Summary of Freakonomics and the Power of Incentives

00:00:00 - 00:45:00

This video discusses the power of incentives and how they can be used to change behavior. It describes a study in which a monkey was given a coin for sex and then had to choose between a grape and a cigarette machine. The monkey chose the cigarette machine, demonstrating that it was more pleasurable to it to spend the coin on something that was specifically associated with pleasure.

• 00:00:00 In this video, Zoey makes the case for incentivizing behavior in order to achieve desired outcomes. She discusses how incentives can work effectively or not at all, and how understanding the chicken data can help to put things into perspective. Finally, she touches on the importance of justice in regards to poultry farming.
• 00:05:00 The video discusses a study that found that, on average, seven out of ten men who use a public restroom in the United States airport wash their hands. The other thirty percent go without washing. This data suggests that, by bringing the non-wishers into the conversation, the researchers were able to get more honest responses.
• 00:10:00 Freakonomics focuses on the use of incentives to change behavior, with particular emphasis on the difference between declared preferences and revealed preferences. One example discussed is the difference between doctor's reported hand hygiene rates and the actual rate enforced by nurses. This data shows that even though doctors report being highly compliant, in reality, only a small percentage of them are actually following through. This illustrates the importance of getting accurate, real-world data when trying to change or improve a behavior.
• 00:15:00 The video discusses the power of incentives and how hospitals have been struggling to improve hand hygiene rates for 150 years. They discuss how Cedars-Sinai Medical Center solved the problem by forming a committee and deputizing nurses to spy on their doctors. The committee then created a policy called the "posse patrol program." Nurses would hide and wait for doctors to come in and if they failed to wash, they would jump out and scold them. However, this policy was largely ignored. They then came up with a new idea which was to take their message to the patients' rooms. This strategy was more successful and has resulted in 100% hand hygiene compliance at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
• 00:20:00 The Freakonomics team discusses the power of incentives, specifically in regards to the medical field. They discuss a program called the "posse patrol," which was designed to incentivize doctors by offering them a ten dollar Starbucks card for washing their hands. However, after conducting some research, they found that the program had minimal impact on hand hygiene rates. They then discuss a possible solution to the problem, which is to use data to understand why people behave the way they do.
• 00:25:00 The video discusses Freakonomics-style analysis of incentives, which can help improve a company's performance. The example given is of a hospital that increased hand hygiene compliance by displaying pictures of bacterial cultures on computer screensavers.
• 00:30:00 In this video, economist Keith Chen discusses the importance of incentives in behavior and how they can be used to achieve desired outcomes. Chen also provides an example of a research project he undertook that ended in success.
• 00:35:00 Keith Chen set up an experimental economy where he could watch and record every dollar spent to see how people use incentives to motivate themselves. He recruited capuchin monkeys to participate and found that it took on average six months for them to learn how to use money.
• 00:40:00 In "Freakonomics and the Power of Incentives," economist Keith Chen describes experiments in which capuchin monkeys consistently express their preferences for food with money. He also discusses the implications of this research for humans. In one instance, a monkey took a basket of money and threw it into a cage full of food, demonstrating an understanding of economics. Chen also discusses the possibility that monkeys may be exhibiting altruism.
• 00:45:00 In this video, behavioral economist, Steven D. Levitt, discusses how incentives can affect how people behave. He discusses a study in which a monkey was given a coin for sex, and then had to choose between a grape and a cigarette machine. The monkey chose the cigarette machine, demonstrating that it was more pleasurable to it to spend the coin on something that was specifically associated with pleasure.