Based on groundbreaking original research The Why Axis is a colourful examination of why people do what they do
- & how effective incentives can spur people to change their behaviour & achieve more Uri Gneezy & John List are a little like the anthropologists who spend months in the field studying people in their native environments But rather than acting as impartial observers these two intrepid economists have set out to study the ways people act in order to try to solve major problems in society such as the gap between rich & poor students & the violence plaguing inner city schools; the real reasons people discriminate; & the continuing pay disparity between men & women Their field experiments in the factories communities & shops where real people live work & play show how incentives can change outcomes Their results will change the way you think about & take action on both small & large problems & force us as a society to stop making assumptions & to rely instead upon the evidence of what really works