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• Working Paper | HBS Working Paper Series | 2020

  Spreading the Health: Americans' Estimated and Ideal Distributions of Death and Health(care)

  Sorapop Kiatpongsan and Michael I. Norton

  The 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act intensified debates over the role of government in the distribution of healthcare. A nationally-representative sample of Americans reported their estimated and ideal distributions of healthcare (unmet need for prescription medications) and death (gains in life expectancy). Respondents across the demographic and political spectrum wanted mortality and healthcare to be distributed more evenly among the rich and poor than they estimated them to be. For example, respondents estimated that Americans in the poorest quintile lived 1.5 months longer over the previous 20 years while those in the richest quintile lived 4.7 months longer, but reported ideal figures of 2.5 and 3.6 months – both were far more equal than the actual figures: -1.8 and 7.2 months. Despite heated debates about healthcare, Americans share a consensus belief that current disparities in death and healthcare are far from their ideals.

  Keywords: healthcare; mortality; inequality; justice; equity; Health; Health Care and Treatment; Equality and Inequality; Fairness; Public Opinion; United States;

  Citation:

  Kiatpongsan, Sorapop, and Michael I. Norton. "Spreading the Health: Americans' Estimated and Ideal Distributions of Death and Health(care)." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 20-114, April 2020.  View Details

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• Article | Social Psychological & Personality Science

  Time Use and Happiness of Millionaires: Evidence from the Netherlands

  Paul Smeets, A.V. Whillans, Rene Bekkers and Michael I. Norton

  How do the very wealthy spend their time, and how does time use relate to well-being? In two studies in the Netherlands, the affluent (N=863, N=690) and the general population (N=1232, N=306) spent time in surprisingly similar ways, such as by spending the same amount of time working. Yet, the nature of their time-use differed in critical ways that are related to life satisfaction. In Study 1, millionaires spent more time engaged in active leisure (e.g., exercising and volunteering) rather than passive leisure (e.g., watching television and relaxing). In Study 2, millionaires spent more time engaged in tasks at work over which they had more control. The affluent sample belongs to the top of the income and wealth distribution, representing a significantly wealthier sample than in previous studies. These results further our understanding of when and how wealth may translate into greater well-being.

  Keywords: time and wellbeing; wealth; Millionaires; Social Class; Wealth; Happiness; Demographics;

  Citation:

  Smeets, Paul, A.V. Whillans, Rene Bekkers, and Michael I. Norton. "Time Use and Happiness of Millionaires: Evidence from the Netherlands." Social Psychological & Personality Science 11, no. 3 (April 2020): 295–307.  View Details

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | October 2018 (Revised February 2020)

  Commonwealth Bank of Australia: Unbanklike Experimentation

  Ryan W. Buell and Leslie K. John

  Email mking@hbs.edu for a courtesy copy.
  
  In August 2017, Commonwealth Bank of Australia was looking for ways to differentiate itself from competing banks and was also trying to improve the financial well-being of its customers. One domain where this was particularly relevant was in its bank-issued credit card business, where customers routinely selected cards that although profitable for the bank could be a poor fit for customers’ needs—leading to low satisfaction scores, cancellations, and occasionally, financial distress. To that end, the company’s Behavioral Economics team had developed a provocative experiment dubbed “The Good and the Bad.” Rather than just presenting the strengths of its various credit card offerings, they proposed also promoting each credit card’s less-obvious drawbacks. Being transparent with customers might help them make better choices, but would those choices come at the expense of bank performance? Should a company choose to be in the sales prevention business?

  Keywords: transparency; experimentation; Banks and Banking; Credit Cards; Customer Focus and Relationships; Competitive Strategy; Banking Industry; Australia;

  Citation:

  Buell, Ryan W., and Leslie K. John. "Commonwealth Bank of Australia: Unbanklike Experimentation." Harvard Business School Case 619-018, October 2018. (Revised February 2020.)  View Details

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