This study presents evidence on the role of moral support on performance in a competitive environment. We take advantage of an unusual change in the Argentinean football legislation. In August 2013, as a matter of National security, the Argentinean government forced all the teams of the first...

To boost employees' performance, firms often offer monetary bonuses when production goals are reached. However, the available evidence indicates that the particular level at which a goal is set is critical to the effectiveness of this practice. Goals must be challenging yet achievable. Computing...

We study whether poverty can induce affective states that decrease productivity. In a controlled laboratory setting, we find that subjects randomly assigned to a treatment, in which they view a video featuring individuals that live in extreme poverty, exhibit lower subsequent productivity...

What determines the adoption of electronic-payment instruments? Do these instruments impact business outcomes, in particular access to finance? To shed light on these questions, we conducted a Randomized-Controlled-Trial with Kenyan SMEs. Our experiment released barriers to adopt a novel payment...

If decision-makers (DMs) do not always do what is in their best interest, what do choices reveal about welfare? This paper shows how observed choices can reveal whether the DM is acting in her own best interest. We study a framework that relaxes rationality in a way that is common across a...

We develop a theoretical framework to study the psychology of poverty and 'aspirations failure'. In our framework, the rich and the poor share the same preferences - and also a behavioral bias in setting aspirations. Greater downside risks imposed by poverty exacerbates the effects of this...

This article is the first attempt to study the empirical link between income aspirations and cooperation in a one shot public good game. By combining experimental with survey data, we find evidence that the more frustrated people are with their income, the lower is their propensity to cooperate...

We relate the normative implications of a model of decision-making with endogenous preference parameters to choice theoretic models (Bernheim and Rangel 2007, 2009; Rubinstein and Salant, 2008) in which observed choices are determined by frames or ancillary conditions

This paper examines whether the degree of confidence and overconfidence in one's ability is determined biologically. In particular, we study whether fetal testosterone exposure correlates with an incentive-compatible measure of confidence within an experimental setting. We find that men (rather...

Small-scale entrepreneurs are ubiquitous in emerging market economies, yet very few graduate to become larger businesses. We ask whether such entrepreneurs even aspire to grow, and if so, on which dimensions of the business? What factors influence these aspirations, how realistic are they, and...