Behavioral Insights Student Group

When Cass Sunstein and Richard Thaler published Nudge in 2008, it would have been difficult to imagine the unprecedented interest in behavioral economics and behavioral science that followed. Governments and organizations, it turns out, are hungry for solutions that work, and behavioral science provides low-cost, high-impact answers for society’s most pressing problems. Behavioral scientists, including the faculty in the Behavioral Insights Group (BIG), have long been studying how making actions and decisions easy and attractive, rather than cumbersome, dramatically improves human decision making, and outcomes for society.

Worldwide, behavioral science is becoming an essential item in the toolkit of policy makers at every level of government, enabling them to combine insights from psychology, economics, neuroscience and social science with field experiments and empirically-tested results. The United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Singapore, Australia, the United States, and many other countries, all have established or emerging behavioral insights teams. Countless more cities and regional governments, NGOs, and other policy-based organizations are looking to create such teams.

Behavioral science has been applied to the following policy areas: civic engagement, consumer protection, education, health, justice, taxation, transportation, and many more. From addressing road congestion and safety to increasing organ donation, behavioral science has made an impact on policy-making worldwide.

The reading list below is meant to serve as a helpful resource to prospective and current students across Harvard who are interested in learning more or working in this field.