Stirling Workshop on Self-Control and Public Policy September 15th

Please click here to register. Registration is free but spaces are limited so please register in advance.


Stirling Workshop on Self-Control and Public Policy (Friday, September 15th)

Self-control is the human capacity that enables people to control short-term impulses and desires in order to achieve long-term goals. This workshop brings together different perspectives in order to outline the implications of self-control for a range of policy issues spanning the areas of health, education, labour, and welfare policy. The speakers combine theoretical and methodological approaches from economics and psychology in novel ways to generate new approaches to policy problems, move forward in affecting change in these problems, and further uncover the policy implications of self-control.

Themes that will be discussed at the workshop include:

- Measurement of self-control for policy research.
- Capitalising more fully on the information collected in large-scale government surveys to

understand the development of self-control and its lifespan implications.
- Economic, health, and welfare consequences of different degrees of self-control.

- The effectiveness and scalability of interventions to improve self-control.

- Understanding self-control in the context of everyday life and social interactions.

- The relationship between environmental cues, 'nudge' interventions and trait self- control.

Event Programme

08.45-09.15: COFFEE

09.15-09.30: Opening and Registration

09.30-10.00: Ailbhe Booth (UCD) Examining disciplinary perspectives on self-regulation

10.00-10.30: Terry Ng-Knight (UCL) Predictors of self-control during childhood

10.30-11.00: Michael Daly (Stirling) Lifespan outcomes of childhood self-control

11.00-11.30: COFFEE

11.30-12.00: Conny Wollbrant (Stirling; Gothenburg) Time preferences and cross-country resource use

12.00-12.30: Claudia Cerrone (Max Planck, Bonn) Doing it when others do: a strategic model of procrastination

12.30-13.00: Julius Frankenbach (Saarland University) Does self-control training improve self-control? A meta-analysis

13.00-14.00: LUNCH

14.00-14.30: Leonhard Lades (UCD, EnvEcon) Self-control in everyday life

14.30-15.15: Esther Papies (University of Glasgow) Situating interventions to bridge the intention-behaviour gap: The case of healthy eating

15.15-15.30: COFFEE

15.30-16.15: Denise de Ridder (Utrecht University) Self-control, nudging, and health

16.15-17.00: Panel Discussion

UCD Post-Doctoral Research Fellow Position in Behavioural Economics

See below for an excellent opportunity to work with our colleague Suzanne Kingston and her team. UCD Post-Doctoral Research Fellow Level 1 or Level 2, UCD School of Law (Temporary Maternity cover)  - Economics/Psychology/Environmental Governance

Applications are invited for a temporary postdoctoral researcher, UCD Sutherland School of Law. The successful candidate will be offered a fixed-term contract to provide maternity cover for a European Research Council Project until 20 April 2018. This is an exciting opportunity to play an important role as a postdoctoral researcher, as part of a cutting-edge project investigating the way that laws influence our decisions to engage (or not to engage) in environmentally compliant behaviour in Europe. Funded by the European Research Council, you will be the postdoctoral researcher on the project, and will form part of an interdisciplinary international team of six people, comprising Professor Kingston, 3 Ph.D. students, a research assistant and the postdoctoral researcher. This appointment may be made at either Post-Doctoral Research Fellow Level 1 or Level 2 depending on the relevant experience and qualifications of the successful candidate. Closing Date: 17:00hrs (Local Irish Time) Tuesday 25th July 2017. For further details please visit https://www.ucd.ie/hr/jobvacancies/ (see vacancy number 009518)

Economics, Psychology, and Policy Links 17-06-2017

As part of the development of our new group in Dublin, we will be updating the blog over the next few months and I hope to post a lot more. We will launch our new research cluster on September 8th with Professor Peter John as keynote (Details here). Currently, we are in the process of recruiting postdocs and PhD students, and we are starting a new MSc in September. I hope that Dublin will be seen as a vibrant place for the emerging behavioural public policy field.

1. BIT are hiring.

2. The twitter account for the Society for the Advancement of Behavioural Economics is available here

3.  Stirling University are hiring a Professor in Behavioural Science and Health 

4. The Behavioural Economics Guide 2017 is out. This is an excellent and comprehensive overview of behavioural economics across sectors.

5. "Economic Psychology - An Introduction" Textbook by Erich Kirchler and Erik Hoelzl (November 2017)

6. OECD "Tackling Environmental Problems with the Help of Behavioural Insights"  Extensive resources across many areas.

7. Irish government evaluation service primer on starting behavioural trials.

8. Video of Cass Sunstein's recent talk at UCD.

9. First issue of the new journal Behavioural Public Policy, edited by Cass Sunstein, Adam Oliver, and George Akerlof.

10. Peter John interviewed on his new book "How Far to Nudge".

11. Signup page for our July 11th Irish Behavioural Science and Policy network session with Dilip Soman. 

Temporary Role Research Assistant

Research Assistant Needed for Behavioural Science Research

Applications are invited for an hourly paid role as a Research Assistant located within the UCD Geary Institute. The successful candidate will be offered a part-time role on an hourly basis for 6-8 weeks at 35 hours a week to commence with immediate effect.

The researcher will be based at the Geary Institute and will provide research support, deliverables and project work to Prof Liam Delaney in developing the behavioural science and public policy programme at UCD Geary Institute.

Pay: €10.55 per hour

Please send a cover letter outlining your skills and interest in the area and CV to Emma Barron, emma.barron@ucd.ie
Closing Date: Friday, 30th June 2017 at 17:00.

Temporary Role Qualitative Research Assistance

Research Assistant Needed for Qualitative Research

Applications are invited for an hourly paid role as a Research Assistant located within the UCD Geary Institute. The successful candidate will be offered a part-time role on an hourly basis for 6 weeks at 20 hours a week to commence with immediate effect.

The successful candidate will provide research support, deliverables and project work to Dr Slawa Rokicki on a research project in the field of adolescent reproductive health in Sub-Saharan Africa. The project involves analysing 32 qualitative in-depth interviews about sexual behaviour and contraceptive use conducted with young women in Ghana. The main tasks will include coding of qualitative interview data and literature review.

Pay: €10.55 per hour

Please send applications and CV’s to Dr Slawa Rokicki, slawa.rokicki@ucd.ie
Closing Date: Monday, 12th June 2017 at 17:00
Emma Barron
Geary Institute for Public Policy

University College Dublin

T : (353) - 1 - 7164616

PhD Scholarships at UCD School of Economics

UCD School of Economics is pleased to announce a call for applications for the 2017-18 PhD Scholarship scheme. The aim of the scheme is to attract applicants of the highest academic standards to participate in the UCD School of Economics PhD programme (details here) and provide them with the training, experience and mentorship necessary to their professional development.

These PhD Scholarships will comprise an annual tax-free annual stipend of between €12,000 and €15,000 plus a full waiver of fees. The scheme is open to both new applicants and existing PhD students, with the understanding that the stipend and fee waiver will continue to be provided to students up to and including their fourth year of PhD studies, subject to their continuing to make satisfactory progress in their studies and meeting the terms and requirements of their scholarship.

Students in receipt of a Scholarship are required to work as tutors in either undergraduate or graduate modules taught by the School of Economics. This will allow PhD students to develop the practical application of their academic skills by ongoing training and experience of tutorial teaching, assessment and pedagogical development. This taught component will amount to no more than 50 hours of teaching during each of our 12-week teaching semesters.

A selection board of School of Economics faculty members will review applications and make its recommendations on selection to the Head of School. Applications will be evaluated and ranked by the Selection Board according to the following criteria:
Academic excellence (transcripts, previous research experience, etc.)
The academic testament of referees;
Quality and clarity of the research proposal;
Fit with the research strengths of the School;
Teaching potential (past teaching experience, English proficiency, etc.);
Availability of other funding to applicant (such as Irish Research Council awards).

Complete applications must be submitted on or before 18 May 2017. New applicants who are short-listed for a scholarship will then be contacting for a short interview, either in person, via phone, or via computer (such as Skype). The school will then conduct interviews with each finalist, either in person, via phone, or via the computer (such as Skype). Scholarships will be awarded on approximately May 31, 2017. Successful applicants have until 15 June 2017 to notify the school of their decision whether or not to accept the scholarship. Additional scholarships may be awarded in June or July depending on availability.

For students who are unsuccessful in applying for a PhD scholarship, the school also offers other forms of financial assistance, including fee waivers, hourly tutoring contracts, and marking exams.

If you are interested in applying for these scholarships, please review the associated terms and conditions carefully.

Click here for the application form. Completed forms should be emailed to economics@ucd.ie

Click here for the terms and conditions for the scholarships.

Irish Revenue Randomised Trials

This month the Irish Revenue Commissioners (responsible for tax administration) published the results of 20 randomised trials they have conducted in the area of behavioural design. This is a significant report in terms of Irish public policy and also contributes to the growing international literature in this area. A summary of the report is below. 

While audit and other risk management interventions are effective compliance tools, they can be expensive and time consuming for both Revenue and taxpayers. Targeted treatments using behavioural science can be a complementary and cost-effective tool to improve compliance. A summary of key findings across four behavioural insights is below. 

Deterrence: Deterrence strategies (e.g., highlighting possible sanctions) dissuade taxpayers from non-compliant behaviour. The research confirms that deterrent effects significantly improve taxpayer compliance, particularly when combined with other insights. They impact different taxpayer segments differently. 

Simplification and Salience: Compliance or other behaviours can be enhanced through simpler presentation of information and by drawing attention to key details. For tax administrations, this may involve highlighting the third-party information held, for example through correspondence or the pre-filling of tax returns. Information in any communications should be presented in the most clear and simple way possible, including bolding and centred text. 

Personalisation: International research has shown the potential of more personalised correspondence, which is increasingly becoming a possibility given technological advancements. Revenue trials confirm that personalisation leads to greater and quicker engagement, especially when multiple elements of personalisation are applied. 

Social Norms: The behaviour of others can influence an individual’s choices. Revenue research finds that social norms are generally not effective at influencing behaviour. However, there is limited evidence indicating that these may improve taxpayer compliance when combined with other insights. 

According to a meta-analysis, which weights the result of 20 trials by sample size, the most effective insights tend to be deterrence (+8.0% improvement in targeted behaviour), personalisation (+4.0%) simplification and salience (+3.3%) and social norms (-1.6%). The wording and design of communications can affect taxpayer compliance. Even seemingly insignificant changes to correspondence can significantly change behaviour. While these lessons have mainly been learned from letters, they should be considered in any Revenue communication with taxpayers.