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- 25th Nov 2016
Making room for expertise in democracy
There’s been a lot of talk in recent weeks about whether expertise is falling out of fashion. It was a theme picked up in a lecture on Tuesday by Beth Noveck, Enough of experts? Data, democracy and the future of expertise. Beth has spent time in both the White House,…
- Blog
- 30th Nov 2016
Going global: A new report on applying behavioural insights to health
This blog is also available in Spanish Testing for diabetes can be a pain. The cheapest and most effective test requires people to fast for up to 10 hours beforehand. And if people lack any symptoms, they may also have little awareness or motivation to get tested in a timely…
- Blog
- 15th Dec 2016
Behavioural finance in the Lab
Some of the earliest and most impressive applications of behavioural science focused on helping people to save for their retirement. In particular, there is the pioneering work of Brigitte Madrian, David Laibson, John Beshears and James Choi demonstrating the impact of automatically enrolling employees into workplace pension plans, and Richard…
- Blog
- 20th Dec 2016
A Christmas Carol: inspiration for behavioural interventions?
Those familiar with Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol will know that the transformation of Ebenezer Scrooge on Christmas Eve comes about from an unusual, yet remarkably successful, behavioural intervention. Scrooge (a notorious miser) is visited by four ghosts over the course of one night who show him his past, present…
- Blog
- 5th Jan 2017
Job opportunities in London
Research Advisor Permanent: 39 hours per week Salary range: £30,000 – £45,000 per annum, plus benefits Based in Westminster The Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) is recruiting a Research Advisor, who will support the Chief Scientist to design, conduct, and evaluate randomised controlled trials (RCTs), with a particular focus on RCTs…
- Blog
- 12th Jan 2017
Expanding mental health provision: the PM’s speech
‘A broken leg gets treated in few hours. But a broken spirit will take months, and often won’t be treated at all’. It’s a haunting comparison often used by Richard Layard, and a theme picked up by the Prime Minister in her first major domestic policy intervention. The economic and…
- Blog
- 23rd Jan 2017
Boosting economic growth
One area where behavioural economics has had surprisingly little impact – rather ironically - has been economic policy. The UK’s Industrial Strategy, published today, starts to change this. Adam Smith wrote extensively of the role of sentiment. Keynes highlighted how shocks and booms are driven by ‘animal spirits’. More recent…
- Blog
- 25th Jan 2017
Join the London team
Advisor, Crime, Justice and Home Affairs Permanent: 39 hours per week Salary range: £30,000 – £45,000 per annum, plus benefits Based in Westminster The Home Affairs and Security team in London is looking for two exceptional candidates to join as Advisors, working on crime, justice and home affairs. The team works closely with the…
- Blog
- 7th Feb 2017
Using prize draws as an incentive
Businesses and academics have long known that lotteries and prize draws can be a cheap and effective way of encouraging behaviour – witness the number of surveys that offer a prize for completion. However, despite this well-worn tradition of using prize-draws, governments have traditionally focused on more blunt subsidies or…
- Blog
- 16th Feb 2017
New job opportunities at BIT
Head of Communications Permanent: 39 hours per week Salary range: c. £50,000, plus benefits Based in Westminster The Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) is looking to recruit a Head of Communications to lead our communications activities across the team in the UK and globally. Based in London, you will work with…