Global Livelihoods

ideas42 Affiliate Series: A Talk with Angela Duckworth

ideas42’s network of academic affiliates represent some of the world’s foremost experts in behavioral science. In their efforts to address some of society’s toughest problems—from poverty alleviation to improving health care—these scholars have continually generated surprising and often counterintuitive scientific insights about why we make the choices we do. Their research illuminates our behavioral interventions […]

Joining with USAID and CGAP to Scale Up Financial Heuristics

by ideas42

ideas42 Joins with USAID and CGAP to Improve Financial Management for Microentrepreneurs in Developing Countries Project will scale-up pilots applying behavioral economics to create more customer-centric financial services Non-profit behavioral design firm ideas42 has been awarded over $1 million by USAID and CGAP to scale up an innovative new tool to help microentrepreneurs in developing countries […]

New White Paper: The Power of Heuristics

People are presented with many choices throughout their day, from what to have for lunch to where to go on vacation to how much money to save for emergencies. In many situations, this ability to choose enhances our lives. However, having too many choices can sometimes feel like a burden, especially if the choices are […]

What Behavioral Economics Is Not

Since the release of 2008′s Nudge, behavioral economics (BE) has quietly invaded the public’s perception. Some of the most well-known examples include the creation of the Behavioral Insights Teamin the UK, Cass Sunstein’s appointment in the Obama Administration, and the rise of popular economics books like Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow (and to a […]

New Working Paper: Behavioral Design for Development

Behavioral economics’ most successful large-scale impacts have so far been in the developed world, with notable successes including the headway made on getting Americans to save for retirement or the many successes of Britain’s Nudge Unit. But at ideas42, we believe that behavioral economics can also dramatically change the way development programs work (for the […]

A Chat About Behavioral Economics

One from the archives: back in 2010, ideas42 co-founder Sendhil Mullainathan and New York University’s Glenn Loury had a wide-ranging discussion about behavioral economics, which you can listen to here. Lots of food for thought in there, including the behavioral economics of the snooze button, why single mothers are like air-traffic controllers, and sundry other […]