The Why Axis: Hidden Motives and the Undiscovered Economics of Everyday Life
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Public policy
discrimination and, 138–141
increasing nudges/decreasing nuisances and, 164–166
social norms and, 167–169
using field experiments to improve, 169–170
QuickBooks, 218
Quikster, 215–216
Race
discrimination against gay couples and salesman’s, 134–135
risk for teen gun violence and, 155
Racial achievement gap, 79, 83
Racial discrimination, 110, 111, 112, 115–116, 120–124, 135–138
Radiohead, 227–228
Raffles, 185–187
Randomization, field experiments and, 242
Reading, incentives for independent, 85
Rebate offers, 176, 179
Reciprocity, fundraising and, 206–207, 231, 232
Red Cross, 209
Refund offers, 176
Religion, discrimination against gay couples and, 134
Restaurant bills, splitting, 24–26
Retirement savings, 165–166, 194
Rey-Biel, Pedro, 231
Richardson, Ralph, 190
Richmond Bridge (London), 189–190
Riley, Eugene, 146, 147
Risk factors, for teen gun violence, 154–156
Rivera, Geraldo, 123
Rondeau, Daniel, 179
Roosevelt, Franklin, 111
Roseland neighborhood (Chicago), 145
Roth, Al, 228
Rustichini, Aldo, 20
Sadoff, Sally, 77, 78
Safeway, 28–29
“Safeway Amendment:,” 28
Salary negotiations, women and, 35–38, 58–60
Sankale, Koinet, 42
Saturday Night Live (television program), 216
Saturn division of General Motors, 60
Savings, retirement, 165–166, 194
Schell/Mullaney, 201
School nutrition programs, 158–162
Scientific research
applying to social problems, 4–5, 244
See also Field experiments
Scientists, gender disparity among, 32–33
Seed money, 174–175, 177, 178–180
Seidel, Joe, 64
Self-interest
charitable giving and, 184, 185, 192–193, 210
human motivation and, 3–4
selfishness vs., 3
Selfishness, self-interest vs., 3
Senior management, women in, 35
Sexual orientation, discrimination based on, 110, 131–135
Shared Social Responsibility (SSR), 228
Shonkar, Pinki, 196–197
“Show Us the Data. (It’s Ours, After All.)” (Thaler), 143
Sierra Club, 209, 210
Sierra Club of Canada, 179–180
Simon, Carly, 211
The Simpsons (television program), 190
Singh, Subodh Kumar, 197
Single-sex schools, 62
Slavery, 111
Smile Pinki (documentary film), 196–197
Smile Train, 14, 197, 202–206, 210–211, 231
Smith, Vernon, 241
SnapPayroll, 220
SnapTax, 220
Social acceptance of economic discrimination, 117, 129–131
Social incentives, 169–170, 210
Socialization, in early childhood education, 94
Social norms
motivation for charitable giving and, 210
public policy and, 167–169
Social problems, applying scientific research to, 4–5, 244
“Social” treatment, 232
Society, effect of women’s economic influence on, 56, 57
South Africa, broad-based black economic empowerment and, 139
Southwest Airlines, 130–131
Spielberg, Steven, 105
SSR. See Shared Social Responsibility (SSR)
Standardized testing
monetary incentives to improve outcomes in, 79–85
racial achievement gap in, 79, 83
Stevens-Johnson syndrome, 199
Stevenson, Robert Louis, 190
Stewart, John, 188–189
Student achievement
incentives for, 15
monetary incentives for, 72–79, 87–90
student age and investment in interventions to improve, 89–90
Summers, Larry, 32–33, 34
Sunstein, Cass, 164, 194
Sutton, Chris, 156–158
Swift, Jonathan, 189
Syverson, Chad, 6
Talent recruiters, gender inequity and, 59–60
Tanzania, Masai tribe, 41–46
Taste for discrimination, 113–114
Tax write-offs, for charitable donations, 172, 207, 210
Teachers, monetary incentives for, 85–87, 106
Technion, 38–40
Teen gun violence, 145–147, 148
programs aimed at reducing, 151–158
risk factors for, 154–156
Thaler, Richard, 143, 164, 194
Third World Center (Harvard University), 200
Tiggeman, Kenlie, 131
Time (magazine), 207
Title IX, 61
To Kill a Mockingbird (Lee), 72
Tonti, Lorenzo, 189
Tontines, 176, 188–192
Tools of the Mind curriculum, 93–94, 103
“The Tragedy of the Commons” (Hardin), 55
TurboTax, 218, 219–220
Tversky, Amos, 80
Two-for-one-matching grant, 180–185
United States
charitable giving in, 171
literacy rate in, 105
US Department of Agriculture, 160
US Department of Education, 91
US Department of Housing and Human Services, 91
US School Nutrition Association, 159–160
University of Central Florida, 173, 210
University of Maryland, 191
The Very Hungry Caterpillar (Carle), 94
Violence, programs aimed at reducing teen gun, 151–158
Wallenberg, Raoul, 10
Wall Street Journal (newspaper), 28
Wang, Charles, 202
Wanlida Corporation, 234–236, 239
“Warm glow” theory, 184, 185, 192–193
“War on poverty,” 91
Weight loss, incentives for, 27
Wentworth Elementary School (Chicago), 64
West, Kanye, 152, 153, 169
Wheelchair users, 124–127
Winery, pricing method, 225–227
Winfrey, Oprah, 105
Women
competitiveness and, 13, 35–46, 51–53
discrimination against, 115
in labor market, 34, 35–38, 108–109, 115
price negotiation and, 53–55, 60
public goods and, 55–56
as rulers, 56
salary negotiations and, 35–38, 58–60
See also Gender inequality (gender gap)
WonderWork.org, 14, 197, 207–209, 231
The Wrong Box (film), 190
Xiamen (China), 234
YAP. See Youth Advocate Programs, Inc. (YAP)
Young & Rubicam, 200–201
Youth Advocate Programs, Inc. (YAP), 156–158
Ziff-Davis, 201
Zimmerman, George, 123
Zuckerberg, Mark, 104
Courtesy of the Author
Uri Gneezy was born and raised in Israel, where he learned applied game theory firsthand in thestreets of Tel Aviv. Dr. Gneezy is the Epstein/Atkinson Endowed Chair in Behavioral Economics and professor of economics and strategy at the Rady School of Management at the University of California, San Diego.
Lloyd de Grane
John A. List grew up in a working-class family in Wisconsin—where his father drove trucks for a living—and learned economics in hobby markets. Dr. List is the Homer J. Livingston Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago. He has been a r
esearch associate at the National Bureau of Economics (NBER) for more than a decade and served as senior economist on the President’s Council of Economic Advisors for environmental and resource economics.
PublicAffairs is a publishing house founded in 1997. It is a tribute to the standards, values, and flair of three persons who have served as mentors to countless reporters, writers, editors, and book people of all kinds, including me.
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