Financial Behaviour, Skills Investments & Evidence-Based Policy Making: Lessons from Academic-Industry Research Partnerships (Hybrid event: in person and via zoom)

Economists have long been interested in public policy and other real-world impact, but in recent years the advent of more accessible data, the proliferation of applied microeconomic methods for causal influence, and the growth of behavioral economics and “Nudge” units have combined to expand opportunities for “evidence-based” policy-making. While this movement is large and diverse, one frequent mechanism for such policy-making is a partnership between academic researchers and industry, government and/or non-profit leaders.

In this hybrid seminar (via Zoom and in person) Professor Skimmyhorn will share his observations on the opportunities and challenges inherent in these partnerships. Leveraging his own experience on previous research partnerships with a variety of partners, spanning topics from financial education to household finance, and education decisions to the take-up of government benefits, he will identify some lessons learned from both successes and failures. The seminar should be of value to behavioural economists and organizational leaders interested in leveraging academic research in support of their policies and programs and for anyone who would rather learn from someone else’s good (and bad) ideas!

Meet the presenter

William Skimmyhorn, Raymond A. Mason School of Business, William & Mary

Bill is an Associate Professor of Economics and Finance at the Raymond A. Mason School of Business at William and Mary. His research interests include household finance, human capital acquisition, behavioral economics and finance, and national security. He has published research in leading finance, economics and public policy journals and his research has been featured in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. Prior to his current position he served as a career officer in the U.S. Army with worldwide assignments including as an attack helicopter platoon leader, Economics Professor and the Long-Term Research Coordinator at the U.S. Army Office of Economic and Manpower Analysis.