Behavioural Insights Projects

OES is supporting the USAID-funded Integrated Family Planning Program (IFPP) in Mozambique led by Pathfinder International. The component of the IFPP that will be evaluated by OES is led by Population Services International (PSI). It aims to reach and engage urban women in Sofala and Nampula provinces at their doorstep with tailored family planning counseling specific to their needs, provided by family planning promoters. OES is supporting USAID/Mozambique efforts to increase the effectiveness…

Institution: General Services Administration (GSA)

Team: Office of Evaluation Sciences (OES)

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

The project has the objective of accompanying, complementing, and strengthening the jurisdictional efforts of re-linking and permanence of students in the educational system through the national program "Volvé a la escuela" (Go Back to School) and jurisdictional initiatives, based on simple and cost-effective behavioral science interventions such as cellphone messaging. A mobile messaging strategy (text message and/or Whatsapp) will be designed to encourage students and their families to…

Institution: Secretariat of Strategic Affairs of the Presidency of Argentina

Team: Behavioral Sciences and Public Policies Unit

Challenge Research suggests that some students—including low-income, underrepresented minority, and first generation students—avoid applying for financial aid due to a combination of psychological reasons. Some are overwhelmed by the complexity of the process, while others worry they’ll feel out of place in college or be stigmatized for their socio-economic background. These psychological factors can cause students to avoid applying for aid, or fail to complete their financial aid…

Institution: Ideas42

Team: Ideas42

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

A campaign was launched to encourage young people to get the catch-up vaccination against Human Papillomavirus (HPV). The campaign succeeded in promoting discussion and increased awareness of HPV as well as persuading young people to get vaccinated. Why this experiment was conducted: provide boys and girls with a vaccine they might not have received In 2022 and 2023, boys were invited for the first time and girls were invited again to get vaccinated against the Human Papillomavirus (HPV). HPV…

Institution: Dutch National Immunisation Programme

In Ireland, grants for retrofitting homes with energy upgrade measures are available from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland. Improved energy efficiency of households is an important aspect of Ireland’s climate emergency related targets. Barriers to retrofitting include a lack of understanding about retrofitting and the process, and a lack of awareness of grant availability. Community based social marketing (CBSM) might be an effective way of increasing uptake because it addresses…

Institution: Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI)

Team: SEAI Behavioural Economics Unit

Electricity bills are a key way to inform people about their plan and usage, but bills can be confusing and are not really useful to help people navigate the electricity market. BETA and the Department of the Environment and Energy ran a trial to test the impact of bill design on people’s confidence in their ability to look for a better offer and intention to do so. We drew on behavioural insights to design and test six electricity bills. We focussed on simplifying bill design to draw…

Institution: Prime Minister and Cabinet (PMC)

Team: Behavioural Economics Team of the Australian Government (BETA)

PROJECT SUMMARY ideas42 and Busara Center for Behavioral Economics worked with a major bank and telecommunications company in Nigeria to send behaviorally-informed SMS messages to customers to increase their use of mobile bank accounts. IMPACT Effects varied by message and audience; notably, injunctive norm messages led to a 45 percent increase in the number of clients making deposits among females with active accounts, from 0.82% to 1.81%. RESULTS Design ideas42 and the Busara Center for…

Institution: Busara Center for Behavioral Economics

Team: Ideas42

In 2014, Tanzania’s regulators made the country the first in Sub-Saharan Africa to permit interest payments on mobile money wallets. Currently, annual interest rates range from seven to nine percent, four times greater than the average deposit in a US bank. Despite this, mobile savings balances remain low, especially among low-income users. In order to understand what influences the saving behaviors of low-income Tanzanians, our team, eMBeD, together with the Consultative Group to Assist…

Institution: World Bank

Team: eMBeD, Mind Behaviour and Development team