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Incentives

Incentives and Values in Conflict-Prone Countries

Submitted by Eliana Cardoso on Tue, 11/03/2009 - 15:09
On End Poverty in South Asia

One of the most extraordinary examples of the use of economic principles comes from the beginning of the 19th century, when England used to send a huge number of prisoners to Australia. The government originally paid the ship captain a pre-determined amount for each prisoner that boarded the ship, but half of them would die during the journey. In 1862, Edwin Chadwik, knowing that people respond to incentives, told the U.K. government to pay captains according to the number of prisoners that actually disembarked in Australia. With this adjustment, the survival rate increased from 50% to 98.5%.

This example illustrates how incentives can do wonders in some circumstances. Yet, human actions are not always guided by the same calculations made by a profit maximizing ship captain. Behavioral economists have emphasized that we respond to a deep ingrained sense of fairness. Culture and values are crucial in understanding human behavior and promoting healthy and stable societies.

Governance for a Crowded Planet: The Need to Leap and to Innovate – Part II

Submitted by Verena Fritz on Thu, 10/16/2008 - 08:48
On People, Spaces, Deliberation

In last week’s blog I argued that to ensure survival on a crowded planet, technical solutions and their economic viability are important – but that changing governance at many levels is a key hinge for enabling societies across the globe to take the necessary decisions and to make the major adjustments that are needed. This week’s blog looks further at possible solutions.

An important domain for experimenting with better governance are cities. About 50 per cent of the world’s population is now living in cities, and 70 per cent are expected to do so by 2050. Air and water pollution are often concentrated in and around large urban centres. Improving governance of cities could make a huge contribution to addressing the challenges of a crowded planet.

The human faces of corruption

Submitted by Edouard on Tue, 09/16/2008 - 11:51
On Governance Matters
I was in Yemen three weeks ago, in part to lay the groundwork for a national diagnostics survey of governance and anticorruption in the health sector. Its focus was to be on bribery and informal payments.

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