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

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

Behavioural science in the context of climate change at its related health risks has mainly focused on understanding and changing individual behaviours. However, effectively addressing the climate crisis requires broadening the focus on systemic societal change. This level of change is required to mitigate the negative effects of climate change as well as help people adapt to the associated (health) risks. Fostering systemic societal change requires situation-specific, large-scale data that can…

Institution: Other

Team: PACE Team

In early 2022, various kinds of text messages were sent to over 100,000 residents of Brabant-Zuidoost who had not yet received a booster jab from the GGD. The results show that the most effective variant − in the 6 days after receiving the text message − led to a 3.2% increase in the number of vaccinations administered. This was the text message saying 'Jouw boosterprik ligt voor je klaar' (You can now book your booster vaccination) plus a randomly allocated date, time and location. Why…

Institution: Netherlands Public Health Service

The Ontario Public Service (OPS) is committed to promoting employment equity. Collecting sociodemographic data from employees will help the OPS better understand how different demographic groups are represented in the workforce and progress through their careers. However, recent initiatives to promote the voluntary submission of sociodemographic data through the OPS Human Resources portal (known as WIN) has had lower uptake than desired, reducing the quality of this data for decision-making…

Institution: Ontario Public Service (OPS)

Team: Ontario Behavioural Insights Unit

This experiment involved making the information on the WBSO website clearer and more personally relevant to entrepreneurs. The visibility of the call-to-action was also enhanced. The study showed that entrepreneurs were prompted to spend more time exploring the possibilities offered by the Research and Development (Promotion) Act (WBSO) and that they read the information more carefully. Why this experiment was conducted: number of new applications below expectations The Research and Development…

Institution: Netherlands Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy and Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO)

This project aims to improve the effectiveness of medicines policy, develop a strategy for the adaptation of new medicines entering the system, focus on the behavior of selected stakeholder groups, and improve the effectiveness of existing medicines in the system.

Institution: Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic

Team: Behavioral and Experimental Economics Team (BEET)

Using a place-based approach and working with profiled local communities in Coventry, we prototype and test a new experimental methodology with elements of design thinking to better understand barriers to engagement with retrofit measures designed to reduce household carbon emissions and alleviate fuel poverty. We partner with Coventry City Council, a local school and artists to deliver a pilot scheme in the Radford area of Coventry and aim in future to expand the project to additional areas…

Institution: Other

Team: Lory Barile, Bret Willers (Head of Climate Change and Sustainability, Coventry), St. Augustine’s Primary Catholic School in Coventry, and artists at Real Art, Coventry.

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)

SEAI is conducting a monthly behavioural tracking survey to track everyday energy-related behaviours (home energy use and travel) in Ireland. The survey is being run to support ongoing government communications around the current energy crisis. We will run the survey over a given week (7-10 days) each month on a nationally representative adult sample. It is expected that the survey will run for 13 iterations initially. In order to capture an accurate snapshot of current energy-related…

Institution: Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI)

Team: SEAI Behavioural Economics Unit