Uppsala Seminar
09 Jun 2026 - Neil
I’m in Uppsala, visiting Peter Juslin’s lab, for Mattias Forsgren’s viva.
Here is the abstract:
Financial policy from behavioural science collaborations in the field
I’ll give three example of how behavioural science collaborations in the field can inform policy. Using bank account data we find gambling displaces savings and investments, and is not a substitute for leisure activity (industry narrative) or essential spending (lived experience narrative). Using linked pension and credit file data we find auto enrolment into workplace pensions increased unsecured debt. In an RCT with a large stockbroking platform, we find adding information to risk warnings greatly increases investment. All three illustrate the importance of measuring what you actually care about—distal financial wellbeing across the whole portfolio, rather than more proximal changes in immediate behaviour. Worryingly, I’m not sure I could have predicted these results in advance.
Beshears, J., Blakstad, M., Choi, J., Firth, C., Gathergood, J., Laibson, D., Notley, R., Sheth, J., Sandbrook, W., & Stewart, N. (2026). Does pension automatic enrolment increase debt? Evidence from a large-scale natural experiment. Retrieved from https://www.nber.org/papers/w32100
Murphy, S., Ferridge, G., Gathergood, J., Stewart, N., & Muggleton, N. (2026). Gambling displaces savings and investments rather than consumption in bank transaction records. Manuscript submitted for publication.
Quispe–Torreblanca, E., Gathergood, J., & Stewart, N. (2026). The equity premium in plain sight: Disclosure, beliefs, and stock market participation. Unpublished manuscript.