development

Today’s World Bank Global Insights Initiative (GINI) announcement represents many milestones. It’s the most significant of the many recent steps made by the world’s multilateral governance institutions to add behavioral science tools alongside those of traditional economics to the modern policymaker’s toolbox. As such, it’s a triumph for those of us who support a behavioral […]

ideas42 Academic Affiliate Series: A Talk With Guest Scholar Brendan Nyhan

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 Brendan Nyhan of Dartmouth College today. Brendan’s research focuses on the spread […]

The New College Scorecard: Needed & Welcomed, But Can Score Higher

In a long-anticipated move, President Obama announced a new College Scorecard to better inform prospective students’ college choices. According to some estimates, 41 percent of students say they can’t find enough helpful information to make their college decisions. Our own work with low-income students revealed that in the absence of easy, useful information about college options, students often […]

Creating Slack: Poverty Interrupted

This post is part of a series about Poverty Interrupted, ideas42’s groundbreaking effort to bring a behavioral science approach to the problem of intergenerational poverty. Imagine that your car is having some trouble and it will cost $150 in service to take care of the problem. Unfortunately, your insurance will only cover 10% of this […]

Introducing the ideas42 Directory of Academic Experts in Behavioral Science

We probably don’t need to tell you, savvy reader, that behavioral science is fascinating. The insights on human behavior that have come from the last few decades of research are not only profound and compelling, but can also delight. Take loss aversion. First demonstrated by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, this principle says we dislike […]

Boosting Financial Health with a Simple Phone Call

In the U.S., 44% of households are considered “liquid asset poor”, lacking savings to cover basic expenses for three months. What would it take to increase the financial resilience of these families? Could you do it with a simple 30-minute phone call? At ideas42, we think so. With funding from MetLife Foundation under its financial […]

ideas42 Affiliate Series: A Talk with Adam S. Levine

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 third interview brought one of ideas42’s newest affiliates, Adam S. Levine of Cornell University, to our New York office. Adam’s research […]