Social networks rely on sharing engaging content for their users. Since continued production of user-generated content is critical to their success, they have constructed a variety of tools to motivate new content creation, to facilitate user discovery of new content, and to provide attention...

Modern digital advertising platforms allow ads to be targeted in a variety of ways, and generally aim to match the ad being shown with either the user or the content being shown. In this study, we examine the effect of matching in emotional content of ads and the video on which the ad is shown...

What strategies can communities use to overcome the public goods problem in the maintenance of communal spaces and infrastructure in urban environments? We investigate whether an intervention targeted at some key groups within the community can motivate them to make increased contributions to...

This study leverages a large RCT to examine the potential of goal-setting nudges for resource conservation at scale. We randomize a feature that allows subjects to set themselves energy consumption targets in a popular smartphone app. We document negative effects of the nudge on app utilization...

We conduct a field experiment on conflict in swimming pools. When all lanes are occupied, an actor joins the least crowded lane and asks one of the swimmers to move to another lane. The lane represents a contested scarce resource. We vary the actor’s valuation (high and low) for the good...

This paper investigates the impact of studying the first-choice university subject on dropout and switching field of study for a cohort of students in Germany. Using detailed survey data, and employing an instrumental variable strategy based on variation in the local field of study availability,...

Behavioral policy often aims at overcoming biases due to, e.g., imperfect information or inattention. When bias arises from multiple sources, interventions that target different sources may be complements: each intervention becomes more effective when combined with another. We test this in a...

The tendency to cooperate in social dilemma situations strongly depends on how the decision is framed. In particular, cooperation levels are higher in decisions that involve doing something good to others, rather than avoid doing harm. However, this insight mostly comes from linear public goods...

Schooling may build human capital not only by teaching academic skills, but by expanding the capacity for cognition itself. We focus specifically on cognitive endurance: the ability to sustain effortful mental activity over a continuous stretch of time. As motivation, we document that globally...

Overcrowded Emergency Departments (EDs) across locations struggle to improve patient experience while dealing with long waits, which erodes medical and financial performance. We investigate whether and how managers could improve patient satisfaction by communicating waits to patients.We conduct...