Publications

Register to Read

15 Nov 2023
Video

The Science of Failing Well

March 2021
Supplement

Applied: Using Behavioral Science to Debias Hiring (B)

By: Ashley Whillans and Jeff Polzer

At the end of 2018, Applied faced questions of stakeholder management and scale. Glazebrook wanted clients to get rid of CVs altogether. To do this, they would have to help hiring managers and recruiters easily build task-based assessments of the skills that their... View Details

Keywords: Hiring; Bias; Behavioral Science; Selection and Staffing; Prejudice and Bias; Information Technology; Competency and Skills

Research Summary

The Economics of Search

Utilizing data on web searches, we characterize the economics of search and estimate the path of diffusion for information, allowing us to specify how choice sets are actually formed among consumers and examine the impact of cybergeography vs. spatial geography. Joint... View Details

28 Apr 2020
News

Vaccine Push Has Bill Gates, Science and Economics Going for It

16 May 2000
Research & Ideas

The Simple Economics of Open Source

outwardly the situation smells of economic anarchy. Where are the market forces, when thousands of talented programmers—and even many commercial firms—spend inordinate amounts... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Technology

July 2020
Article

Higher Economic Inequality Intensifies the Financial Hardship of People Living in Poverty by Fraying the Community Buffer

By: Jon M. Jachimowicz, Barnabas Szaszi, Marcel Lukas, David Smerdon, Jaideep Prabhu and Elke U. Weber

The current research investigates whether higher economic inequality disproportionately intensifies the financial hardship of low-income individuals. We propose that higher economic inequality increases financial hardship for low-income individuals by reducing their... View Details

Keywords: Economic Inequalty; Economy; Income; Equality and Inequality; Poverty; Civil Society or Community

2017
Chapter

Toward Transparent Reporting of Psychological Science

By: Etienne P. LeBel and Leslie K. John

In this chapter we make a case for increased transparency of the methods used to obtain research findings. Although comprehensive reporting facilitates accurate assessment of a paper’s claims, the current reporting norm is secrecy, not openness. We begin by putting... View Details

Keywords: Research; Problems and Challenges

Read Now

July 2025
Article

On the Economic Origins of Concerns Over Women’s Chastity

By: Anke Becker

This paper studies the origins and function of customs and norms that intend to keep women from being promiscuous. Using large-scale survey data from more than 100 countries, I test the anthropological theory that a particular form of preindustrial... View Details

Keywords: Infibulation; Female Sexuality; Paternity Uncertainty; Concern About Women's Chastity; Pastoralism; Economic Anthropology; History; Gender; Social Issues; Culture

January 2021 (Revised March 2022)
Teaching Note

The What Works Centre: Using Behavioral Science to Improve Social Worker Well-being (A) and (B)

By: Ashley V. Whillans

This case describes the experiences of Michael Sanders—the Chief Executive of the What Works Center for Children’s Social Care—as he led the design and implementation of a program of research aimed at improving the social care system in the United Kingdom (UK) at the... View Details

Keywords: Non-cash Compensation; Behavioral Science; Employees; Well-being; Compensation and Benefits; United Kingdom

Research Summary

The Economics of Digitization

By: Shane M. Greenstein

What is the value of digital platforms that build on user-generated content? How well do existing frameworks explain the value of these businesses? While drawing on prior work, this research stream examines new issues in parts of the economy that previously were... View Details

February 2022
Module Note

Behavioral Economics and Choice Architecture

By: John Beshears

This module note for instructors describes a module on the design of choice architecture solutions to organizational problems. View Details

Keywords: Behavioral Economics; Choice Architecture; Organizations; Problems and Challenges; Decision Choices and Conditions; Economics

10 Oct 2023
News

The Science Of Happiness

Research Summary

Biological Basis of Economic Behavior

Terry Burnham's research focuses on understanding human behavior, and economic behavior in particular, in the context of humans as evolved animals. This research aims to reconcile two competing views within economics. The mainstream economic view is that economic... View Details

October 2020 (Revised March 2022)
Supplement

The What Works Centre: Using Behavioral Science to Improve Social Worker Well-being (B)

By: Ashley V. Whillans and Shibeal O'Flaherty

This case describes the experiences of Michael Sanders—the Chief Executive of the What Works Center for Children’s Social Care—as he led the design and implementation of a program of research aimed at improving the social care system in the United Kingdom (UK) at the... View Details

Keywords: Non-cash Compensation; Behavioral Science; Employees; Well-being; Compensation and Benefits; United Kingdom

October 2020 (Revised March 2022)
Case

The What Works Centre: Using Behavioral Science to Improve Social Worker Well-being (A)

By: Ashley V. Whillans and Shibeal O'Flaherty

This case describes the experiences of Michael Sanders—the Chief Executive of the What Works Center for Children’s Social Care—as he led the design and implementation of a program of research aimed at improving the social care system in the United Kingdom (UK) at the... View Details

Keywords: Non-cash Compensation; Behavioral Science; Employees; Welfare; Compensation and Benefits; Well-being; United Kingdom

Educators

September 2022
Background Note

On CUE: The Quest for Optimal Customer Unit Economics

By: Elie Ofek, Barak Libai and Eitan Muller

Startups are often evaluated by how well they perform on unit economics, defined as the ratio of a customer’s lifetime value (LTV) to acquisition costs (CAC). A common target for unit economics, advocated by many VCs and analysts, is 3:1 (i.e., LTV/CAC=3). While there... View Details

Keywords: Unit Economics; Business Startups; Performance Evaluation; Customer Value and Value Chain; Customer Relationship Management; Analysis

Educators

13 Jun 2017
Blog Post

Benefits of the MS/MBA: Engineering Sciences Program

years before HBS working at AppNexus in New York City. While working as an engineer Damjan never lost sight of his ultimate goal: to found and grow a business. “I was curious to work at a startup on the front lines, and I enjoyed being in... View Details

November 2009
Article

Telegraphs—Shrinking Economic Distances? A Preliminary Enquiry, 1870s-1912

By: Felipe Tamega Fernandes

This is a very preliminary report on sources and data for my research on telegraphs. Telegraphs are usually analysed in the context of railway expansion and the literature has somewhat neglected the role of telegraphic communication for the development of steamship... View Details

Keywords: Economic History; Communication Technology; Rail Transportation; Ship Transportation; Telecommunications Industry

Read Now

2023
Working Paper

The Complexity of Economic Decisions

By: Xavier Gabaix and Thomas Graeber

We propose a theory of the complexity of economic decisions. Leveraging a macroeconomic framework of production functions, we conceptualize the mind as a cognitive economy, where a task’s complexity is determined by its composition of cognitive operations. Complexity... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Complexity; Perception; Consumer Behavior; Production