Tag Archives: The Why Axis

The Why Axis: How to get People to Give More

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In Chapter Nine of the The Why Axis, Uri Gneezy and John List examined some of the conventional wisdoms about the techniques used in charity fund raising to try to determine if they really work at all, as well as which work better than others. What are the motivations for people to give to charity? How might these motivations be exploited to get people to donate more? The authors noted that in their travels, that most charities rely on the assumptions and conventional wisdoms of the previous decision makers, “rather than verifiable data.” One of the conventional wisdoms John came Continue reading The Why Axis: How to get People to Give More→

Reflection on The Why Axis: the Role of Time Discounting in the Education Gap.

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Two eeks ago I wrote about chapter 4 of The Why Axis. I hope you continue (or begin) to read along with us as we make our way through the book and enjoy it as much as we are! The authors do a great job relaying some tricky behavioral economic ideas while they tackle profound topics in a fun way. One such topic, the gap in childhood education between inner city kids and many wealthy even simply middle class kids, was central in the fourth chapter. I found Gneezy’s and List’s discussion provoking and I have given some thought to Continue reading Reflection on The Why Axis: the Role of Time Discounting in the Education Gap.→

The Why Axis Chapter 4: How Can Sad Silver Medalists and Happy Bronze Medalists Help Us Close the Achievement Gap

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Gneezy and List take the book in a completely different direction in Chapter 4 when they use evidence from field experiments to suggest methods to reduce the infamous Achievement Gap in public schools. The authors begin by laying out the facts of the achievement gap, particularly between high income families and those living in inner cities. The U.S. spends the 5th most amount of money per capita on students – $11,467 – yet there is a 9% drop out rate for “low-income” students and drop-out rates of above 50% for inner city kids, compared to a low 2% rate for Continue reading The Why Axis Chapter 4: How Can Sad Silver Medalists and Happy Bronze Medalists Help Us Close the Achievement Gap→

The Why Axis: Bribing People and Competition

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Here’s a delightful discussion of the main points in the first two chapters. Next Monday Geremia will be taking you for a ride along chapters 3 and 4, so please read along! Chapter one They dive right into the juicy stuff. What incentivizes people? Why are incentives so tricky? Gneezy and List hammer home the point that monetary incentives don’t always work in your favor. Sometimes, like for poor Rebecca and her daycare, putting a money penalty effectively makes the problem worse. As the authors explained, there’s lots of reasons for this. For starters, she set the penalty at $3 Continue reading The Why Axis: Bribing People and Competition→

Continue along The Why Axis with Sound Economics

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In a Sound Economics post from earlier this week, Tesha introduced us to The Why Axis. If you liked what you read and are interested in reading along with us, we will be posting along the way.  Here is our current reading/posting schedule: Week of 3/21: Chapters 1 and 2 Week of 3/28: Chapter 3 and 4 Week of 4/5: Chapter 5 and 6 Week of 4/12: Chapter 7 Week of 4/19: Chapter 8 Week of 4/26: Chapter 9 Week of 5/3: Chapter 10 and 11 We would love to hear your comments and responses as we develop and share our Continue reading Continue along The Why Axis with Sound Economics→