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

The OSGG supports the Governor General in recognizing, promoting, and cultivating excellence by Canadians to strengthen our national identity, unity, and pride. Central to these goals is nominating and appointing Canadian Honours, such as the Order of Canada, which celebrate and reflect the diversity of exceptional contributions that Canadians have made to their country. Maintaining the relevance of these Honours is important to sustaining a shared Canadian identity, and consequently cultivating…

Institution: Impact and Innovation Hub (IIU)- Impact Canada

Team: Impact and Innovation Unit (IIU)

The COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and other social and global political crises and incidents have increased the need to understand the mental resilience, preparedness, agency and sense of community of Finns in various crises and disruptions. This memorandum presents information related to these topics collected via the Citizens’ Pulse survey and citizen interviews commissioned by the Prime Minister’s Office in March and April 2022.

Institution: Prime Minister's Office - Finland

Team: Finnish Behavioural Policy Unit

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)

Previous research by the Program of Applied Research on Climate Action and the Environment (PARCA) team has found that Canadians generally display poor understanding of the relative impacts of different pro-climate actions and have gaps in their understanding of climate change. Following up on these findings, a randomized controlled survey-experiment was conducted in December 2023 to test the impact of several behaviourally-informed interventions on climate literacy outcomes. Results suggested…

Institution: Impact and Innovation Hub (IIU)- Impact Canada

Team: Impact and Innovation Unit (IIU)

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

The Municipality of Dordrecht organised a competition titled The Cleanest Neighbourhood in Dordrecht. The aim was to get residents to place less rubbish next to underground waste containers. As a result of the experiment, the amount of waste left next to bins decreased and a new social norm was established. Why this experiment was conducted: rubbish left next to waste containers Bin liners and other bags containing residual and larger waste left next to underground containers rank amongst the…

Institution: Netherlands Municipality of Dordrecht

It’s the end of April in Poland. While everyone is happy the harsh winter weather is finally getting milder, the Polish Tax Authority is worried because 62% of the country failed to pay their taxes on time. Over the past decade, the use of behavioral principles by tax administrations in different countries has been gaining ground. Given the country’s tax compliance rate, Polish authorities and the World Bank tested the use of behaviorally informed letters to late taxpayers in order to…

Institution: World Bank

Team: eMBeD, Mind Behaviour and Development team

To reduce calf mortality rates, the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) developed various letters for distribution amongst three subgroups of dairy farmers. The impact measurement shows that calf mortality decreased in the overall target group, although the letters did not produce any measurable outcomes. Why this experiment was conducted: calf rearing necessitates a significant amount of care Failure to ensure appropriate care for animals in dairy farming operations…

Institution: Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority

In keeping with current thinking on violence prevention, the Violence Prevention Initiative @Schools (VPI@Schools) project focuses on strengthening protective factors for those learners most at risk of being victims of violence and reducing risk factors for those learners most at risk of perpetrating violence. Using a behaviourally informed project, the direct aim of the VPI@Schools project is to help learners develop alternative, positive automatic responses and change their beliefs and norms…

Institution: Western Cape Government (WCG)

Team: BI4Gov