Behavioural Science Workshop Series

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The purpose of this series of seminars is to develop a leading network of researchers in behavioural science in the UK and Europe and to foster interdisciplinary exchange between researchers in economics and psychology. We have drawn on a strong network of links to academics and formal links to private sector organizations to develop the proposed series. The network of speakers is composed of academics from the UK, the US, the Netherlands, Germany, and Ireland. It also benefits from strong ties outside the academic sector including Gallup Europe, a leading policy-research consultancy company.Collectively the 25 speakers who have committed to participate are world-leaders in the effort to address major economic and societal questions using frontier measurement methods, large-scale secondary databases, and innovative analytic solutions. However, a broad set of challenges exists that could constrain the progress of this research agenda. In particular, transcending disciplinary boundaries to understand key measures of well-being, personality, and biological functioning remains a challenge in economics. In psychology, there is a strong need for increased awareness of large-scale databases and for the skills needed to analyse and manage such data resources to be improved. We aim to generate inter-disciplinary exchange that will enhance the capacity of researchers from both economics and psychology to capitalize on recent data innovations in social science. The six workshops in the seminar series will focus on topics strongly related to the ESRC's key priorities as set out in the ESRC's Delivery Plan 2011-2015. These include generating a better understanding of "economic performance and sustainable growth", "influencing behaviour and informing interventions", and a "vibrant and fair society". Each workshop in the series aims to enhance the interlinkages between theory, the design and usage of measurement tools, and their application to social issues and public policy. Specifically, we aim to bring together economics and psychology in six key areas of research and practice where the natural linkage is especially high, each of which addresses a critical issue underpinning each of the ESRC priorities. The seminar series will focus on the following six major themes: 1) Secondary data and life-span models2) Increasing the richness and frequency of social science survey data 3) Well-being 4) Preferences and personality5) Biological markers in behavioural science6) Behavioural science and public policyThis series aims to have significant long and short impact both outside the academic sphere and amongst the academic community. Immediately, knowledge will be disseminated and awareness of research tools and methods of immediate interest to several private and public sector organisations will be generated. In the long term, policy and interventions will be better informed with a better integration between psychology and economics developed through the process we begin here.