Working papers

1. Targeting Behavioral Change Interventions: An Experiment on Debiasing Savings for College. w/ Sabrina Liu  [Submitted]

2. The Role of Parental Beliefs and Public Policies in Financing Higher Education: An Experimental Study. w/ Francesco Agostinelli and Giovanni M. Topa  [2025 Stanford Financial Education Symposium's Best Paper Award]

3. Toward an Understanding of the Political Economy of Using Field Experiments in Policymaking. w/ John List [Submitted] [NBER WP 33239; BFI WP]

4. Who and how saves for college: evidence from Illinois 529 plans. w/ John List and Sabrina Liu [Working Paper coming soon]

5. Restoring Trust in Public Institutions. w/ Maddalena Grignani [Submitted]

6. Breaking Echo-Chambers: An Experimental Study on the Willingness to Listen to Opposite Views  w/ Michele Belot [Revisions requested, Economic Journal]

   • Press: ProMarket, 'You Are not So Smart' Podcast
     
     

Publications

7. Norm misperceptions in social dilemmas: the role of preferences, heuristics and experiences. w/Nicola Lacetera, Mario Macis, Mirco Tonin, and Maddalena Grignani  Journal of Behavioral Economics for Public Policy, Vol. 8 Issue S1.
   
   

8. "Expectations, reference points, and compliance with  COVID-19 Social Distancing Measures", w/ Nicola Lacetera, Mario Macis, and Mirco Tonin, (2023), Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economic, Volume 103, 101983

   • Press: Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, Politico, VoxEU, TheMandarin (AUS), IZA, ProMarket, LaVoce (ITA),  TheScientist, Clarin (ARG), Alternatives Economiques (FRA), Toronto Star (CAN), Nada es Gratis (ESP), El Confidencial (ESP)
     
     

9. "The Drivers of Compliance with Social-Distancing Measures at the Time of Covid-19", w/ Nicola Lacetera, Mario Macis, and Mirco Tonin (2022), In: Zimmermann, K.F. (eds) Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics. Springer.
   
   

10. "Designing the Market for Job Vacancies: a trust experiment with employment centers staff", w/ Andreas Leibbrandt (2022), Labour Economics, Volume 78, 102222
    
    

11. "Who benefits from corporate social responsibility? Reciprocity in the presence of social incentives and self-selection",  w/ Nick Feltovich and Bob Slonim (2021), Games and Economic Behavior, Volume 126, p. 288-304

    • Press:  ProMarket, Academic Times
      
      

12. "Providing government services online:  a field experiment on employment assistance", w/ Giulio Zanella and Nicky Quinn (2021), Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Vol. 41, No. 2, p. 579–602

    • Press: U.S. Department of Labor, JobMarketMonitor (FRA), JPAL
      
      

13. "Generous by default: A field experiment on designing defaults that align with past behaviour on charitable giving", (2019), Journal of Economic Psychology, Volume 74 (Lead article)
    
    

14. "Behavioural insight and the labour market: evidence from a pilot study and a large stepped-wedge controlled trial",  w/ Sanders, M., Gallagher, R., Gyani, A., Hanes, A., Kirkman, E., (2019),  Journal of Public Policy Vol 41, p. 42–65
    
    

Work in progress 

15. Improving job seekers’ beliefs and employment outcomes: an experimental study. w/ Giulio Zanella and Giovanni M. Topa [Trial launched. Pre-analysis plan: AEARCTR-0015102]
    
    

16. Improving resource allocation by detecting social desirability bias: Experimental evidence on the malaria vaccine. w/ Susan Athey, James Li, and Patricia Fearon [Piloting]
    
    

17. Helping individuals living with a disability achieve financial independence. w/Harold Pollack and Michael Levere [This is a multi-year three-phased RCT that was awarded a $3M grant from SSA (see here)].
    
    

18. Enhancing Judicial Efficiency Through Court Reports: A Randomized Controlled Trial. w/ Danielle Kent and Rene Panti [This is an RCT implemented in the Philippines and supported by a JPAL grant (see here)]