Behavioural Insights Projects

Are there ways to limit the accrual of excessive loan amounts by students? A letter sent to students with student loans who have received a supplementary grant increases the likelihood of them reducing their loan amounts. This increased likelihood translates to an annual average decrease of over € 150 in loan amounts for students receiving both a supplementary grant and a loan. Why this experiment was conducted: award of supplementary grant sometimes has little or no impact on loan…

Institution: Netherlands Ministry of Education, Culture and Science

How does information on the job market affect the expectations and preferences of pupils in pre-vocational education? A large online platform for career development and career counselling provided pupils who were attending pre-vocational colleges with information on the career prospects of professions in which they are interested. This information resulted in pupils revising their expectations, and made them more likely to aim for jobs with better career prospects.

Institution: Behavioural Insights Network (BIN NL)

While potential voters may register and intend to vote, many registered voters ultimately do not participate in elections. In addition, previous studies have not addressed how the impact of the text messages may vary among causal voters compared to habitual voters. Casual voters are defined as those who had previously only voted in the presidential election or major elections. Habitual voters are defined as those who have a higher propensity to vote (in this case, those who voted in each of the…

Institution: Harvard Kennedy School

Team: Behavioural Insights Group

In partnership with Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) and Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), the Impact and Innovation Unit (IIU) has launched a multi-year program of research on climate change. The Program of Applied Research on Climate Action in Canada (PARCA Canada) combines behavioural science (BeSci) insights and methods with robust policy analysis to promote climate action. One of the main areas of focus involves the launch of a longitudinal survey that will, over time, collect…

Institution: Privy Council Office

Team: Impact and Innovation Unit (IIU)

Behaviorally informed messages have had demonstrated success in increasing tax compliance in multiple regional settings. In Indonesia, which has the largest economy in Southeast Asia, a trial from the Directorate General of Taxes (DGT) and World Bank teams looked at whether behaviorally informed messages and materials can impact tax compliance and payment rates among small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The results showed, to get delinquent firms to pay their taxes, information is not enough -…

Institution: World Bank

Team: eMBeD, Mind Behaviour and Development team

Land tax is payable in Queensland on properties valued over a certain threshold. The Queensland Office of State Revenue can approve land tax exemptions for a range of reasons that include landowners’ principal place of residence and business of primary production. Once claimed, the exemption continues to apply indefinitely, which is appropriate as long as landowners are entitled to continue to claim the exemption. However, landowners who claim the exemption are obligated to inform the…

Institution: Queensland government

The Environmental Habits and Values Survey (2020) aims to explore the values, opinions, attitudes and behaviour of Barcelona's citizens in relation to the environment, sustainability and climate change. This study was launched in 2000 and is carried out every four years. This year, 2024, the questions have been revised and the project is on-going. The series has a dual value: on the one hand, it provides a snapshot of the values and attitudes of Barcelona residents at the time the survey is…

Institution: Other

Team: Climate change and sustainability office

Challenge Tax delinquencies are a major problem for most tax administrations in the world. In Colombia, the National Accountant Office estimated the total outstanding debt to the National Tax Agency at $2.5 billion, which represents about 20 percent of estimated total tax evasion in 2014. Finding ways to reduce tax delinquencies is critical for both fiscal and equity considerations. A previous study compared messages about due liabilities delivered through three channels (letter, email, or…

Institution: Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)

Team: IDB Behavioral Economics Group

PROJECT SUMMARY Teachers in a summer school program for high school students provided brief, individualized, messages for parents with information about their child’s performance and behavior in school on a weekly basis. IMPACT Providing parents with individualized messages increased the probability a student earned credit for each class by 6.5 percentage points – a 41% reduction in failure rates.

Institution: Harvard Kennedy School

Team: Behavioural Insights Group

Every year, governments spend large amounts of resources on development programs that aim to change poor households’ behaviors and attitudes toward investment in the education, health, and nutrition of their children as a way to end the cycle of poverty. One key mechanism that can achieve this is working to raise aspirations. But how do you do that in practice? In this project, together with Karen Macours of the Paris School of Economics and the Ministry of Family in Nicaragua, we find that…

Institution: World Bank

Team: eMBeD, Mind Behaviour and Development team