Syon Bhanot is an associate professor of economics at Swarthmore College. His areas of research include pro-social behavior, environmental conservation, development, and personal finance decisions. He is an academic affiliate at the Busara Center for Behavioral Economics and the Applied Cooperation Team at Yale University, and a founding coordinator of the Philadelphia Behavioral Science Initiative. He has worked with startups, social enterprises, cities, and international organizations, including the World Bank and the U.S. Agency for International Development, to apply the tools and methods of behavioral and experimental economics to solve real-world problems. He received a Ph.D. in public policy and an M.P.P., both from the Harvard Kennedy School.
While some are heeding the advice of public health experts, not everyone is doing so. From spring breakers to governors, some feel the need to defy orders. This behavioral phenomenon could help explain why.
Special interests in the U.S. want the tax process to be opaque and difficult. Is it any wonder Americans hate taxes?
What is the new and growing subfield “behavioral development economics?”
Here are eight lessons we learned from building a behavioral science initiative in Philadelphia’s city government.
The cubicle to your right is occupied by Joshua. Joshua’s been around a while, but you don’t understand how he still has a job.
The aftermath of Donald Trump’s election has led some to cast aspersions on analysts like Nate Silver, who made predictions about the election’s outcome.
Sitting in the waiting room at the dentist’s office, you feel some spare change clang around in your pocket.
In an increasingly busy world, many parents have a hard time regularly engaging with their kids.
How can we be sure the positives of nudging outweigh the negatives?
Two economists are walking down the street. One sees a $20 bill lying on the sidewalk and says, “Look at that $20 bill!” The second economist responds, “Nah, that’s not a $20 bill. If it was, someone would have picked it up already.”