Economists Do It With Models

Posted on July 14, 2010 by Bill Petti

For those interested in the smart and witty discussion of economics (behavioral and otherwise) do yourself a favor and check out Jodi Begg’s Economists Do It With Models (the title says it all). Beggs is a Ph.D. Candidate at Harvard and focuses on behavioral economics (incentives, generally).  She has a great sense of humor and [...]

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Deafening Silence Explained

Posted on March 15, 2010 by Bill Petti

It’s been a little hectic lately. I’ve haven’t posted in about a week, but am looking to in the next few days. In the meantime, check out this interesting talk from TED by Nobel laureate and behavioral economics pioneer Daniel Kahneman on experience, happiness, and why a 2-week vacation is only marginally better than a [...]

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Adaptation and Nudge Strategies

Posted on January 26, 2010 by Bill Petti

Jeff Ely over at the excellent Cheap Talk writes about his attempt to fool himself into being punctual: I once tried setting my watch ahead a few minutes to help me make it to appointments on time.  At first it worked, but not because I was fooled.  I would glance at the watch, get worried [...]

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Want to Encourage Certain Behaviors? Be sure to make them fun

Posted on October 10, 2009 by Bill Petti

Thaler and Sunstein’s Nudge blog points to an interesting project, sponsored by Volkswagen, called The Fun Theory.  The idea beyond The Fun Theory is that beneficial behaviors (such as recycling and exercise) can be encouraged simply by making those behaviors, well, more fun.  The video below is one example where the goal was to encourage [...]

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Nudging Customers and Aligning Interests with Relational Data: A true win-win

Posted on September 27, 2009 by Bill Petti

Last week, the WSJ ran an article on the increasing use of insights from behavioral economics by businesses and organizations.  Organizations are using these insights to ‘nudge‘ customers and clients toward specific behaviors–e.g. using less energy, opting in to the home delivery of prescription drugs, etc. The essence of behavioral economics is that humans fail [...]

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