Behavioural Insights Projects

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

Analysis of the preferences of current blood donors and development of a strategy for launching a behavioral blood donor registry.

Institution: Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic

Team: Behavioral and Experimental Economics Team (BEET)

To support building the pipeline of skilled workers in Ontario, the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development (MLITSD) introduced the Skilled Trades Strategy (STS) in 2020 which aims to modernize the skilled trades and apprenticeship system by breaking the stigma and attracting more young people to the skilled trades, simplifying the system, and encouraging employer participation. In collaboration with MLITSD, the Ontario Behavioural Insights Unit (BIU) plans to run a…

Institution: Ontario Public Service (OPS)

Team: Behavioural Insights Unit

Could we expect a higher vaccine uptake if vaccination appointments are no longer necessary? A campaign in neighbourhoods where vaccination rates were lagging sought to test whether emphasising convenience led to an increase in the number of administered vaccinations, by offering walk-in vaccination without an appointment. This indeed proved to be the case. Furthermore, getting a COVID-19 vaccine on a walk-in basis has become popular, along with the platform PrikkenZonderAfspraak. Why this…

Institution: National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM)

A Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) was conducted at seven of Amel’s community centers to improve the performance of students sitting for Cycle I exams. The trial consisted of a short activity that comprised of a ranking exercise whereby they have to rank a list of 10 values from most of least important to them, followed by a drawing exercise in which they have to visualize their number 1 value [9]. Both exercises were completed by students right before sitting for their exams.

Institution: Nudge Lebanon

Team: Nudge Lebanon

The Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Latvia collaborated with the World Bank on a holistic review of the country's tax system, an input to the design of a new, improved tax strategy. The State Revenue Service (SRS), Latvia's tax authority, worked with the Mind, Behavior, and Development (eMBeD) Unit at the World Bank to pilot a field experiment to increase tax compliance. The experiment involved sending preemptive, behaviorally-informed email messages to taxpayers with a share of income…

Institution: World Bank

Team: eMBeD, Mind Behaviour and Development team

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

The purpose of this survey is to better understand Canadians’ perceptions, knowledge and decision-making related to home energy labels and to explore different design features and information presentations that may drive energy-efficient choices.

Institution: Privy Council Office

Team: Impact and Innovation Unit (IIU)

To support federal response efforts, Impact Canada is leading the implementation of the World Health Organization (WHO) Behavioural Insights (BI) Tool on COVID-19 in the Canadian context. This work is being led in collaboration with the Public Opinion Research Team within the Privy Council Office’s (PCO) Communications and Consultation Secretariat, which supports the Prime Minister’s Office in coordinating government communications in accordance with key priorities. Insights garnered will…

Institution: Privy Council Office

Team: Impact and Innovation Unit (IIU)

The project’s goal was to increase voter turnout among potential voters: registered voters who participated in one or fewer primary elections since 2000. Voting is a high-salience, socially important behavior that is essential to a functioning democratic society. While campaigns and organizations spend millions of dollars to increase voter turnout, recent research suggests that simple interventions like facilitating plan-making can help people follow through on their intentions.

Institution: Harvard Kennedy School

Team: Behavioural Insights Group