Global INsights Initiative (#WB_GINI)

Behavioral and Social Change for Development

Mission:

The World Bank’s Global INsights Initiative (GINI) works with World Bank teams and government clients to incorporate behavioral and social insights from economics, psychology, and related fields into project design, streamline the implementation of projects, and evaluate the impact of interventions inspired by these insights.

The 2015 World Development Report: Mind, Society, and Behavior demonstrates that a more realistic understanding of choice and behavior can make development interventions much more effective. After all, people think fast and often automatically, respond strongly to social incentives, and use mental models or specific worldviews to interpret information and perceptions. Development policy is due for a redesign based on the insights in Mind, Society, and Behavior GINI aims to do just that.

History:

GINI officially launched on October 22, 2015. The event featured an array of distinguished external and internal experts headlined by World Bank President Jim Yong Kim and Duke Professor Dan Ariely (for a full list of speakers, as well as a recording of the event, click here).

GINI was formed within the Development Economics (DEC) Vice-Presidency of the World Bank in order to put the findings and recommendations of the World Development Report 2015 into practice. The Report was co-directed by Karla Hoff and Varun Gauri and, both senior economists at the World Bank.

During the official launch, GINI also hosted, together with Ariely and his team, a workshop for World Bank staff. The workshop provided advice and guidance to World Bank project teams on the art and science of using behavioral insights in development projects.

Objectives:

GINI’s objectives are threefold: 

1. To work with World Bank teams to incorporate behavioral insights into intervention design and  evaluate the impact of behaviorally inspired interventions;
2. To assist government clients that want to use behavioral insights in policies and projects, and who want to build their own capacity in these areas;
3. To increase the world’s understanding of the scope and power of behavioral insights by conducting research, holding conferences and workshops, and developing networks among academics, the private sector, and policy professionals.

GINI’s work is guided by the following principles. First, it is crucial to recognize that policymakers themselves think automatically, socially, and with mental models. Working on the mental models of policymakers, and improving their decision making, is part of GINI’s agenda. Second, because decision making is profoundly contextual, development interventions require ongoing testing, evaluation, and adaption.  Third, behaviorally informed approaches and traditional economic interventions can be complementary. Some of the largest payoffs emerge from adapting the traditional development interventions, such as changing the timing of a cash transfer, improving the ease of signing up for a government program, or adjusting the social incentives around tax payments.