Behavioural Science Uncovered

Equilibrium in the Jungle with Ariel Rubinstein

In this episode, we are joined by Ariel Rubinstein from NYU and Tel Aviv University, to discuss his paper “Equilibrium in the Jungle,” which appeared in The Economic Journal in 2007. Co-authored with Michele Piccione, the paper constructs a system that is analogous to the conventional ‘exchange economy’ of micro theory, except that the forces governing allocations are … Continue reading Equilibrium in the Jungle with Ariel Rubinstein →

Civic Honesty Around the Globe with Michel Maréchal

In this episode, we are joined by Michel Maréchal from the University of Zurich to discuss his 2019 Science paper “Civic Honesty Around the Globe” co-authored with Alain Cohn, David Tannenbaum and Christian Lukas Zünd. More than seventeen thousand wallets were handed in to reception staff at various institutions in major cities across 40 countries, … Continue reading Civic Honesty Around the Globe with Michel Maréchal →

Regressive Sin Taxes with an Application to the Optimal Soda Tax with Dmitry Taubinsky

In this episode, we talk to Dmitry Taubinsky from the University of California Berkeley about his paper “Regressive Sin Taxes, with an Application to the Optimal Soda Tax,” which he co-authored with Hunt Allcott and Benjamin B. Lockwood. This paper develops a theoretical model of an optimal “sin tax” i.e., a tax on goods that … Continue reading Regressive Sin Taxes with an Application to the Optimal Soda Tax with Dmitry Taubinsky →

Preferences for Truth-telling with Johannes Abeler and Daniele Nosenzo

In this episode, we talk to Johannes Abeler from the University of Oxford and Daniele Nosenzo from Aarhus University (formerly, the University of Nottingham) about their paper “Preferences for Truth-telling,” which they co-authored with Collin Raymond. The authors first conduct a meta-analysis with data amalgamated from more than 90 studies across 47 countries and 44,000 participants. They … Continue reading Preferences for Truth-telling with Johannes Abeler and Daniele Nosenzo →

Conducting Field Experiments in Education with Sally Sadoff and Andy Brownback

In this episode, we speak with Sally Sadoff from the Rady School of Management, UC San Diego, and Andy Brownback from the University of Arkansas, about their field work with community colleges. They discuss two recent papers they coauthored on the topic. The first paper, entitled “Improving College Instruction through Incentives,” investigates the effect of offering performance-based … Continue reading Conducting Field Experiments in Education with Sally Sadoff and Andy Brownback →

Replication Markets with Anna Dreber

In this episode, we talk to Anna Dreber from the Stockholm School of Economics about her work on replication markets. In this project, Anna and her co-authors examine if markets can be used to predict whether scientific studies will replicate.

Debate participation and electoral outcomes with Horacio Larreguy

In this episode, we talk with Horacio Larreguy from the Harvard Kennedy School about his paper “Who Debates, Wins? At-Scale Experimental Evidence on Debate Participation in a Liberian Election,” which he co-authored with Jeremy Bowles. They conduct a field experiment in Liberia to understand how the participation of legislative candidates in nationwide debate initiatives affects … Continue reading Debate participation and electoral outcomes with Horacio Larreguy →

Dynamic Inconsistency in Food Choice with Anya Samek

In this episode, we talk with Anya Samek from the University of Southern California about her paper “Dynamic Inconsistency in Food Choice: Experimental Evidence from Two Food Deserts,” which she co-authored with Sally Sadoff and Charlie Sprenger. In the context of two home grocery delivery programs, this paper provides evidence of (i) dynamic inconsistency between immediate and … Continue reading Dynamic Inconsistency in Food Choice with Anya Samek →

Medieval universities and market expansion with Noam Yuchtman

In this episode, we talk with Noam Yuchtman from the London School of Economics about his paper “Medieval Universities, Legal Institutions, and the Commercial Revolution,” which he published in 2014 with Davide Cantoni. Using data from medieval Germany, this paper examines the causal link between the emergence of universities, including the legal training they provided, … Continue reading Medieval universities and market expansion with Noam Yuchtman →

Testing Bayesian Updating with Ned Augenblick

In this episode, we talk with Ned Augenblick from the University of Berkeley Haas School of Business about his paper with Matthew Rabin entitled “Belief Movement, Uncertainty Reduction, & Rational Updating”. This paper analyzes the relationship between (i) the movement in the beliefs of a Bayesian updater when new information arrives, and (ii) the associated reduction … Continue reading Testing Bayesian Updating with Ned Augenblick →