Deadline: 10-Nov-21
The Russell Sage Foundation is inviting a letter of inquiries (LOIs) for its program entitled “Behavioral Economics” that support novel research that uses insights and methods from psychology, economics, sociology, political science, and other social sciences to examine and improve social and living conditions in the United States.
The Foundation seeks investigator-initiated research proposals that will broaden their understanding of the social, economic and political consequences of actual behaviors and decisions.
Priority Areas
- Choice architecture: Choice architecture describes the ways in which options can be presented to consumers, and their impacts on decision-making.
- Time Preferences: Individuals tend to prefer present rewards over future ones. Shapiro (2005) finds high impatience among food-stamp recipients, implying a preference for immediate consumption.
- Poverty, Inequality and Mobility: Recent studies find that poverty and other forms of resource scarcity burden people’s mental capacities and leave less ‘mind’ for other concerns.
- Labor Markets: Kahneman, Knetsch and Thaler (1986) provided survey evidence on notions of fairness which could justify the observed wage compression in several industries.
- Racial and Ethnic Bias: While social and legal changes have reduced many institutionalized forms of racial discrimination, the same policy tools may have less leverage against implicit racial stereotypes.
- Public Finance: A better understanding of human behavior may provide a more useful framework for analyzing public finance issues, such as social insurance, income support and redistribution, and taxation.
Eligibility Criteria
- All applicants (both PIs and Co-PIs) must have a doctorate. In rare circumstances, RSF may consider applications from scholars who do not hold a doctorate but can demonstrate a strong career background that establishes their ability to conduct high-level, peer-reviewed scholarly research. Students may not be applicants.
- RSF particularly encourages early career scholars to apply for Presidential grants. All nationalities are eligible to apply and applicants do not have to reside in the U.S., but the focus of the proposed research project must be on the U.S. as per their mission.
For more information, visit https://www.russellsage.org/research/funding/behavioral-economics