Author: Gabriela Topa
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
ISBN: 2889635120
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 142
Book Description
Psychological Mechanisms that Affect Economic Decisions to Work Longer
Author: Gabriela Topa
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
ISBN: 2889635120
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 142
Book Description
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
ISBN: 2889635120
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 142
Book Description
Scarcity
Author: Sendhil Mullainathan
Publisher: Penguin Group
ISBN: 9780141049199
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Why can we never seem to keep on top of our workload, social diary or chores? Why does poverty persist around the world? Why do successful people do things at the last minute in a sudden rush of energy? Here, economist Sendhil Mullainathan and psychologist Eldar Shafir reveal that the hidden side behind all these problems is that they're all about scarcity.
Publisher: Penguin Group
ISBN: 9780141049199
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Why can we never seem to keep on top of our workload, social diary or chores? Why does poverty persist around the world? Why do successful people do things at the last minute in a sudden rush of energy? Here, economist Sendhil Mullainathan and psychologist Eldar Shafir reveal that the hidden side behind all these problems is that they're all about scarcity.
How Financial Education Can Work for Your Retirement
Author: Digital World
Publisher: Digital World
ISBN: 1723462292
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 63
Book Description
Hello everyone! I'm excited to introduce you to the fascinating world of financial psychology. In this series, we'll explore how our emotions, beliefs, and behaviors influence our financial decisions. We'll see how this understanding can transform our relationship with money and help us achieve our goals. Financial psychology studies the relationship between the human mind and money. It explores how psychological factors such as emotions, perceptions, and beliefs influence our financial decisions. It combines concepts from psychology and economics to understand financial behavior. Financial psychology isn't just about numbers and graphs. It helps us understand why we sometimes make financial decisions that don't make rational sense. By understanding the psychological mechanisms behind our decisions, we can make more informed decisions that align with our goals. Emotions such as fear, greed, and anxiety significantly influence our financial decisions. Fear of losing money can lead to conservative decisions, while greed can lead to excessive risk-taking. Hope for a better future can motivate us to save, but it can also lead us to invest in high-risk assets. Emotions are like an internal GPS that guides us in our financial decisions. However, they can lead us down a wrong path if not managed properly. By identifying and understanding our emotions, we can make more rational decisions that are aligned with our long-term goals. Cognitive biases are mental shortcuts we use to make decisions faster, but they can lead us to make mistakes. Examples of biases include loss aversion, confirmation bias, and herd behavior. How to identify and overcome these biases to make sounder financial decisions. Our brains are incredible machines, but they are also prone to making mistakes. Cognitive biases are like optical illusions that distort our perception of reality. By being aware of these biases, we can take steps to counteract their effects and make more rational decisions. Our financial habits are shaped by our experiences and beliefs. The importance of developing healthy financial habits, such as saving, investing, and planning for the future. How to create new habits and break old financial habits. Our financial habits are like paths we follow on autopilot. If we want to change our financial results, we need to change our paths. By developing new positive financial habits, we can transform our financial lives. Financial psychology offers us a new perspective on money. Instead of seeing money as an end in itself, we can see it as a means to achieve our goals and live a more fulfilling life.
Publisher: Digital World
ISBN: 1723462292
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 63
Book Description
Hello everyone! I'm excited to introduce you to the fascinating world of financial psychology. In this series, we'll explore how our emotions, beliefs, and behaviors influence our financial decisions. We'll see how this understanding can transform our relationship with money and help us achieve our goals. Financial psychology studies the relationship between the human mind and money. It explores how psychological factors such as emotions, perceptions, and beliefs influence our financial decisions. It combines concepts from psychology and economics to understand financial behavior. Financial psychology isn't just about numbers and graphs. It helps us understand why we sometimes make financial decisions that don't make rational sense. By understanding the psychological mechanisms behind our decisions, we can make more informed decisions that align with our goals. Emotions such as fear, greed, and anxiety significantly influence our financial decisions. Fear of losing money can lead to conservative decisions, while greed can lead to excessive risk-taking. Hope for a better future can motivate us to save, but it can also lead us to invest in high-risk assets. Emotions are like an internal GPS that guides us in our financial decisions. However, they can lead us down a wrong path if not managed properly. By identifying and understanding our emotions, we can make more rational decisions that are aligned with our long-term goals. Cognitive biases are mental shortcuts we use to make decisions faster, but they can lead us to make mistakes. Examples of biases include loss aversion, confirmation bias, and herd behavior. How to identify and overcome these biases to make sounder financial decisions. Our brains are incredible machines, but they are also prone to making mistakes. Cognitive biases are like optical illusions that distort our perception of reality. By being aware of these biases, we can take steps to counteract their effects and make more rational decisions. Our financial habits are shaped by our experiences and beliefs. The importance of developing healthy financial habits, such as saving, investing, and planning for the future. How to create new habits and break old financial habits. Our financial habits are like paths we follow on autopilot. If we want to change our financial results, we need to change our paths. By developing new positive financial habits, we can transform our financial lives. Financial psychology offers us a new perspective on money. Instead of seeing money as an end in itself, we can see it as a means to achieve our goals and live a more fulfilling life.
Assessing Well-Being
Author: Ed Diener
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9048123542
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 280
Book Description
The Sandvik, Diener, and Seidlitz (1993) paper is another that has received widespread attention because it documented the fact that self-report well-being scales correlate with a number of other methods of measuring the same concepts, such as with reports by knowledgeable “informants” (family and friends), expe- ence sampling measurement, and the memory for good versus bad life events. A single factor was found to underlie measures using different methods, and a n- ber of different well-being self-report measures were found to correlate with the non-self-report measures. Thus, although the self-report measures of well-being are imperfect, and can be in uenced by response artifacts, they have substantial validity as shown by their correlations with measurements based on alternative methods. Whereas the Pavot and Diener article reviewed the Satisfaction with Life Scale, the Lucas, Diener, and Larsen (2003) paper reviews various approaches to assessing positive emotions. As we wrote in the chapter in this volume in which we present new measures, we do not consider any of the existing measures of positive affect to be entirely acceptable for measuring subjective well-being in the affect area, and that is why we have created and validated a new measure.
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9048123542
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 280
Book Description
The Sandvik, Diener, and Seidlitz (1993) paper is another that has received widespread attention because it documented the fact that self-report well-being scales correlate with a number of other methods of measuring the same concepts, such as with reports by knowledgeable “informants” (family and friends), expe- ence sampling measurement, and the memory for good versus bad life events. A single factor was found to underlie measures using different methods, and a n- ber of different well-being self-report measures were found to correlate with the non-self-report measures. Thus, although the self-report measures of well-being are imperfect, and can be in uenced by response artifacts, they have substantial validity as shown by their correlations with measurements based on alternative methods. Whereas the Pavot and Diener article reviewed the Satisfaction with Life Scale, the Lucas, Diener, and Larsen (2003) paper reviews various approaches to assessing positive emotions. As we wrote in the chapter in this volume in which we present new measures, we do not consider any of the existing measures of positive affect to be entirely acceptable for measuring subjective well-being in the affect area, and that is why we have created and validated a new measure.
Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics
Author: Richard H. Thaler
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393246779
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 502
Book Description
Winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics Get ready to change the way you think about economics. Nobel laureate Richard H. Thaler has spent his career studying the radical notion that the central agents in the economy are humans—predictable, error-prone individuals. Misbehaving is his arresting, frequently hilarious account of the struggle to bring an academic discipline back down to earth—and change the way we think about economics, ourselves, and our world. Traditional economics assumes rational actors. Early in his research, Thaler realized these Spock-like automatons were nothing like real people. Whether buying a clock radio, selling basketball tickets, or applying for a mortgage, we all succumb to biases and make decisions that deviate from the standards of rationality assumed by economists. In other words, we misbehave. More importantly, our misbehavior has serious consequences. Dismissed at first by economists as an amusing sideshow, the study of human miscalculations and their effects on markets now drives efforts to make better decisions in our lives, our businesses, and our governments. Coupling recent discoveries in human psychology with a practical understanding of incentives and market behavior, Thaler enlightens readers about how to make smarter decisions in an increasingly mystifying world. He reveals how behavioral economic analysis opens up new ways to look at everything from household finance to assigning faculty offices in a new building, to TV game shows, the NFL draft, and businesses like Uber. Laced with antic stories of Thaler’s spirited battles with the bastions of traditional economic thinking, Misbehaving is a singular look into profound human foibles. When economics meets psychology, the implications for individuals, managers, and policy makers are both profound and entertaining. Shortlisted for the Financial Times & McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393246779
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 502
Book Description
Winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics Get ready to change the way you think about economics. Nobel laureate Richard H. Thaler has spent his career studying the radical notion that the central agents in the economy are humans—predictable, error-prone individuals. Misbehaving is his arresting, frequently hilarious account of the struggle to bring an academic discipline back down to earth—and change the way we think about economics, ourselves, and our world. Traditional economics assumes rational actors. Early in his research, Thaler realized these Spock-like automatons were nothing like real people. Whether buying a clock radio, selling basketball tickets, or applying for a mortgage, we all succumb to biases and make decisions that deviate from the standards of rationality assumed by economists. In other words, we misbehave. More importantly, our misbehavior has serious consequences. Dismissed at first by economists as an amusing sideshow, the study of human miscalculations and their effects on markets now drives efforts to make better decisions in our lives, our businesses, and our governments. Coupling recent discoveries in human psychology with a practical understanding of incentives and market behavior, Thaler enlightens readers about how to make smarter decisions in an increasingly mystifying world. He reveals how behavioral economic analysis opens up new ways to look at everything from household finance to assigning faculty offices in a new building, to TV game shows, the NFL draft, and businesses like Uber. Laced with antic stories of Thaler’s spirited battles with the bastions of traditional economic thinking, Misbehaving is a singular look into profound human foibles. When economics meets psychology, the implications for individuals, managers, and policy makers are both profound and entertaining. Shortlisted for the Financial Times & McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award
Willpower
Author: Roy F. Baumeister
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101543779
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 272
Book Description
One of the world's most esteemed and influential psychologists, Roy F. Baumeister, teams with New York Times science writer John Tierney to reveal the secrets of self-control and how to master it. "Deep and provocative analysis of people's battle with temptation and masterful insights into understanding willpower: why we have it, why we don't, and how to build it. A terrific read." —Ravi Dhar, Yale School of Management, Director of Center for Customer Insights Pioneering research psychologist Roy F. Baumeister collaborates with New York Times science writer John Tierney to revolutionize our understanding of the most coveted human virtue: self-control. Drawing on cutting-edge research and the wisdom of real-life experts, Willpower shares lessons on how to focus our strength, resist temptation, and redirect our lives. It shows readers how to be realistic when setting goals, monitor their progress, and how to keep faith when they falter. By blending practical wisdom with the best of recent research science, Willpower makes it clear that whatever we seek—from happiness to good health to financial security—we won’t reach our goals without first learning to harness self-control.
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101543779
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 272
Book Description
One of the world's most esteemed and influential psychologists, Roy F. Baumeister, teams with New York Times science writer John Tierney to reveal the secrets of self-control and how to master it. "Deep and provocative analysis of people's battle with temptation and masterful insights into understanding willpower: why we have it, why we don't, and how to build it. A terrific read." —Ravi Dhar, Yale School of Management, Director of Center for Customer Insights Pioneering research psychologist Roy F. Baumeister collaborates with New York Times science writer John Tierney to revolutionize our understanding of the most coveted human virtue: self-control. Drawing on cutting-edge research and the wisdom of real-life experts, Willpower shares lessons on how to focus our strength, resist temptation, and redirect our lives. It shows readers how to be realistic when setting goals, monitor their progress, and how to keep faith when they falter. By blending practical wisdom with the best of recent research science, Willpower makes it clear that whatever we seek—from happiness to good health to financial security—we won’t reach our goals without first learning to harness self-control.
The Mind and Money - An Immersion into Financial Psychology and Its Impact on Business
Author: Digital World
Publisher: Digital World
ISBN: 1723462152
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 86
Book Description
Hello everyone! I'm excited to introduce you to the fascinating world of financial psychology. In this series, we'll explore how our emotions, beliefs, and behaviors influence our financial decisions. We'll see how this understanding can transform our relationship with money and help us achieve our goals. Financial psychology studies the relationship between the human mind and money. It explores how psychological factors such as emotions, perceptions, and beliefs influence our financial decisions. It combines concepts from psychology and economics to understand financial behavior. Financial psychology isn't just about numbers and graphs. It helps us understand why we sometimes make financial decisions that don't make rational sense. By understanding the psychological mechanisms behind our decisions, we can make more informed decisions that align with our goals. Emotions such as fear, greed, and anxiety significantly influence our financial decisions. Fear of losing money can lead to conservative decisions, while greed can lead to excessive risk-taking. Hope for a better future can motivate us to save, but it can also lead us to invest in high-risk assets. Emotions are like an internal GPS that guides us in our financial decisions. However, they can lead us down a wrong path if not managed properly. By identifying and understanding our emotions, we can make more rational decisions that are aligned with our long-term goals. Cognitive biases are mental shortcuts we use to make decisions faster, but they can lead us to make mistakes. Examples of biases include loss aversion, confirmation bias, and herd behavior. How to identify and overcome these biases to make sounder financial decisions. Our brains are incredible machines, but they are also prone to making mistakes. Cognitive biases are like optical illusions that distort our perception of reality. By being aware of these biases, we can take steps to counteract their effects and make more rational decisions. Our financial habits are shaped by our experiences and beliefs. The importance of developing healthy financial habits, such as saving, investing, and planning for the future. How to create new habits and break old financial habits. Our financial habits are like paths we follow on autopilot. If we want to change our financial results, we need to change our paths. By developing new positive financial habits, we can transform our financial lives. Financial psychology offers us a new perspective on money. Instead of seeing money as an end in itself, we can see it as a means to achieve our goals and live a more fulfilling life.
Publisher: Digital World
ISBN: 1723462152
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 86
Book Description
Hello everyone! I'm excited to introduce you to the fascinating world of financial psychology. In this series, we'll explore how our emotions, beliefs, and behaviors influence our financial decisions. We'll see how this understanding can transform our relationship with money and help us achieve our goals. Financial psychology studies the relationship between the human mind and money. It explores how psychological factors such as emotions, perceptions, and beliefs influence our financial decisions. It combines concepts from psychology and economics to understand financial behavior. Financial psychology isn't just about numbers and graphs. It helps us understand why we sometimes make financial decisions that don't make rational sense. By understanding the psychological mechanisms behind our decisions, we can make more informed decisions that align with our goals. Emotions such as fear, greed, and anxiety significantly influence our financial decisions. Fear of losing money can lead to conservative decisions, while greed can lead to excessive risk-taking. Hope for a better future can motivate us to save, but it can also lead us to invest in high-risk assets. Emotions are like an internal GPS that guides us in our financial decisions. However, they can lead us down a wrong path if not managed properly. By identifying and understanding our emotions, we can make more rational decisions that are aligned with our long-term goals. Cognitive biases are mental shortcuts we use to make decisions faster, but they can lead us to make mistakes. Examples of biases include loss aversion, confirmation bias, and herd behavior. How to identify and overcome these biases to make sounder financial decisions. Our brains are incredible machines, but they are also prone to making mistakes. Cognitive biases are like optical illusions that distort our perception of reality. By being aware of these biases, we can take steps to counteract their effects and make more rational decisions. Our financial habits are shaped by our experiences and beliefs. The importance of developing healthy financial habits, such as saving, investing, and planning for the future. How to create new habits and break old financial habits. Our financial habits are like paths we follow on autopilot. If we want to change our financial results, we need to change our paths. By developing new positive financial habits, we can transform our financial lives. Financial psychology offers us a new perspective on money. Instead of seeing money as an end in itself, we can see it as a means to achieve our goals and live a more fulfilling life.
Handbook of Behavioral Economics - Foundations and Applications 1
Author:
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 0444633898
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 749
Book Description
Handbook of Behavioral Economics: Foundations and Applications presents the concepts and tools of behavioral economics. Its authors are all economists who share a belief that the objective of behavioral economics is to enrich, rather than to destroy or replace, standard economics. They provide authoritative perspectives on the value to economic inquiry of insights gained from psychology. Specific chapters in this first volume cover reference-dependent preferences, asset markets, household finance, corporate finance, public economics, industrial organization, and structural behavioural economics. This Handbook provides authoritative summaries by experts in respective subfields regarding where behavioral economics has been; what it has so far accomplished; and its promise for the future. This taking-stock is just what Behavioral Economics needs at this stage of its so-far successful career. - Helps academic and non-academic economists understand recent, rapid changes in theoretical and empirical advances within behavioral economics - Designed for economists already convinced of the benefits of behavioral economics and mainstream economists who feel threatened by new developments in behavioral economics - Written for those who wish to become quickly acquainted with behavioral economics
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 0444633898
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 749
Book Description
Handbook of Behavioral Economics: Foundations and Applications presents the concepts and tools of behavioral economics. Its authors are all economists who share a belief that the objective of behavioral economics is to enrich, rather than to destroy or replace, standard economics. They provide authoritative perspectives on the value to economic inquiry of insights gained from psychology. Specific chapters in this first volume cover reference-dependent preferences, asset markets, household finance, corporate finance, public economics, industrial organization, and structural behavioural economics. This Handbook provides authoritative summaries by experts in respective subfields regarding where behavioral economics has been; what it has so far accomplished; and its promise for the future. This taking-stock is just what Behavioral Economics needs at this stage of its so-far successful career. - Helps academic and non-academic economists understand recent, rapid changes in theoretical and empirical advances within behavioral economics - Designed for economists already convinced of the benefits of behavioral economics and mainstream economists who feel threatened by new developments in behavioral economics - Written for those who wish to become quickly acquainted with behavioral economics
Neuroeconomics
Author: Paul W. Glimcher
Publisher: Academic Press
ISBN: 0123914698
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 606
Book Description
In the years since it first published, Neuroeconomics: Decision Making and the Brain has become the standard reference and textbook in the burgeoning field of neuroeconomics. The second edition, a nearly complete revision of this landmark book, will set a new standard. This new edition features five sections designed to serve as both classroom-friendly introductions to each of the major subareas in neuroeconomics, and as advanced synopses of all that has been accomplished in the last two decades in this rapidly expanding academic discipline. The first of these sections provides useful introductions to the disciplines of microeconomics, the psychology of judgment and decision, computational neuroscience, and anthropology for scholars and students seeking interdisciplinary breadth. The second section provides an overview of how human and animal preferences are represented in the mammalian nervous systems. Chapters on risk, time preferences, social preferences, emotion, pharmacology, and common neural currencies—each written by leading experts—lay out the foundations of neuroeconomic thought. The third section contains both overview and in-depth chapters on the fundamentals of reinforcement learning, value learning, and value representation. The fourth section, "The Neural Mechanisms for Choice, integrates what is known about the decision-making architecture into state-of-the-art models of how we make choices. The final section embeds these mechanisms in a larger social context, showing how these mechanisms function during social decision-making in both humans and animals. The book provides a historically rich exposition in each of its chapters and emphasizes both the accomplishments and the controversies in the field. A clear explanatory style and a single expository voice characterize all chapters, making core issues in economics, psychology, and neuroscience accessible to scholars from all disciplines. The volume is essential reading for anyone interested in neuroeconomics in particular or decision making in general. - Editors and contributing authors are among the acknowledged experts and founders in the field, making this the authoritative reference for neuroeconomics - Suitable as an advanced undergraduate or graduate textbook as well as a thorough reference for active researchers - Introductory chapters on economics, psychology, neuroscience, and anthropology provide students and scholars from any discipline with the keys to understanding this interdisciplinary field - Detailed chapters on subjects that include reinforcement learning, risk, inter-temporal choice, drift-diffusion models, game theory, and prospect theory make this an invaluable reference - Published in association with the Society for Neuroeconomics—www.neuroeconomics.org - Full-color presentation throughout with numerous carefully selected illustrations to highlight key concepts
Publisher: Academic Press
ISBN: 0123914698
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 606
Book Description
In the years since it first published, Neuroeconomics: Decision Making and the Brain has become the standard reference and textbook in the burgeoning field of neuroeconomics. The second edition, a nearly complete revision of this landmark book, will set a new standard. This new edition features five sections designed to serve as both classroom-friendly introductions to each of the major subareas in neuroeconomics, and as advanced synopses of all that has been accomplished in the last two decades in this rapidly expanding academic discipline. The first of these sections provides useful introductions to the disciplines of microeconomics, the psychology of judgment and decision, computational neuroscience, and anthropology for scholars and students seeking interdisciplinary breadth. The second section provides an overview of how human and animal preferences are represented in the mammalian nervous systems. Chapters on risk, time preferences, social preferences, emotion, pharmacology, and common neural currencies—each written by leading experts—lay out the foundations of neuroeconomic thought. The third section contains both overview and in-depth chapters on the fundamentals of reinforcement learning, value learning, and value representation. The fourth section, "The Neural Mechanisms for Choice, integrates what is known about the decision-making architecture into state-of-the-art models of how we make choices. The final section embeds these mechanisms in a larger social context, showing how these mechanisms function during social decision-making in both humans and animals. The book provides a historically rich exposition in each of its chapters and emphasizes both the accomplishments and the controversies in the field. A clear explanatory style and a single expository voice characterize all chapters, making core issues in economics, psychology, and neuroscience accessible to scholars from all disciplines. The volume is essential reading for anyone interested in neuroeconomics in particular or decision making in general. - Editors and contributing authors are among the acknowledged experts and founders in the field, making this the authoritative reference for neuroeconomics - Suitable as an advanced undergraduate or graduate textbook as well as a thorough reference for active researchers - Introductory chapters on economics, psychology, neuroscience, and anthropology provide students and scholars from any discipline with the keys to understanding this interdisciplinary field - Detailed chapters on subjects that include reinforcement learning, risk, inter-temporal choice, drift-diffusion models, game theory, and prospect theory make this an invaluable reference - Published in association with the Society for Neuroeconomics—www.neuroeconomics.org - Full-color presentation throughout with numerous carefully selected illustrations to highlight key concepts
The Economics of Poverty Traps
Author: Christopher B. Barrett
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022657430X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 425
Book Description
What circumstances or behaviors turn poverty into a cycle that perpetuates across generations? The answer to this question carries especially important implications for the design and evaluation of policies and projects intended to reduce poverty. Yet a major challenge analysts and policymakers face in understanding poverty traps is the sheer number of mechanisms—not just financial, but also environmental, physical, and psychological—that may contribute to the persistence of poverty all over the world. The research in this volume explores the hypothesis that poverty is self-reinforcing because the equilibrium behaviors of the poor perpetuate low standards of living. Contributions explore the dynamic, complex processes by which households accumulate assets and increase their productivity and earnings potential, as well as the conditions under which some individuals, groups, and economies struggle to escape poverty. Investigating the full range of phenomena that combine to generate poverty traps—gleaned from behavioral, health, and resource economics as well as the sociology, psychology, and environmental literatures—chapters in this volume also present new evidence that highlights both the insights and the limits of a poverty trap lens. The framework introduced in this volume provides a robust platform for studying well-being dynamics in developing economies.
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022657430X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 425
Book Description
What circumstances or behaviors turn poverty into a cycle that perpetuates across generations? The answer to this question carries especially important implications for the design and evaluation of policies and projects intended to reduce poverty. Yet a major challenge analysts and policymakers face in understanding poverty traps is the sheer number of mechanisms—not just financial, but also environmental, physical, and psychological—that may contribute to the persistence of poverty all over the world. The research in this volume explores the hypothesis that poverty is self-reinforcing because the equilibrium behaviors of the poor perpetuate low standards of living. Contributions explore the dynamic, complex processes by which households accumulate assets and increase their productivity and earnings potential, as well as the conditions under which some individuals, groups, and economies struggle to escape poverty. Investigating the full range of phenomena that combine to generate poverty traps—gleaned from behavioral, health, and resource economics as well as the sociology, psychology, and environmental literatures—chapters in this volume also present new evidence that highlights both the insights and the limits of a poverty trap lens. The framework introduced in this volume provides a robust platform for studying well-being dynamics in developing economies.