Peer Reviewed Articles

Using behavioral insights to increase the demand for childhood vaccination in low resource settings: Evidence from a randomized controlled trial in Lebanon

SAGE Open Medicine, October 2023

A. Osseiran, F. Makki, A. Haidar, N. Saleh, J. Yammine, J. Birungi, R. Chaya, W. Kanaan, & R. Hamadeh

Inoculating against extremist persuasion techniques – Results from a randomised controlled trial in post-conflict areas in Iraq

Advances.in/psychology, September 2023

N. Saleh, F. Makki, S. van der Linden, & J. Roozenbeek

Can a visual values-affirmation intervention improve test scores of students in areas affected by crisis?

Behavioral Science and Policy Association, October 2023

D. Shephard, A. Osseiran, & F. Makki

Promoting follow-up attendance among mental health patients at a primary healthcare center in Lebanon: A randomized controlled trial

SAGE Open Medicine, November 2022

J. KontarA. OsseiranF. Makki and R. El Chammay

Cognitive Dissonance Induction to Decrease Vaccine Hesitancy Among Syrian Refugees in Lebanon: A Cognitive Approach Towards the Promotion of Health Seeking Behaviors

Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, May 2023

F. Makki, A. Haidar, P. Sedas, P, & N. Saleh

Active inoculation boosts attitudinal resistance against extremist persuasion techniques: a novel approach towards the prevention of violent extremism

Behavioural Public Policy, 2020

N. Saleh, J. Roozenbeek, F. Makki, W. Mcclanahan, S. Van Der Linden

Experiential Behavioral Economics Courses: Practical lessons learned from the Middle East

International Journal for Innovation Education and Research , October 2022

F. Makki, A. Osseiran, R. Mabsout, G. Dimitropoulos, N. Saleh

When behavioural science can make a difference in times of COVID-19

Behavioural Public Policy, September 2020

D. Krpan, F. Makki, N. Saleh, S. Iris Brink, H. Vlahinja Klauznicer

Compliance and stringency measures in response to COVID-19 – A regional study

Journal of Behavioral Economics for Policy, 2020

F. Makki, P. Schietekat Sedas, J. Kontar, N. Saleh, D. Krpan

An explonatory randomized control trial evaluating text prompts in Lebanon to encourage health-seeking behaviour for hypertension

The international journal of clinical practice, August 2020

K. A. Schmidtke, I. Vlaev, S. Kabbani, H. Klauznicer, A. Baasiri, A. Osseiran, G. El Rifai, H. Fares, N. Saleh, F. Makki

Plastics and the coronavirus pandemic: a behavioral science perspective

Mind & Society, September 2020

F. Makki, A. Lamb, R. Moukaddem

Reports

Experiment 2: Developing a Growth Mindset

 

Nudge Lebanon, in collaboration with the INMAA consortium, designed and implemented a behavioral intervention into existing TVET programs to foster a growth mindset among participants in order to increase the likelihood of program completion and career success.

Save the Children, Nudge Lebanon – 2023

Experiment 3: Increasing The Financial Inclusion of Severely Vulnerable Households

Nudge Lebanon, under the INMAA consortium, conducted a behavioral intervention to increase the financial inclusion of severely vulnerable households in Akkar and Baalbek El-Hermel. The intervention particularly focused on promoting financial inclusion and literacy, with an emphasis on savings, in a bid to foster household resilience and self-reliance.

Save the Children, Nudge Lebanon – 2023

Behavioral Map: Increasing the Financial Inclusion of Severely Vulnerable Households (in Akkar and Baalbek – Hermel)

Nudge Lebanon, in collaboration with Save the Children and under the INMAA consortium, developed a behavioral map to identify biases and bottlenecks that prevent beneficiaries from managing their financial resources, save up and increase productive assets, and to find behavioral solutions to overcome these barriers.

Save the Children, Nudge Lebanon – 2023

Experiment 1: Improving the Welfare of Severely Vulnerable Households

Nudge Lebanon, in collaboration with the INMAA Consortium, designed and implemented a behavioral intervention in Lebanon’s Akkar and Baalbek-Hermel districts to improve grievance reporting among welfare beneficiaries during a severe economic crisis.

Save the Children, Nudge Lebanon – 2023

Behavioral Map: Improving the Welfare of Severely Vulnerable Households (in Akkar and Baalbek – Hermel)

Nudge Lebanon, in collaboration with Save the Children and under the INMAA consortium, developed a behavioral map on improving the welfare of severely vulnerable households in Akkar and Baalbek-Hermel, Lebanon.

Save the Children, Nudge Lebanon – 2023

Behavioral Map: Improving Income Generation Capacities of Beneficiaries Through VT / ET

Nudge Lebanon, worked with Save the Children under INMAA consortium to conduct a mapping of the behavioral barriers faced by young beneficiaries who were taking part in VT/ET trainings.

Save the Children, Nudge Lebanon – 2023

Applying Behavioural Science to Support the Prevention of Violent Extremism: Experiences and Lessons Learned

Guidance note on Applying Behavioural Science to Support the Prevention of Violent Extremism

UNDP Arab States, Nudge Lebanon and B4Development – 2021

Enhancing Efforts to Prevent Violent Extremism by Leveraging Behavioural Insights

Nudge Lebanon in collaboration with UNDP and B4Development released a report on enhancing efforts to PVE by leveraging insights from practical experiments – 2022

Applying Behavioural Insights in Health: Tackling Key Non Communicable Diseases

Report of the WISH Policy Briefing on Behavioural Insights – 2018

Exploring the Frontiers of Innovation to Tackle Microbial Threats

Proceedings of a workshop: Exploring the Frontiers of Innovation to Tackle Microbial Threats – The National Academies Press – 2020

Thought Pieces

“Using behavioral science to removing barriers (addressing SLUDGE) in international trade”

Harvard Business Review Arabia – March 31, 2024

Dr. Fadi Makki and Jingqy Yu dive into insightful perspectives on using behavioral science to removing barriers (addressing SLUDGE) in international trade.

“Experiential learning- Lessons learned from bringing behavioral insights into the classroom”

Harvard Business Review Arabia – December 21, 2022

Dr. Fadi Makki, Nabil Saleh, Paola Schietekat , and Helena Klauznicer highlight key lessons learned from teaching Behavioral Insights in schools.

Leveraging Nudges to Cultivate Kindness at the Workplace

Harvard Business Review Arabia – December 13, 2023

Dr. Fadi Makki, Nabil Saleh, and Davide Urani explain how subtle nudges can transform workplace culture and enhance both well-being and productivity.

“Why nudging is important”

Apolitical – May 5, 2022

Dr. Fadi Makki and Nabil Saleh highlight key lessons learned from nudge units in the Middle East.

“Experiential Behavioral Economics Courses Spread Fast in the Middle East”

Harvard Business Review Arabia – December 11, 2022

Dr. Fadi Makki and Nabil Saleh reflect on the spread of Behavioral Economics courses in universities in the Middle East.

“Novel Science Addresses Novel Virus”

Executive Magazine – June 1, 2021

Dr. Fadi Makki presents lessons learned from applying behavioral insights to COVID-19 lockdown measures.

“The policy implications of vaccination incentives and regulations”

Harvard Business Review Arabia – November 14, 2021

Dr. Fadi Makki, Ahmad Baasiri, Ali Osseiran, Nabil Saleh and Paola Schietekat reflect on the policy implications of vaccination incentives and regulations in Harvard Business Review Arabia.

“Is a nudge effective if it isn’t delivered on your mother tongue?”

Harvard Business Review Arabia – March 30, 2021

Dr. Fadi Makki, Helena Vlahinja Klauznicer and Deena Moussa release findings on the effect of language fluency on nudges in Harvard Business Review Arabia.

“COVID-19 and Changing Habits”

The RSA Journal – August, 2020

Dr. Fadi Makki explains how behavioural economics can help to prevent the spread of coronavirus, but only if its recommendations are based on scientific evidence.

“Blanket approach to increasing compliance with social distancing unhelpful”

LSE News – June 9, 2020

Nudge Lebanon collaborates with B4Development and a professor from LSE on a study which finds that blanket approach to increasing compliance with social distancing unhelpful

“Being on our “best behaviour” – how to use behavioural insights to design more effective responses to Covid-19”

UNDP in the Arab States – May 6, 2020

The Innovation and Youth Teams at the UNDP Regional Hub for the Arab States, Nudge Lebanon, and B4Development explore how behavioural insights can design more effective responses to Covid-19.

“A behavioral perspective on nutrition during the COVID-19 pandemic”

Harvard Business Review Arabia – April 2020

Dr. Fadi Makki presents a behavioral perspective on nutrition during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Lessons and Guidance for Behavioral Insights Units in the Middle East:

Harvard Business Review Arabia – July 3, 2018

Dr. Fadi Makki explains how behavioral interventions and nudges help address public policy issues.

“Can ‘Nudge Theory’ Change Citizens’ Behavior, Government Policy in Lebanon?”

Al-Monitor – April 27, 2018

Article on Nudge Lebanon’s first Middle East conference on Behavioral Economics in the region.

“How Behavioral Science Can Encourage More People to Pay Their Electricity Bills on Time”

Harvard Business Review Arabia – April 17, 2018

Dr. Fadi Makki, Fatima Keaik, and Nabil Saleh present the details of a “nudge” to encourage the timely payment of electricity bills.

“A Nudge in the Right Direction”

Executive Magazine – March 14, 2018

Dr. Fadi Makki talks about behavioral science applications and nudges in public policy.

“Future of Behavioral Economics”

World Economic Forum – The Digital Arab World: Understanding and embracing regional changes in the Fourth Industrial Revolution – January, 2018

Dr. Fadi Makki explains how behavioural insights are changing the stakeholder landscape in the Arab world.

“Behavioral Insights Applications for Banks and Central Banks”

Harvard Business Review Arabia – November 27, 2017

Dr. Fadi Makki and Dr. Ali Osseiran discuss the potential applications of behavioral science by central banks and banks to increase financial inclusion.

“Lebanon Needs a Nudge Unit”

Harvard Business Review Arabia – June 5, 2017

Dr. Fadi Makki discusses the mission of Nudge Lebanon and the applications of behavioral economics in addressing Lebanon’s policy challenges.

“Nudge units are just the tool for effective policy”

The National – January 9, 2017

Dr. Fadi Makki presents how nudge units are the tools for effective policy.

“Nudges and Behavioral Science Insights in Decision-Making”

Harvard Business Review Arabia – March 6, 2017

Dr. Fadi Makki breaks down behaviorally-informed decision-making and nudges.

Nudge