David Halpern discusses the frontiers and challenges for behavioural science at BX2019

Summary

The speaker reflects on the rapid growth of behavioral insights in policy, noting it's been less than a decade since the establishment of teams like the UK's Payroll Insights Team. They highlight significant 'unicorn' interventions, such as pension defaults and energy usage prompts, that have impacted millions. The talk emphasizes the importance of testing numerous ideas, accepting many won't succeed, and celebrating the process. It also previews upcoming discussions on tackling issues like sexual harassment, labor market function, and public health with behavioral economics.

Takeaways

• 😀 Behavioral insights have been utilized in various sectors for less than a decade, showing significant progress in a short time.
• 📈 The adoption of effective practices in fields like medicine takes an average of 17 years, but behavioral insights have made substantial impacts in less than 10.
• 🌟 The 'behavioral insight unicorns' are interventions that have reached over ten million people and have a significant impact, such as energy reference prompts and pension defaults.
• 🔍 The script discusses the importance of testing many ideas, with only a few proving to be scalable and successful, emphasizing the need for a high volume of trials.
• 🌍 Global replications of successful interventions are highlighted, such as tax and revenue initiatives and employment services.
• 🚀 The presentation showcases the growth of behavioral insights from a few sparky ideas to large-scale impactful interventions, like electronic cigarettes and job interview processes.
• 📉 The script addresses the challenge of maintaining high success rates in policy implementation, suggesting that a ratio of one in four successful interventions might be expected.
• 🌱 There's an emphasis on celebrating failures as part of the innovation process, normalizing the idea that not all trials will be successful, which is crucial for policymakers.
• 📊 Data is presented to show the effectiveness of interventions, such as a 20% reduction in burnout for public sector workers and a 30% increase in reporting sexual harassment incidents.
• 🔗 The script also touches on emerging areas of application for behavioral insights, including tackling issues like fake news, financial technology, and public health.

Q & A

What is the significance of the number of people in the room at the start of the transcript?

The significance lies in the impressive turnout, indicating a large and engaged audience of over a thousand people, which is considered 'cool' and sets a positive tone for the event.

What does the speaker suggest about the adoption timeline of effective practices in medicine?

The speaker references a classic statistic that it takes 17 years for an effective practice to be adopted in medicine, highlighting the relatively young age of the behavioral insights field.

How long has it been since the establishment of the payroll insights team mentioned in the transcript?

It has been less than 10 years since the establishment of the payroll insights team, which was set up in 2010.

What is the main question the speaker is addressing in their opening remarks?

The main question is what achievements have been made and where the field of behavioral insights stands after nearly a decade of development.

What does the speaker mean by 'calibrating the right level of success rate'?

The speaker is referring to setting appropriate expectations for the success rate of interventions, considering the field is still maturing and not all interventions will be successful.

What is the 'policy Unicorn' mentioned in the transcript?

The 'policy Unicorn' is a metaphor for interventions that have a significant impact, similar to how a 'unicorn' in business refers to a startup valued at over a billion dollars.

What is the 'Opower style' intervention mentioned in the script?

The 'Opower style' intervention is a behavioral strategy that involves providing feedback to consumers about their energy usage relative to their neighbors, aiming to motivate energy conservation.

What is the significance of the 2012 energy reference interventions mentioned?

By 2012, the energy reference interventions had reached tens of millions of people, indicating a significant scale and impact, moving them into the 'unicorn' category of large-scale, impactful interventions.

What does the speaker suggest about the replication of successful interventions?

The speaker emphasizes the importance of testing whether successful interventions can be replicated and have consistent effects across different contexts and populations.

What is the 'double nudge' strategy mentioned in the transcript?

The 'double nudge' strategy involves first influencing the behavior of one group (e.g., employers) to then indirectly affect another group (e.g., job applicants), as illustrated by the intervention to increase flexible job advertisements.

What are some of the new areas of interest mentioned for behavioral insights?

Some new areas of interest include tackling issues like fake news, antimicrobial resistance, improving economic functioning through labor market interventions, and applying behavioral insights to policymakers themselves.