Brigitte Madrian: 'Inertia Can Actually Be a Helpful Thing'

<p>Our guest on the podcast is Dr. Brigitte Madrian, a leading light in the field of behavioral economics. She is the dean and Marriott Distinguished Professor in the Brigham Young University Marriott School of Business. Dr. Madrian has a joint appointment in the Department of Finance and the George W. Romney Institute of Public Service and Ethics.</p><p></p></p><p><p>Household savings and investment behavior have been key focuses of her research, and her work in these areas has influenced the design of 401(k) plans and pension reform legislation. She also uses the lens of behavioral economics to understand health behaviors and improve health outcomes.</p><p><pp> </pp></p><p></p></p><p><p></p><p><pp><strong>Background</strong><br /></p><p><a href="https://marriottschool.byu.edu/directory/details?id=63227" target="_blank">Brigitte Madrian bio and research archive</a></pp></p><p></p></p><p><p></p><p></p></p><p><p><strong>Emergency Funds/Decision-Making Under Financial Duress<br /></p><p></strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intertemporal_choice" target="_blank">Intertemporal choice</a></p></p><p><p>Beshears, J., Choi, J.J., Iwry, J.M., John, D.C., Laibson, D., & Madrian, B.C. 2020. “<a href="https://spinup-000d1a-wp-offload-media.s3.amazonaws.com/faculty/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/2019/11/Rainy-Day-Draft-TPE-2019-11-11-final.pdf " target="_blank">Building Emergency Savings Through Employer-Sponsored Rainy Day Accounts</a>.” <em>Tax Policy and the Economy</em>, Vol. 34, National Bureau of Economic Research. </p></p><p><p>Benartzi, S. 2020. “<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/people-dont-save-enough-for-emergencies-but-there-are-ways-to-fix-that-11581951601" target="_blank">People Don’t Save Enough for Emergencies, but There Are Ways to Fix That</a>.” <em>The Wall Street Journal</em>, Feb. 17, 2020. </p></p><p><p>Harvey, C.S. 2019. “<a href="https://www.aarp.org/ppi/info-2019/unlocking-the-potential-of-emergency-savings-accounts.html" target="_blank">Unlocking the Potential of Emergency Savings Accounts