Things that price at $4.99 sell very differently than things that price at $5. Sendhil Mullainathan differentlypricesell Change image and share on social
Faced with a time shortage, we squeeze tasks into the nooks and crannies of our calendar, leaving less and less time to switch between them. As a result, we become less and less productive exactly when we need to be most productive. Sendhil Mullainathan calendarcrannyface share on social
Some struggle with medical issues - like insomnia - that make sleep hard. But for many of us, the quantity and quality of sleep come down to a matter of choice. Still, only a few enterprising economists have looked closely at this, and generally, those have assumed that we choose our hours of sleep optimally. Sendhil Mullainathan assumechoicechoose share on social
If you send out one coupon with a deadline of a week and another that must be used within the next month, you end up having more redemptions with the one week deadline. It's really amazing. With the month deadline you have four times as much time, but people tend to say they'll use it in a few weeks' time and then they don't do it. Sendhil Mullainathan amazecoupondeadline share on social
It is safe to say that when people are short on cash, they might be less productive at work, be worse parents, and have less self-control. Sendhil Mullainathan badlycashcontrol Change image and share on social
The scarcity trap captures this notion we see again and again in many domains. When people have very little, they undertake behaviors that maintain or reinforce their future disadvantage. If you have very little, you often behave in such a way so that you'll have little in the future. Sendhil Mullainathan behavebehaviorcapture share on social
The ability to save automatically is among the most powerful tools available to us. Sendhil Mullainathan abilityautomaticallypowerful Change image and share on social
Task switching is hard because we do not control what is on our mind. Despite our efforts, the original task continues to occupy our mental bandwidth. Although we can control where our time goes, we cannot fully control how our bandwidth is allocated. Sendhil Mullainathan allocatebandwidthcontinue share on social
Organizations talk about spending their lives firefighting - dealing with the next problem without having the bandwidth to deal with what is down the pipeline. I think most of the poor have that problem. Sendhil Mullainathan bandwidthdealfirefight share on social
There's a popular image of people who don't save for the future as lacking in self-control. But the reason saving is so hard has less to do with self-control and more to do with a scarcity of attention. Sendhil Mullainathan attentioncontrolfuture share on social