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One of the most important practical lessons from behavioural science is that we often fail to do what’s best for us, despite our best intentions - whether it be exercising more, eating more healthily, saving more money or stopping smoking. Many of the most commonly cited behavioural biases - loss…
Dr Ben Goldacre’s Radio 4 programme about the use of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in public policy is well worth a listen.The programme includes guest appearances from members of the Behavioural Insights Team, with whom Ben wrote a paper on how policymakers can use RCTs to test new interventions.
Richard Thaler, co-author of Nudge and Professor of Behavioural Science and Economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, has written an article for us about midata. midata is a programme which gives consumers the right to request their transaction information from firms in a portable machine readable…
The past year has seen one of the biggest changes to pension schemes in recent times. Starting with the largest employers, workers are now being automatically enrolled in a scheme when they join a company. In other words, now people have to make a decision to leave their employer’s scheme,…
The paper we would like to highlight this week is a great example of how research can be transferred into practice. Garner (2005) tested the impact of attaching a Post-it note with a hand-written request to survey materials. The study found that the note roughly doubled response rates (76%, compared…
After three and a half years in Number 10 and the Cabinet Office, today the Behavioural Insights Team is being 'spun out' of government and set up as a social purpose company. We will continue to work for the Cabinet Office, which will be our first and principal client. But…
Entry by David Halpern, CEO of BIT and the UK's National Adviser on What Works Do you remember the story of the three little pigs who each build a house? One builds a house of straw, another of sticks, and the other of brick. The first two build their houses…
The Behavioural Insights Team welcomes the recent letter from the House of Lords Select Committee, following up its 2011 report on Behaviour Change. We would like to highlight Lord Selbourne’s opening statement on BIT:"The work of the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) is to be commended. In particular, we are impressed…
Press release: new $1m partnership between the Behavioural Insights Team and Harvard A new partnership has been established by the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) in the UK and the Behavioural Insights Group (BIG) at the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. The partnership is supported by…
Last Sunday, The Behavioural Insights Team and the Home Office published the report "Reducing Mobile Phone Theft and Improving Security". The report provides detailed evidence of which mobile phones are most likely to be stolen, where they are likely to be taken, and who the most typical victims are likely…
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