01 - Num6ers

Interesting stats or figures from the past week to put global issues in perspective

The number of career goals scored by Argentine national Lionel Messi making him one of two active players to have reached this milestone and one of seven within the sport. He made his 700th goal off a penalty kick, which is arguably the most studied sporting action in all of behavioral science. Some papers researched whether penalty kicks model game-theory mixed strategy Nash equilibria - they do, while others investigated phenomena such as “choking” (note: home team players are more likely to choke). The sport, in addition, is also one of the most viewed in the world.

The amount of money netflix will invest in black owned community development organizations and financial institutions so as to make a meaningful difference to people within this community. This move is in a bid to close the racial wealth gap and support black owned businesses which are typically not prioritized by large commercial banks.  Research shows that the machine learning algorithms put in place by FinTech lenders, even when designed “fairly”, unfairly target minorities for financial products. Black and LatinX borrowers are discriminated by lenders for their creditworthiness and are subject to a 7% higher lending cost due to bias in machine learning algorithms. 

The prize money that shortlisted contenders for the AKO Caine Prize stand to win. This year's shortlist is made up of five stories that “speak eloquently to the human condition” from authors from Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda and Tanzania. The psychological impact of storytelling has been demonstrated through brain scans that show how the listeners brain activity is shaped by the storytellers words. The power of stories lies in our need to belong, and ability to share experiences, form interactions and make connections. Listen to an excerpt of Fishermen's Stew by Jowhor Ile from Nigeria.

02 - Fresh from the Lab

New insights, trends, and findings for behavioral science in the Global South

 We’re excited to announce two great collaborations that serve to further our mission to advance and apply behavioral science in the global south. The partnerships highlight the opportunity to strengthen the field both regionally and globally as well as derive insights that inform best practices and contribute to bridging the intention-behavior gap.

Partnerships
The Independent Evaluation Unit (IEU) of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and Busara have signed an MoU to outline areas of cooperation on a strategic partnership aimed at developing and deploying behavioural insights within the GCF portfolio. The GCF Board established the IEU as an independent unit to provide objective assessments of the performance and results of the Fund. The IEU’s role is underpinned by four work streams 

1. Undertake independent evaluations at different levels so as to inform GCF's strategic result areas and ensure its accountability. This is in addition to attesting the quality of self-evaluation and performing independent peer reviews. 

2. Learn and communicate to ensure the high quality evidence and recommendations gleaned from independent evaluations and global evidence are incorporated into GCF’s functioning and processes. 

3. Offer advisory and capacity support to the Board based on lessons learnt in order to give guidelines to independent evaluation units of intermediaries and implementing entities of GCF.

4. Leverage expertise and presence by engaging with independent evaluation offices of accredited entities and other GCF stakeholders.  

We are excited to partner with IEU and use our behavioral expertise to support fulfillment of its mandate and further behavioural insights within the GCF portfolio. 

Off the Record
IE University in Spain and Busara launched a competition for students to form groups and submit ideas on relevant behavioral topics around COVID-19 that will be carried out as part of our Off the Record series. Application of behavioral sciences is a critical skill for students to master across disciplines, and is one of the most exciting developments for bridging the gap between theory and practice with proven potential to achieve real world impacts.

A key component of our work is fostering cross collaboration and driving innovation especially during times such as these when research is most needed. Six teams submitted their topics and all ideas were reviewed by a panel consisting of IE and Busara staff.

Team five will run their remote experiments in Kenya where we will support in fleshing out designs to further contextualize them as part of our effort toward making behavioral science less WEIRD and more connected. Stay tuned for the Off The Record.
 

03 - Links we liked

Recently published journals, papers, blog posts or just interesting snippets we enjoyed

Boredom no more 
There’s nothing quite like a global pandemic that requires social distancing to get in the way of new experiences and planned interactions. Well, take advantage of the time you now have to stay in - or sit outside at an appropriate distance of course - and relieve that boredom with a list of BE inclined books that range from the psychology of boredom, aptly titled ‘out of my skull’ to what your accent says about you. Great reading list by our friends at the Behavioral Scientist.

What’s driving markets?
The Fear and Greed index is a scale between 1 - 100 that measures the motivating emotion behind investors decision making process based on seven indicators which weigh market volatility against demand and pricing. These two emotions drive investors, too much fear can sink stocks below where they ought to be, while too much greed has the opposite effect and can drive prices up. 50 is a neutral point and is currently where the index is. Makes you consider what drives you when you are making decisions.

Parenting from home
The expectation that as a parent working from home you will have the superpower to get all work done, and parent your children with ease can be frustrating and stress inducing. This article gives some handy BeSci tips on how to manage. Some highlighted below 

• Reframe existing expectations and establish new norms. Things have changed so call out the change, and remind your workmates regularly of the same. Be realistic with yourself - you cannot replace a teacher 8hrs a day. Communicate your changing schedule frequently.

• Build some (un)healthy habits. Not everything can be good, so try and bundle something you ought to be doing with something you want. For example, reserve your stash of chocolate solely for when you are working, after the kids are in bed. Incorporate the practice of gratitude with another routine like switching off the lights before you go to sleep.