The Why Axis: Hidden Motives and the Undiscovered Economics of Everyday Life

Home > Other > The Why Axis: Hidden Motives and the Undiscovered Economics of Everyday Life > Page 27
The Why Axis: Hidden Motives and the Undiscovered Economics of Everyday Life Page 27

by Gneezy, Uri


  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.

  I. F. STONE, proprietor of I. F. Stone’s Weekly, combined a commitment to the First Amendment with entrepreneurial zeal and reporting skill and became one of the great independent journalists in American history. At the age of eighty, Izzy published The Trial of Socrates, which was a national bestseller. He wrote the book after he taught himself ancient Greek.

  BENJAMIN C. BRADLEE was for nearly thirty years the charismatic editorial leader of The Washington Post. It was Ben who gave the Post the range and courage to pursue such historic issues as Watergate. He supported his reporters with a tenacity that made them fearless and it is no accident that so many became authors of influential, best-selling books.

  ROBERT L. BERNSTEIN, the chief executive of Random House for more than a quarter century, guided one of the nation’s premier publishing houses. Bob was personally responsible for many books of political dissent and argument that challenged tyranny around the globe. He is also the founder and longtime chair of Human Rights Watch, one of the most respected human rights organizations in the world.

  •••

  For fifty years, the banner of Public Affairs Press was carried by its owner Morris B. Schnapper, who published Gandhi, Nasser, Toynbee, Truman, and about 1,500 other authors. In 1983, Schnapper was described by The Washington Post as “a redoubtable gadfly.” His legacy will endure in the books to come.

  Peter Osnos, Founder and Editor-at-Large

 

 

 


‹ Prev