Lost Wallet Study

Shane talks with behavioral economist, Alain Cohn, about his fascinating study that examines the trade off between honesty and self-interest. They purposefully lost 17,000 wallets in 40 countries all around the world. Surprisingly, people were more likely to return wallets with more money in them! Alain shares some interesting and unexpected implications of his research. Alain Cohn is an Assistant Professor of Information at the University of Michigan School of Information. His research lies at the intersection of economics, finance and psychology. Much of his work uses lab and field experiments, often in collaboration with firms and government agencies, to explore topics like honesty, employee motivation and financial decision making. His studies have been published in top general interest and economics outlets such as Nature, Science, American Economic Review, Review of Economic Studies and Review of Financial Studies.  Learn more at https://sites.google.com/site/alaincohn/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Om Podcasten

Globetrotting and mind exploring comedian Shane Mauss interviews scientists each week on journey to answer the biggest questions about the meanings of life (as well as a bunch of other random stuff you never imagined you would care about). Favorite topics include: psychology, biology, evolution, cognitive biases, behavioral economics, mating, animal behavior, neuroscience, and the subconscious