'It is hard to imagine any story of innovation in our thinking about economics that does not involve Uri and John, especially their exploration of the sensitive, hidden aspects of economics.' DAN ARIELY, author of PREDICTABLY IRRATIONAL WHY DID FUNDRAISERS WHO WERE OFFERED CASH INCENTIVES COLLECT LESS THAN THOSE WHO WEREN'T PAID AT ALL? WHY DID A SCHOOL'S DECISIONS TO FINE PARENTS WHO PICKED UP THEIR CHILDREN LATE MAKE THEM EVEN LATER? WHY DID A CALIFORNIAN VINEYARD FIND THAT WHEN IT PUT ITS PRICES UP ITS SALES ACTUALLY INCREASED? Leading behavioural economists John List and Uri Gneezy provide answers to all these questions, revealing the truth about what motivates us and how we respond to different types of incentive. Along the way, they visit inner-city classrooms to study the impact of different types of reward on children's test scores. They scrutinise Chicago car dealerships to see how sales people decide what price to quote a prospective customer. And they study people as far apart as Tanzania and India to establish whether men really are more competitive than women. Their findings shed fascinating light on the complex science of human motivation. At the same time they show just how radically people's behaviour can be transformed by even the subtlest of carefully judged incentives. 'A real home run of a book that shows how real people make real decisions in the real world.

A breakthrough in both economic theory and practice.' DARON ACEMOGLU, co-author of WHY NATIONS FAIL.