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on Nudge and Boosting |
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Issue of 2026–07–20
two papers chosen by Marco Novarese, Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale |
| By: | Bart Cockx; Johan Egebark; Greet Van Hoye; Emilie Videnord; Johan Vikström (-) |
| Abstract: | Reduced motivation over the unemployment spell may contribute to declining job-finding rates. We report findings from a low-cost digital intervention that uses motivational emails to enhance job seekers' search effort. Using a randomized controlled trial that included 200, 720 newly unemployed job seekers in Sweden, we evaluate both supportive messages aimed at encouraging inner motivation, and controlling messages focused on internal and external pressure. The messages increased compliance with mandatory activity reporting, indicating a clear first-stage behavioral response. However, this behavioral change did not translate in more effective job search as both types of emails caused a moderate but significant reduction in search effort and job finding. The supportive messages reduced the number of job applications and showed weakly negative job-finding effects, particularly among men. The controlling messages slightly backfired for job seekers who report strong autonomous motivation at the onset of unemployment. These findings underscore the challenges of motivating job seekers to actively search for jobs and suggest that low-cost digital interventions, in isolation, are inadequate and may even be counterproductive. |
| JEL: | A12 D01 D91 J64 J68 |
| Date: | 2026–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rug:rugwps:26/1148 |
| By: | Márquez, Karina; Scartascini, Carlos |
| Abstract: | Cognitive biases are pervasive, even among policymakers whose decisions have far-reaching welfare consequences. Yet little is known about whether scalable training can mitigate policymakers biases. This paper provides evidence from a randomized controlled trial embedded in an online behavioral economics course for public officials in Latin America and the Caribbean. Participants were randomly assigned to complete a seven-item diagnostic test either before or after the course, measuring cognitive reflection, applied behavioral knowledge, and policy-approach preference. Those tested afterward scored 0.87 standard deviations higher on average, with especially large gains in applied reasoning and problem solving. These results, robust to within-subject comparisons, suggest that short, structured online training can enhance reasoning relevant to public decision-making. The findings both highlight the potential of large-scale cognitive training to improve public sector performance and motivate further research on its policy impact. |
| Keywords: | Training Evaluation;Policymakers;online education;Field experiment |
| JEL: | D91 C93 H83 |
| Date: | 2026–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:14634 |