Neuroeconomists have extensively studied how poverty affects the mind and brain. Poverty is associated with a range of cognitive deficits, including impaired executive functioning, self-control, economic decision-making, atypical development, greater stress, a preference for small but immediate rewards, and lower happiness and well-being. Yet less is known about how to reverse the neural and psychological effects of poverty. We have partnered with a Canadian Licensed Insolvency Trustee to conduct the first randomized controlled trial (RCT) on the economic and cognitive effects of removing barriers to bankruptcy. We are looking for a student to support this randomized controlled trial by analyzing the pilot data from our study, with the potential to develop a more focused thesis that is interesting to them depending on the results of our data.
Neuroeconomists have extensively studied how poverty affects the mind and brain. Poverty is associated with a range of cognitive deficits, including impaired executive functioning, self-control, economic decision-making, atypical development, greater stress, a preference for small but immediate rewards, and lower happiness and well-being. Yet less is known about how to reverse the neural and psychological effects of poverty. Specifically, no studies have evaluated the cognitive benefits or costs of bankruptcy, which is among the most effective policy tools to alleviate poverty. Bankruptcy has many economic benefits: it increases homeownership, annual earnings, employment, and promote the creation of new businesses, while decreasing five-year mortality and foreclosure rates. Despite these benefits, far fewer debtors file for bankruptcy than stand to benefit. This is likely because bankruptcy is expensive––insolvent debtors must pay thousands in fees on top of their debts––and stigmatized.
We have partnered with a Canadian Licensed Insolvency Trustee to conduct the first randomized controlled trial (RCT) on the economic and cognitive effects of removing barriers to bankruptcy. We aim to 1) to document whether bankruptcy fees deter debtors from accessing the financial social safety net, 2) to measure the effects of bankruptcy on debtors financial and mental health, and 3) to design a psychological intervention that reduces the stigma that stops vulnerable debtors from using insolvency services. We will be able to quantify in monetary terms the effects of removing stigma by saying how many dollars the Canadian bankruptcy system can save by reducing stigma associated with filing.
students with an interest/background in both psychology and economics, any experience with survey design, professional phone experience (i.e. cold-calling or work in the service industry). These can be life experiences rather than college-level classes. Experience with coding is also desirable but not a deal breaker.
-coding experience in widely used statistical software (either R or STATA)
-exposure to hypothesis testing, including how to formulate hypotheses, how to use statistical processes to test for them, and how to interpret and communicate results
-experience designing survey questionnaires and running a randomized controlled trial
-experience working within a research team that has an organized structure with researchers at a variety of points in their career