Key publications
Blattman C, Jamison JC, Sheridan M (2017). Reducing Crime and Violence: Experimental Evidence from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in Liberia.
American Economic Review,
107(4), 1165-1206.
Abstract:
Reducing Crime and Violence: Experimental Evidence from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in Liberia
We show that a number of noncognitive skills and preferences, including patience and identity, are malleable in adults, and that investments in them reduce crime and violence. We recruited criminally engaged men and randomized one-half to eight weeks of cognitive behavioral therapy designed to foster self-regulation, patience, and a noncriminal identity and lifestyle. We also randomized $200 grants. Cash alone and therapy alone initially reduced crime and violence, but effects dissipated over time. When cash followed therapy, crime and violence decreased dramatically for at least a year. We hypothesize that cash reinforced therapy's impacts by prolonging learning-by-doing, lifestyle changes, and self-investment. (JEL D12, D83, H23, I32, K42, O15, O17)
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Blattman C, Green EP, Jamison J, Lehmann MC, Annan J (2016). The Returns to Microenterprise Support among the Ultrapoor: a Field Experiment in Postwar Uganda.
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics,
8(2), 35-64.
Abstract:
The Returns to Microenterprise Support among the Ultrapoor: a Field Experiment in Postwar Uganda
We show that extremely poor, war-affected women in northern Uganda have high returns to a package of $150 cash, five days of business skills training, and ongoing supervision. Sixteen months after grants, participants doubled their microenterprise ownership and incomes, mainly from petty trading. We also show these ultrapoor have too little social capital, but that group bonds, informal insurance, and cooperative activities could be induced and had positive returns. When the control group received cash and training 20 months later, we varied supervision, which represented half of the program costs. A year later, supervision increased business survival but not consumption. (JEL I38, J16, J23, J24, L26, O15, Z13)
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Publications by year
In Press
Jamison J (In Press). Accounting for Timing when Assessing Health-Related Policies.
Journal of Benefit Cost Analysis Full text.
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Jamison J (In Press). Community-based rangeland management in Namibia improves resource governance but not environmental and economic outcomes.
Nature Communications Earth & Environment Full text.
Jamison JC, Bundy D, Jamison DT, Spitz J, Verguet S (In Press). Comparing the impact on COVID-19 mortality of self-imposed behavior change and of government regulations across 13 countries.
Health Services ResearchAbstract:
Comparing the impact on COVID-19 mortality of self-imposed behavior change and of government regulations across 13 countries
SummaryBackgroundCountries have adopted different approaches, at different times, to reduce the transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Cross-country comparison could indicate the relative efficacy of these approaches. We assess various non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) over time, comparing the effects of self-imposed (i.e. voluntary) behavior change and of changes enforced via official regulations, by statistically examining their impacts on subsequent death rates in 13 European countries.Methods and findingsWe examine two types of NPI: the introduction of government-enforced closure policies over time; and self-imposed alteration of individual behaviors in response to awareness of the epidemic, in the period prior to regulations. Our proxy for the latter is Google mobility data, which captures voluntary behavior change when disease salience is sufficiently high. The primary outcome variable is the rate of change in COVID-19 fatalities per day, 16-20 days after interventions take place. Linear multivariate regression analysis is used to evaluate impacts. Voluntarily reduced mobility, occurring prior to government policies, decreases the percent change in deaths per day by 9.2 percentage points (95% CI 4.5-14.0 pp). Government closure policies decrease the percent change in deaths per day by 14.0 percentage points (95% CI 10.8-17.2 pp). Disaggregating government policies, the most beneficial are intercity travel restrictions, cancelling public events, and closing non-essential workplaces. Other sub-components, such as closing schools and imposing stay-at-home rules, show smaller and statistically insignificant impacts.ConclusionsThis study shows that NPIs have substantially reduced fatalities arising from COVID-19. Importantly, the effect of voluntary behavior change is of the same order of magnitude as government-mandated regulations. These findings, including the substantial variation across dimensions of closure, have implications for the phased withdrawal of government policies as the epidemic recedes, and for the possible reimposition of regulations if a second wave occurs, especially given the substantial economic and human welfare consequences of maintaining lockdowns.
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Jamison J (In Press). Don’t Swipe the Small Stuff: a Randomized Evaluation of Rules of Thumb-Based Financial Education.
Journal of Consumer Affairs Full text.
Jamison J (In Press). Motivating Bureaucrats through Social Recognition: External Validity – a Tale of Two States.
Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes Full text.
Jamison J (In Press). Risk preferences in future military leaders.
Journal of Behavioral Economics for Policy Full text.
Jamison J (In Press). Socio-Demographic Factors Associated with Self-Protecting Behavior during the Covid-19 Pandemic.
Journal of Population Economics Full text.
Jamison J (In Press). The effects of text reminders on the utilization of family planning services: Evidence from a randomized controlled trial in urban Mozambique.
BMJ Global Health Full text.
Jamison J (In Press). Valuable Cheap Talk and Equilibrium Selection.
Games Full text.
2022
Chaudhary V (2022). Behavioural Economics and Incentive Design.
Abstract:
Behavioural Economics and Incentive Design
Chapter 1- the importance of the Probability of Winning in Risky Choices: Media reports say that high earners and syndicates buy lottery tickets in bulk. Experimental evidence shows that agents aggressively bid in auctions and contests. Do people try to trade-off probability of winning with other basic risk dimensions (for example, cost) to achieve a subjective threshold probability of winning (in environments they can) even when such choices are second-order stochastic dominated? the literature on risky choices suggests so. In the main design of this experiment, we deconstruct the expected value with variance and skewness of a lottery with Bernoulli distribution to examine the decision-making process. Based on the results, a proportion is classified as expected utility maximizer (EUM) while another proportion seems to achieve a subjective threshold probability of winning (termed as target probability of winning (TPW)). More TPWs prefer higher probabilities compared to EUMs in a constant value lottery set which may explain the preference for negative skewness in experiments. Additionally, we test two contest designs and find TPWs in the population which may explain the puzzle of equilibrium effort more than risk-neutral Nash equilibrium in experiments.
Chapter 2- Reinforcement Learning in Contests: We study contests as an example of winner-take-all competition with linearly ordered large strategy space. We study a model in which each player optimizes the probability of winning above some subjective threshold. The environment we consider is that of limited information where agents play the game repeatedly and know their own efforts and outcomes. Players learn through reinforcement. Predictions are derived based on the model dynamics and asymptotic analysis. The model is able to predict individual behavior regularities found in experimental data and track the behavior at the aggregate level with reasonable accuracy.
Chapter 3- a Mechanism and Matching in a Social Dilemma: Cooperation can be achieved via incentives from future interactions, specifically in the case of public monitoring. But, today, our social and professional spheres keep shifting rapidly and we interact often with strangers. We are interested in such sporadic interactions which can be modeled as a continuous Prisoner’s Dilemma in an environment of the symmetric market where the whole population is competing among themselves to interact with other agents who will contribute the most. The interaction is private, only the agents involved know how much they have contributed to each other’s well-being, and partners may change in the next period. In such an environment if the reputation of agents is not available, then there is no incentive to cooperate. In this paper, we show that if an experience reporting mechanism facilitates assortative matching, then cooperation and honest reporting is evolutionarily (neutral) stable.
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Jamison J, Awad E (2022). Computational ethics.
Trends in Cognitive Sciences Full text.
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2021
Jamison J (2021). Applying behavioral insights to tax compliance:. Experimental evidence from Latvia.
Journal of Tax Administration,
6(2), 6-32.
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Jamison JC, Bundy D, Jamison DT, Spitz J, Verguet S (2021). Comparing the impact on. <scp>COVID</scp>. ‐19 mortality of self‐imposed behavior change and of government regulations across 13 countries.
Health Services Research,
56(5), 874-884.
DOI.
Belot M, Choi S, Tripodi E, Broek-Altenburg EVD, Jamison JC, Papageorge NW (2021). Unequal consequences of Covid 19: representative evidence from six countries.
Review of Economics of the Household,
19(3), 769-783.
Abstract:
Unequal consequences of Covid 19: representative evidence from six countries
Covid-19 and the measures taken to contain it have led to unprecedented constraints on work and leisure activities, across the world. This paper uses nationally representative surveys to document how people of different ages and incomes have been affected in the early phase of the pandemic. The data was collected in six countries (China, South Korea, Japan, Italy, UK, and US) in the third week of April 2020. First, we document changes in job circumstances and social activities. Second, we document self-reported negative and positive consequences of the crisis on well-being. We find that young people have experienced more drastic changes to their life and have been most affected economically and psychologically. There is less of a systematic pattern across income groups. While lower income groups have been more affected economically, higher income groups have experienced more changes in their social life and spending. A large fraction of people of low and high income groups report negative effects on well-being.
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2020
Theodos B, Stacy CP, Hanson D, Jamison J, Daniels R (2020). Do not swipe the small stuff: a randomized evaluation of rules of thumb-based financial education.
Journal of Consumer Affairs,
54(2), 701-722.
Abstract:
Do not swipe the small stuff: a randomized evaluation of rules of thumb-based financial education
We perform the first rigorous test of a rules of thumb-based approach to financial education on consumer behavior and outcomes. We test two rules of thumb that are targeted at reducing credit card revolving and deliver them in a randomized fashion via e-mail, online banner, and physical mailer. Using monthly administrative data and pre and postintervention credit data on almost 14,000 consumers, we find that the “Do not swipe the small stuff” rule of thumb reduces participants' targeted credit card balance by an average of 2% at a cost of around $0.50 per person. The “Credit keeps charging” rule shows a decline as well but the impact is not significant.
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2019
Carpenter JP, Huet-Vaughn E, Matthews PH, Robbett A, Beckett D, Jamison JC (2019). Choice Architecture to Improve Financial Decision Making.
The Review of Economics and Statistics,
103(1), 102-118.
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Jamison JC (2019). The Entry of Randomized Assignment into the Social Sciences.
Journal of Causal Inference,
7 Full text.
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2017
Madrian BC, Hershfield HE, Sussman AB, Bhargava S, Burke J, Huettel SA, Jamison J, Johnson EJ, Lynch JG, Meier S, et al (2017). Behaviorally informed policies for household financial decisionmaking.
Behavioral Science & Policy,
3(1), 26-40.
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Bryan CJ, Mazar N, Jamison J, Braithwaite J, Dechausay N, Fishbane A, Fox E, Gauri V, Glennerster R, Haushofer J, et al (2017). Overcoming behavioral obstacles to escaping poverty.
Behavioral Science & Policy,
3(1), 80-91.
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Blattman C, Jamison JC, Sheridan M (2017). Reducing Crime and Violence: Experimental Evidence from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in Liberia.
American Economic Review,
107(4), 1165-1206.
Abstract:
Reducing Crime and Violence: Experimental Evidence from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in Liberia
We show that a number of noncognitive skills and preferences, including patience and identity, are malleable in adults, and that investments in them reduce crime and violence. We recruited criminally engaged men and randomized one-half to eight weeks of cognitive behavioral therapy designed to foster self-regulation, patience, and a noncriminal identity and lifestyle. We also randomized $200 grants. Cash alone and therapy alone initially reduced crime and violence, but effects dissipated over time. When cash followed therapy, crime and violence decreased dramatically for at least a year. We hypothesize that cash reinforced therapy's impacts by prolonging learning-by-doing, lifestyle changes, and self-investment. (JEL D12, D83, H23, I32, K42, O15, O17)
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Jamison J, Owens D, Woroch G (2017). Social Learning about Environmental Innovations: Experimental Analysis of Adoption Timing.
Strategic Behavior and the Environment,
7, 135-178.
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2016
Green EP, Blattman C, Jamison J, Annan J (2016). Does poverty alleviation decrease depression symptoms in post-conflict settings? a cluster-randomized trial of microenterprise assistance in Northern Uganda.
Global Mental Health,
3Abstract:
Does poverty alleviation decrease depression symptoms in post-conflict settings? a cluster-randomized trial of microenterprise assistance in Northern Uganda
Background.By 2009, two decades of war and widespread displacement left the majority of the population of Northern Uganda impoverished.Methods.This study used a cluster-randomized design to test the hypothesis that a poverty alleviation program would improve economic security and reduce symptoms of depression in a sample of mostly young women. Roughly 120 villages in Northern Uganda were invited to participate. Community committees were asked to identify the most vulnerable women (and some men) to participate. The implementing agency screened all proposed participants, and a total of 1800 were enrolled. Following a baseline survey, villages were randomized to a treatment or wait-list control group. Participants in treatment villages received training, start-up capital, and follow-up support. Participants, implementers, and data collectors were not blinded to treatment status.Results.Villages were randomized to the treatment group (60 villages with 896 participants) or the wait-list control group (60 villages with 904 participants) with an allocation ration of 1:1. All clusters participated in the intervention and were included in the analysis. The intent-to-treat analysis included 860 treatment participants and 866 control participants (4.1% attrition). Sixteen months after the program, monthly cash earnings doubled from UGX 22 523 to 51 124, non-household and non-farm businesses doubled, and cash savings roughly quadrupled. There was no measurable effect on a locally derived measure of symptoms of depression.Conclusions.Despite finding large increases in business, income, and savings among the treatment group, we do not find support for an indirect effect of poverty alleviation on symptoms of depression.
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Blattman C, Jamison J, Koroknay-Palicz T, Rodrigues K, Sheridan M (2016). Measuring the measurement error: a method to qualitatively validate survey data.
Journal of Development Economics,
120, 99-112.
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Jamison JC (2016). Perceptions Regarding the Value of Life Before and After Birth.
Reproductive System & Sexual Disorders,
05(04).
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Blattman C, Green EP, Jamison J, Lehmann MC, Annan J (2016). The Returns to Microenterprise Support among the Ultrapoor: a Field Experiment in Postwar Uganda.
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics,
8(2), 35-64.
Abstract:
The Returns to Microenterprise Support among the Ultrapoor: a Field Experiment in Postwar Uganda
We show that extremely poor, war-affected women in northern Uganda have high returns to a package of $150 cash, five days of business skills training, and ongoing supervision. Sixteen months after grants, participants doubled their microenterprise ownership and incomes, mainly from petty trading. We also show these ultrapoor have too little social capital, but that group bonds, informal insurance, and cooperative activities could be induced and had positive returns. When the control group received cash and training 20 months later, we varied supervision, which represented half of the program costs. A year later, supervision increased business survival but not consumption. (JEL I38, J16, J23, J24, L26, O15, Z13)
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2015
Jamison J, Karlan D (2015). CANDY ELASTICITY: HALLOWEEN EXPERIMENTS ON PUBLIC POLITICAL STATEMENTS.
Economic Inquiry,
54(1), 543-547.
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Conell-Price L, Jamison J (2015). Predicting health behaviors with economic preferences & locus of control.
Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics,
54, 1-9.
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Drouvelis M, Jamison JC (2015). Selecting public goods institutions: Who likes to punish and reward?.
Southern Economic Journal,
82(2), 501-534.
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Green EP, Blattman C, Jamison J, Annan J (2015). Women's entrepreneurship and intimate partner violence: a cluster randomized trial of microenterprise assistance and partner participation in post-conflict Uganda (SSM-D-14-01580R1).
Social Science & Medicine,
133, 177-188.
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