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John Beshears

John Beshears

Terrie F. and Bradley M. Bloom Associate Professor of Business Administration

Terrie F. and Bradley M. Bloom Associate Professor of Business Administration

John Beshears is the Terrie F. and Bradley M. Bloom Associate Professor of Business Administration in the Negotiation, Organizations & Markets Unit, teaching the second-year MBA course "Motivation & Incentives." He is also a faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research. Before joining HBS, he was an assistant professor of finance at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Professor Beshears’s primary research area is behavioral economics, the field that combines insights from psychology and economics to explore individual decision making and market outcomes. He focuses on understanding how the financial decisions of households and firms are influenced by the institutional environment in which choices are made. In recent work, he has studied participation in retirement savings plans, household investment decisions, and health-care choices.

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John Beshears is the Terrie F. and Bradley M. Bloom Associate Professor of Business Administration in the Negotiation, Organizations & Markets Unit, teaching the second-year MBA course "Motivation & Incentives." He is also a faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research. Before joining HBS, he was an assistant professor of finance at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Professor Beshears’s primary research area is behavioral economics, the field that combines insights from psychology and economics to explore individual decision making and market outcomes. He focuses on understanding how the financial decisions of households and firms are influenced by the institutional environment in which choices are made. In recent work, he has studied participation in retirement savings plans, household investment decisions, and health-care choices.

The National Institutes of Health, Social Security Administration, FINRA Investor Education Foundation, Russell Sage Foundation, TIAA Institute, and National Science Foundation have supported Professor Beshears’s research. His work has been published in journals including the Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, Review of Financial Studies, Journal of Public Economics, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America; it has also been featured in The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, BusinessWeek, and Time.

After earning his Ph.D. in business economics at HBS, Professor Beshears was a postdoctoral fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research. He received an AB in economics from Harvard University.

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Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
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John Beshears
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Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
Contact Information
(617) 496-6543
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Publications Research Summary

Journal Articles
Journal Articles

  • Reiff, Joseph S., Hengchen Dai, John Beshears, Katherine L. Milkman, and Shlomo Benartzi. "Save More Today or Tomorrow: The Role of Urgency in Pre-commitment Design." Journal of Marketing Research (JMR) (forthcoming). (Pre-published online January 13, 2023.) View Details
  • Patel, Mitesh S., Katherine L. Milkman, Linnea Gandhi, Heather N. Graci, Dena Gromet, Hung Ho, Joseph S. Kay, Timothy W. Lee, Jake Rothschild, Modupe Akinola, John Beshears, Jonathan E. Bogard, Alison Buttenheim, Christopher Chabris, Gretchen B. Chapman, James J. Choi, Hengchen Dai, Craig R. Fox, Amir Goren, Matthew D. Hilchey, Jillian Hmurovic, Leslie John, Dean Karlan, Melanie Kim, David Laibson, Cait Lamberton, Brigitte C. Madrian, Michelle N. Meyer, Maria Modanu, Jimin Nam, Todd Rogers, Renante Rondina, Silvia Saccardo, Maheen Shermohammed, Dilip Soman, Jehan Sparks, Caleb Warren, Megan Weber, Ron Berman, Chalanda N. Evans, Seung Hyeong Lee, Christopher K. Snider, Eli Tsukayama, Christophe Van den Bulte, Kevin G. Volpp, and Angela L. Duckworth. "A Randomized Trial of Behavioral Nudges Delivered through Text Messages to Increase Influenza Vaccination among Patients with an Upcoming Primary Care Visit." American Journal of Health Promotion 37, no. 3 (2023): 324–332. View Details
  • Beshears, John, Richard T. Mason, and Shlomo Benartzi. "How to Choose a Default." Behavioral Science & Policy 8, no. 1 (2022): 1–15. View Details
  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, and Peter Maxted. "Present Bias Causes and Then Dissipates Auto-enrollment Savings Effects." AEA Papers and Proceedings 112 (May 2022): 136–141. View Details
  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian, and William L. Skimmyhorn. "Borrowing to Save? The Impact of Automatic Enrollment on Debt." Journal of Finance 77, no. 1 (February 2022): 403–447. View Details
  • Beshears, John, Hengchen Dai, Katherine L. Milkman, and Shlomo Benartzi. "Using Fresh Starts to Nudge Increased Retirement Savings." Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 167 (November 2021): 72–87. View Details
  • Beshears, John, Hae Nim Lee, Katherine L. Milkman, Robert Mislavsky, and Jessica Wisdom. "Creating Exercise Habits Using Incentives: The Trade-off Between Flexibility and Routinization." Management Science 67, no. 7 (July 2021): 4139–4171. View Details
  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian. "Active Choice, Implicit Defaults, and the Incentive to Choose." Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 163 (March 2021): 6–16. View Details
  • Milkman, Katherine L., Dena Gromet, Hung Ho, Joseph S. Kay, Timothy W. Lee, Pepi Pandiloski, Yeji Park, Aneesh Rai, Max Bazerman, John Beshears, Lauri Bonacorsi, Colin Camerer, Edward Chang, Gretchen Chapman, Robert Cialdini, Hengchen Dai, Lauren Eskreis-Winkler, Ayelet Fishbach, James J. Gross, Samantha Horn, Alexa Hubbard, Steven J. Jones, Dean Karlan, Tim Kautz, Erika Kirgios, Joowon Klusowski, Ariella Kristal, Rahul Ladhania, Jens Ludwig, George Loewenstein, Barbara Mellers, Sendhil Mullainathan, Silvia Saccardo, Jann Spiess, Gaurav Suri, Joachim H. Talloen, Jamie Taxer, Yaacov Trope, Lyle Ungar, Kevin G. Volpp, Ashley Whillans, Jonathan Zinman, and Angela L. Duckworth. "Megastudies Improve the Impact of Applied Behavioural Science." Nature 600, no. 7889 (December 16, 2021): 478–483. View Details
  • Milkman, Katherine L., Mitesh S. Patel, Linnea Gandhi, Heather N. Graci, Dena M. Gromet, Hung Ho, Joseph S. Kay, Timothy W. Lee, Modupe Akinola, John Beshears, Jonathan E. Bogard, Alison Buttenheim, Christopher F. Chabris, Gretchen B. Chapman, James J. Choi, Hengchen Dai, Craig R. Fox, Amir Goren, Matthew D. Hilchey, Jillian Hmurovic, Leslie K. John, Dean Karlan, Melanie Kim, David Laibson, Cait Lamberton, Brigitte C. Madrian, Michelle N. Meyer, Maria Modanu, Jimin Nam, Todd Rogers, Renante Rondina, Silvia Saccardo, Maheen Shermohammed, Dilip Soman, Jehan Sparks, Caleb Warren, Megan Weber, Ron Berman, Chalanda N. Evans, Christopher K. Snider, Eli Tsukayama, Christophe Van den Bulte, Kevin G. Volpp, and Angela L. Duckworth. "A Megastudy of Text-Based Nudges Encouraging Patients to Get Vaccinated at an Upcoming Doctor's Appointment." e2101165118. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 118, no. 20 (May 18, 2021). View Details
  • Beshears, John, and Harry Kosowsky. "Nudging: Progress to Date and Future Directions." Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 161, Supplement (November 2020): 3–19. View Details
  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, Christopher Harris, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian, and Jung Sakong. "Which Early Withdrawal Penalty Attracts the Most Deposits to a Commitment Savings Account?" Art. 104144. Journal of Public Economics 183 (March 2020). View Details
  • Kong, Edward, John Beshears, David Laibson, Brigitte Madrian, Kevin Volpp, George Loewenstein, Jonathan Kolstad, and James J. Choi. "Do Physician Incentives Increase Patient Medication Adherence?" Health Services Research 55, no. 4 (August 2020): 503–511. View Details
  • Benartzi, Shlomo, John Beshears, Katherine L. Milkman, Cass R. Sunstein, Richard H. Thaler, Maya Shankar, Will Tucker-Ray, William J. Congdon, and Steven Galing. "Should Governments Invest More in Nudging?" Psychological Science 28, no. 8 (August 2017): 1041–1055. View Details
  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian. "Does Front-Loading Taxation Increase Savings? Evidence from Roth 401(k) Introductions." Journal of Public Economics 151 (July 2017): 84–95. View Details
  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian. "Does Aggregated Returns Disclosure Increase Portfolio Risk Taking?" Review of Financial Studies 30, no. 6 (June 2017): 1971–2005. View Details
  • Alsan, Marcella, John Beshears, Wendy S. Armstrong, James J. Choi, Brigitte C. Madrian, Minh Ly T. Nguyen, Carlos Del Rio, David Laibson, and Vincent C. Marconi. "A Commitment Contract to Achieve Virologic Suppression in Poorly Adherent Patients with HIV/AIDS." AIDS 31, no. 12 (July 31, 2017): 1765–1769. View Details
  • Beshears, John, Katherine L. Milkman, and Joshua Schwartzstein. "Beyond Beta-Delta: The Emerging Economics of Personal Plans." American Economic Review: Papers and Proceedings 106, no. 5 (May 2016): 430–434. View Details
  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian, and Gwendolyn I. Reynolds. "Vaccination Rates Are Associated with Functional Proximity but Not Base Proximity of Vaccination Clinics." Medical Care 54, no. 6 (June 2016): 578–583. View Details
  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian, and Katherine L. Milkman. "The Effect of Providing Peer Information on Retirement Savings Decisions." Journal of Finance 70, no. 3 (June 2015): 1161–1201. View Details
  • Beshears, John, and F. Gino. "Leaders as Decision Architects: Structure Your Organization's Work to Encourage Wise Choices." Harvard Business Review 93, no. 5 (May 2015): 52–62. View Details
  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, Joshua Hurwitz, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian. "Liquidity in Retirement Savings Systems: An International Comparison." American Economic Review: Papers and Proceedings 105, no. 5 (May 2015): 420–425. View Details
  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian, and Stephen P. Zeldes. "What Makes Annuitization More Appealing?" Special Issue on NBER Pensions. Journal of Public Economics 116 (August 2014): 2–16. View Details
  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian. "Simplification and Saving." Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 95 (November 2013): 130–145. View Details
  • Beshears, John. "The Performance of Corporate Alliances: Evidence from Oil and Gas Drilling in the Gulf of Mexico." Journal of Financial Economics 110, no. 2 (November 2013): 324–346. View Details
  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, Andreas Fuster, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian. "What Goes Up Must Come Down? Experimental Evidence on Intuitive Forecasting." American Economic Review: Papers and Proceedings 103, no. 3 (May 2013): 570–574. View Details
  • Milkman, Katherine L., John Beshears, James J. Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian. "Planning Prompts as a Means of Increasing Preventive Screening Rates." Preventive Medicine 56, no. 1 (January 2013): 92–93. View Details
  • Loewenstein, George, Joelle Y. Friedman, Barbara McGill, Sarah Ahmad, Suzanne Linck, Stacey Sinkula, John Beshears, James J. Choi, Jonathan Kolstad, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian, John A. List, and Kevin G. Volpp. "Consumers' Misunderstanding of Health Insurance." Journal of Health Economics 32, no. 5 (September 2013): 850–862. View Details
  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian, and Gwendolyn Reynolds. "Testimonials Do Not Convert Patients from Brand to Generic Medication." American Journal of Managed Care 19, no. 9 (September 2013): e314–e316. View Details
  • Dai, Hengchen, Katherine L. Milkman, John Beshears, James J. Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian. "Planning Prompts as a Means of Increasing Rates of Immunization and Preventive Screening." Special Issue on Vaccination, Prevention, and Older Adults. Public Policy & Aging Report 22, no. 4 (2012): 16–19. View Details
  • Milkman, Katherine L., John Beshears, James J. Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian. "Using Implementation Intentions Prompts to Enhance Influenza Vaccination Rates." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 108, no. 26 (June 28, 2011): 10415–10420. View Details
  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian. "Behavioral Economics Perspectives on Public Sector Pension Plans." Journal of Pension Economics & Finance 10, no. 2 (April 2011): 315–336. View Details
  • Beshears, John, and Katherine L. Milkman. "Do Sell-Side Stock Analysts Exhibit Escalation of Commitment?" Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 77, no. 3 (March 2011): 304–317. View Details
  • Beshears, John, and Katherine L. Milkman. "Mental Accounting and Small Windfalls: Evidence from an Online Grocer." Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 71, no. 2 (August 2009): 384–394. View Details
  • Martin, Jolie M., John Beshears, Katherine L. Milkman, Max H. Bazerman, and Lisa Sutherland. "Modeling Expert Opinions on Food Healthfulness: A Nutrition Metric." Journal of the American Dietetic Association 109, no. 6 (June 2009): 1088–1091. View Details
  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian. "How Are Preferences Revealed?" Journal of Public Economics 92, nos. 8-9 (June 2008): 1787–1794. View Details
  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian. "Retirement Saving: Helping Employees Help Themselves." Milken Institute Review 8, no. 3 (Third Quarter 2006): 30–39. View Details
  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian. "Early Decisions: A Regulatory Framework." Swedish Economic Policy Review 12, no. 2 (2005): 41–60. View Details

Book Chapters
Book Chapters

  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, J. Mark Iwry, David C. John, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian. "Building Emergency Savings Through Employer-Sponsored Rainy-Day Savings Accounts." In Tax Policy and the Economy, Volume 34, edited by Robert A. Moffitt, 43–90. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2020. View Details
  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian. "Behavioral Household Finance." In Handbook of Behavioral Economics: Foundations and Applications 1, edited by B. Douglas Bernheim, Stefano DellaVigna, and David Laibson, 177–276. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2018. View Details
  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian. "Who Uses the Roth 401(k), and How Do They Use It?" Chap. 12 in Discoveries in the Economics of Aging, edited by David A. Wise. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2014. View Details
  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian. "The Availability and Utilization of 401(k) Loans." In Investigations in the Economics of Aging, edited by David A. Wise, 145–172. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2012. View Details
  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian. "How Does Simplified Disclosure Affect Individuals' Mutual Fund Choices?" In Explorations in the Economics of Aging, edited by David A. Wise, 75–96. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2011. View Details
  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian, and Brian Weller. "Public Policy and Saving for Retirement: The 'Autosave' Features of the Pension Protection Act of 2006." In Better Living through Economics, edited by John J. Siegfried, 274–290. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2010. View Details
  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian. "The Impact of Employer Matching on Savings Plan Participation under Automatic Enrollment." In Research Findings in the Economics of Aging, edited by David A. Wise, 311–327. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010. View Details
  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian. "The Importance of Default Options for Retirement Saving Outcomes: Evidence from the United States." In Lessons from Pension Reform in the Americas, edited by Stephen J. Kay and Tapen Sinha, 59–87. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. View Details

Cases and Teaching Materials
Cases and Teaching Materials

  • Beshears, John. "Behavioral Economics and Choice Architecture." Harvard Business School Module Note 922-029, February 2022. View Details
  • Beshears, John, and Ashley Whillans. "A Behavioral Science Perspective on Motivation and Incentives." Harvard Business School Module Note 922-033, March 2022. View Details
  • Whillans, Ashley, and John Beshears. "Social Salary Setting at Spiber." Harvard Business School Case 920-050, June 2020. (Revised March 2020.) View Details
  • Whillans, Ashley, and John Beshears. "Social Salary Setting at Spiber." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 921-014, November 2020. (Revised March 2022.) View Details
  • Exley, Christine, John Beshears, Manuela Collis, and Davis Heniford. "Negotiating for Equal Pay: The U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (A)." Harvard Business School Case 920-029, December 2019. (Revised December 2021.) View Details
  • Exley, Christine, John Beshears, Manuela Collis, and Davis Heniford. "Negotiating for Equal Pay: The U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 920-030, December 2019. (Revised December 2021.) View Details
  • Beshears, John, and Christine Exley. "Negotiating for Equal Pay: The U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team (A) and (B)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 922-032, January 2022. View Details
  • Beshears, John, Alpana Thapar, and Boris Tsimerinov. "Magrabi: Fulfilling the Vision for the Future." Harvard Business School Case 920-009, August 2019. (Revised August 2020.) View Details
  • Beshears, John. "Magrabi: Fulfilling the Vision for the Future." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 922-034, February 2022. View Details
  • Beshears, John. "Stoy Foods: Role Information for Danijela Stoyanovic." Harvard Business School Exercise 918-044, April 2018. View Details
  • Beshears, John. "Stoy Foods: Role Information for Katrina Stoyanovic." Harvard Business School Exercise 918-045, April 2018. View Details
  • Beshears, John. "Stoy Foods: Role Information for Milan Stoyanovic." Harvard Business School Exercise 918-046, April 2018. View Details
  • Beshears, John. "Stoy Foods: Role Information for Petja Stoyanovic." Harvard Business School Exercise 918-047, April 2018. View Details
  • Beshears, John. "Stoy Foods." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 922-035, February 2022. View Details
  • Brooks, Alison Wood, Francesca Gino, Julia J. Lee, Bradley R. Staats, Andrew Wasynczuk, and John Beshears. "Advika Consulting Services: Challenges and Opportunities in Managing Human Capital." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 918-038, February 2018. View Details
  • Beshears, John, Joshua Schwartzstein, Tiffany Y. Chang, and Brian J. Hall. "GiveDirectly." Harvard Business School Case 918-036, March 2018. View Details
  • Beshears, John, and Joshua Schwartzstein. "GiveDirectly." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 918-040, March 2018. (Revised March 2022.) View Details
  • Beshears, John, Michael Luca, Alister Martin, and Simin Gharib Lee. "Nudging Hand Hygiene Compliance at the Brigham and Women's Hospital." Harvard Business School Case 918-035, March 2018. View Details
  • Exley, Christine L., John Beshears, and Alison Wood Brooks. "La Ceiba: Navigating Microfinance and Relationships in Honduras (A)." Harvard Business School Case 918-014, December 2017. View Details
  • Exley, Christine L., John Beshears, and Alison Wood Brooks. "La Ceiba: Navigating Microfinance and Relationships in Honduras (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 918-015, December 2017. View Details
  • Exley, Christine L., John Beshears, and Alison Wood Brooks. "La Ceiba: Navigating Microfinance and Relationships in Honduras (A) and (B)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 918-016, December 2017. (Revised March 2022.) View Details
  • Beshears, John, Iris Bohnet, and Jenny Sanford. "Increasing Gender Diversity in the Boardroom: The United Kingdom in 2011 (A)." Harvard Business School Case 918-006, October 2017. (Revised July 2019.) View Details
  • Beshears, John, Iris Bohnet, and Jenny Sanford. "Increasing Gender Diversity in the Boardroom: The United Kingdom in 2011 (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 918-007, October 2017. (Revised July 2019.) View Details
  • Beshears, John, Iris Bohnet, and Siri Chilazi. "Increasing Gender Diversity in the Boardroom: The United Kingdom in 2011 (A) and (B)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 920-006, July 2019. (Revised March 2022.) View Details
  • Beshears, John. "Evive Health and Workplace Influenza Vaccinations." Harvard Business School Case 916-044, March 2016. View Details
  • Beshears, John. "Evive Health and Workplace Influenza Vaccinations." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 916-049, March 2016. (Revised March 2022.) View Details
  • Beshears, John, Francesca Gino, Jonathan Lee, and Sean (Yixiang) Wang. "T-Mobile in 2013: The Un-Carrier." Harvard Business School Case 916-043, February 2016. (Revised September 2020.) View Details
  • Beshears, John, and Francesca Gino. "T-Mobile in 2013: The Un-Carrier." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 916-048, March 2016. (Revised November 2021.) View Details
  • Beshears, John, Patrick Rooney, and Jenny Sanford. "Express Scripts: Promoting Prescription Drug Home Delivery (A)." Harvard Business School Case 916-026, February 2016. View Details
  • Beshears, John, Patrick Rooney, and Jenny Sanford. "Express Scripts: Promoting Prescription Drug Home Delivery (B)." Harvard Business School Case 916-040, February 2016. (Revised March 2022.) View Details
  • Beshears, John. "Express Scripts: Promoting Prescription Drug Home Delivery (A) and (B)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 916-047, March 2016. (Revised March 2022.) View Details
All Publications

John Beshears is the Terrie F. and Bradley M. Bloom Associate Professor of Business Administration in the Negotiation, Organizations & Markets Unit, teaching the second-year MBA course "Motivation & Incentives." He is also a faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research. Before joining HBS, he was an assistant professor of finance at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Professor Beshears’s primary research area is behavioral economics, the field that combines insights from psychology and economics to explore individual decision making and market outcomes. He focuses on understanding how the financial decisions of households and firms are influenced by the institutional environment in which choices are made. In recent work, he has studied participation in retirement savings plans, household investment decisions, and health-care choices.

The National Institutes of Health, Social Security Administration, FINRA Investor Education Foundation, Russell Sage Foundation, TIAA Institute, and National Science Foundation have supported Professor Beshears’s research. His work has been published in journals including the Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, Review of Financial Studies, Journal of Public Economics, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America; it has also been featured in The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, BusinessWeek, and Time.

After earning his Ph.D. in business economics at HBS, Professor Beshears was a postdoctoral fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research. He received an AB in economics from Harvard University.

Journal Articles
  • Reiff, Joseph S., Hengchen Dai, John Beshears, Katherine L. Milkman, and Shlomo Benartzi. "Save More Today or Tomorrow: The Role of Urgency in Pre-commitment Design." Journal of Marketing Research (JMR) (forthcoming). (Pre-published online January 13, 2023.) View Details
  • Patel, Mitesh S., Katherine L. Milkman, Linnea Gandhi, Heather N. Graci, Dena Gromet, Hung Ho, Joseph S. Kay, Timothy W. Lee, Jake Rothschild, Modupe Akinola, John Beshears, Jonathan E. Bogard, Alison Buttenheim, Christopher Chabris, Gretchen B. Chapman, James J. Choi, Hengchen Dai, Craig R. Fox, Amir Goren, Matthew D. Hilchey, Jillian Hmurovic, Leslie John, Dean Karlan, Melanie Kim, David Laibson, Cait Lamberton, Brigitte C. Madrian, Michelle N. Meyer, Maria Modanu, Jimin Nam, Todd Rogers, Renante Rondina, Silvia Saccardo, Maheen Shermohammed, Dilip Soman, Jehan Sparks, Caleb Warren, Megan Weber, Ron Berman, Chalanda N. Evans, Seung Hyeong Lee, Christopher K. Snider, Eli Tsukayama, Christophe Van den Bulte, Kevin G. Volpp, and Angela L. Duckworth. "A Randomized Trial of Behavioral Nudges Delivered through Text Messages to Increase Influenza Vaccination among Patients with an Upcoming Primary Care Visit." American Journal of Health Promotion 37, no. 3 (2023): 324–332. View Details
  • Beshears, John, Richard T. Mason, and Shlomo Benartzi. "How to Choose a Default." Behavioral Science & Policy 8, no. 1 (2022): 1–15. View Details
  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, and Peter Maxted. "Present Bias Causes and Then Dissipates Auto-enrollment Savings Effects." AEA Papers and Proceedings 112 (May 2022): 136–141. View Details
  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian, and William L. Skimmyhorn. "Borrowing to Save? The Impact of Automatic Enrollment on Debt." Journal of Finance 77, no. 1 (February 2022): 403–447. View Details
  • Beshears, John, Hengchen Dai, Katherine L. Milkman, and Shlomo Benartzi. "Using Fresh Starts to Nudge Increased Retirement Savings." Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 167 (November 2021): 72–87. View Details
  • Beshears, John, Hae Nim Lee, Katherine L. Milkman, Robert Mislavsky, and Jessica Wisdom. "Creating Exercise Habits Using Incentives: The Trade-off Between Flexibility and Routinization." Management Science 67, no. 7 (July 2021): 4139–4171. View Details
  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian. "Active Choice, Implicit Defaults, and the Incentive to Choose." Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 163 (March 2021): 6–16. View Details
  • Milkman, Katherine L., Dena Gromet, Hung Ho, Joseph S. Kay, Timothy W. Lee, Pepi Pandiloski, Yeji Park, Aneesh Rai, Max Bazerman, John Beshears, Lauri Bonacorsi, Colin Camerer, Edward Chang, Gretchen Chapman, Robert Cialdini, Hengchen Dai, Lauren Eskreis-Winkler, Ayelet Fishbach, James J. Gross, Samantha Horn, Alexa Hubbard, Steven J. Jones, Dean Karlan, Tim Kautz, Erika Kirgios, Joowon Klusowski, Ariella Kristal, Rahul Ladhania, Jens Ludwig, George Loewenstein, Barbara Mellers, Sendhil Mullainathan, Silvia Saccardo, Jann Spiess, Gaurav Suri, Joachim H. Talloen, Jamie Taxer, Yaacov Trope, Lyle Ungar, Kevin G. Volpp, Ashley Whillans, Jonathan Zinman, and Angela L. Duckworth. "Megastudies Improve the Impact of Applied Behavioural Science." Nature 600, no. 7889 (December 16, 2021): 478–483. View Details
  • Milkman, Katherine L., Mitesh S. Patel, Linnea Gandhi, Heather N. Graci, Dena M. Gromet, Hung Ho, Joseph S. Kay, Timothy W. Lee, Modupe Akinola, John Beshears, Jonathan E. Bogard, Alison Buttenheim, Christopher F. Chabris, Gretchen B. Chapman, James J. Choi, Hengchen Dai, Craig R. Fox, Amir Goren, Matthew D. Hilchey, Jillian Hmurovic, Leslie K. John, Dean Karlan, Melanie Kim, David Laibson, Cait Lamberton, Brigitte C. Madrian, Michelle N. Meyer, Maria Modanu, Jimin Nam, Todd Rogers, Renante Rondina, Silvia Saccardo, Maheen Shermohammed, Dilip Soman, Jehan Sparks, Caleb Warren, Megan Weber, Ron Berman, Chalanda N. Evans, Christopher K. Snider, Eli Tsukayama, Christophe Van den Bulte, Kevin G. Volpp, and Angela L. Duckworth. "A Megastudy of Text-Based Nudges Encouraging Patients to Get Vaccinated at an Upcoming Doctor's Appointment." e2101165118. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 118, no. 20 (May 18, 2021). View Details
  • Beshears, John, and Harry Kosowsky. "Nudging: Progress to Date and Future Directions." Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 161, Supplement (November 2020): 3–19. View Details
  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, Christopher Harris, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian, and Jung Sakong. "Which Early Withdrawal Penalty Attracts the Most Deposits to a Commitment Savings Account?" Art. 104144. Journal of Public Economics 183 (March 2020). View Details
  • Kong, Edward, John Beshears, David Laibson, Brigitte Madrian, Kevin Volpp, George Loewenstein, Jonathan Kolstad, and James J. Choi. "Do Physician Incentives Increase Patient Medication Adherence?" Health Services Research 55, no. 4 (August 2020): 503–511. View Details
  • Benartzi, Shlomo, John Beshears, Katherine L. Milkman, Cass R. Sunstein, Richard H. Thaler, Maya Shankar, Will Tucker-Ray, William J. Congdon, and Steven Galing. "Should Governments Invest More in Nudging?" Psychological Science 28, no. 8 (August 2017): 1041–1055. View Details
  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian. "Does Front-Loading Taxation Increase Savings? Evidence from Roth 401(k) Introductions." Journal of Public Economics 151 (July 2017): 84–95. View Details
  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian. "Does Aggregated Returns Disclosure Increase Portfolio Risk Taking?" Review of Financial Studies 30, no. 6 (June 2017): 1971–2005. View Details
  • Alsan, Marcella, John Beshears, Wendy S. Armstrong, James J. Choi, Brigitte C. Madrian, Minh Ly T. Nguyen, Carlos Del Rio, David Laibson, and Vincent C. Marconi. "A Commitment Contract to Achieve Virologic Suppression in Poorly Adherent Patients with HIV/AIDS." AIDS 31, no. 12 (July 31, 2017): 1765–1769. View Details
  • Beshears, John, Katherine L. Milkman, and Joshua Schwartzstein. "Beyond Beta-Delta: The Emerging Economics of Personal Plans." American Economic Review: Papers and Proceedings 106, no. 5 (May 2016): 430–434. View Details
  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian, and Gwendolyn I. Reynolds. "Vaccination Rates Are Associated with Functional Proximity but Not Base Proximity of Vaccination Clinics." Medical Care 54, no. 6 (June 2016): 578–583. View Details
  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian, and Katherine L. Milkman. "The Effect of Providing Peer Information on Retirement Savings Decisions." Journal of Finance 70, no. 3 (June 2015): 1161–1201. View Details
  • Beshears, John, and F. Gino. "Leaders as Decision Architects: Structure Your Organization's Work to Encourage Wise Choices." Harvard Business Review 93, no. 5 (May 2015): 52–62. View Details
  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, Joshua Hurwitz, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian. "Liquidity in Retirement Savings Systems: An International Comparison." American Economic Review: Papers and Proceedings 105, no. 5 (May 2015): 420–425. View Details
  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian, and Stephen P. Zeldes. "What Makes Annuitization More Appealing?" Special Issue on NBER Pensions. Journal of Public Economics 116 (August 2014): 2–16. View Details
  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian. "Simplification and Saving." Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 95 (November 2013): 130–145. View Details
  • Beshears, John. "The Performance of Corporate Alliances: Evidence from Oil and Gas Drilling in the Gulf of Mexico." Journal of Financial Economics 110, no. 2 (November 2013): 324–346. View Details
  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, Andreas Fuster, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian. "What Goes Up Must Come Down? Experimental Evidence on Intuitive Forecasting." American Economic Review: Papers and Proceedings 103, no. 3 (May 2013): 570–574. View Details
  • Milkman, Katherine L., John Beshears, James J. Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian. "Planning Prompts as a Means of Increasing Preventive Screening Rates." Preventive Medicine 56, no. 1 (January 2013): 92–93. View Details
  • Loewenstein, George, Joelle Y. Friedman, Barbara McGill, Sarah Ahmad, Suzanne Linck, Stacey Sinkula, John Beshears, James J. Choi, Jonathan Kolstad, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian, John A. List, and Kevin G. Volpp. "Consumers' Misunderstanding of Health Insurance." Journal of Health Economics 32, no. 5 (September 2013): 850–862. View Details
  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian, and Gwendolyn Reynolds. "Testimonials Do Not Convert Patients from Brand to Generic Medication." American Journal of Managed Care 19, no. 9 (September 2013): e314–e316. View Details
  • Dai, Hengchen, Katherine L. Milkman, John Beshears, James J. Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian. "Planning Prompts as a Means of Increasing Rates of Immunization and Preventive Screening." Special Issue on Vaccination, Prevention, and Older Adults. Public Policy & Aging Report 22, no. 4 (2012): 16–19. View Details
  • Milkman, Katherine L., John Beshears, James J. Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian. "Using Implementation Intentions Prompts to Enhance Influenza Vaccination Rates." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 108, no. 26 (June 28, 2011): 10415–10420. View Details
  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian. "Behavioral Economics Perspectives on Public Sector Pension Plans." Journal of Pension Economics & Finance 10, no. 2 (April 2011): 315–336. View Details
  • Beshears, John, and Katherine L. Milkman. "Do Sell-Side Stock Analysts Exhibit Escalation of Commitment?" Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 77, no. 3 (March 2011): 304–317. View Details
  • Beshears, John, and Katherine L. Milkman. "Mental Accounting and Small Windfalls: Evidence from an Online Grocer." Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 71, no. 2 (August 2009): 384–394. View Details
  • Martin, Jolie M., John Beshears, Katherine L. Milkman, Max H. Bazerman, and Lisa Sutherland. "Modeling Expert Opinions on Food Healthfulness: A Nutrition Metric." Journal of the American Dietetic Association 109, no. 6 (June 2009): 1088–1091. View Details
  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian. "How Are Preferences Revealed?" Journal of Public Economics 92, nos. 8-9 (June 2008): 1787–1794. View Details
  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian. "Retirement Saving: Helping Employees Help Themselves." Milken Institute Review 8, no. 3 (Third Quarter 2006): 30–39. View Details
  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian. "Early Decisions: A Regulatory Framework." Swedish Economic Policy Review 12, no. 2 (2005): 41–60. View Details
Book Chapters
  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, J. Mark Iwry, David C. John, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian. "Building Emergency Savings Through Employer-Sponsored Rainy-Day Savings Accounts." In Tax Policy and the Economy, Volume 34, edited by Robert A. Moffitt, 43–90. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2020. View Details
  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian. "Behavioral Household Finance." In Handbook of Behavioral Economics: Foundations and Applications 1, edited by B. Douglas Bernheim, Stefano DellaVigna, and David Laibson, 177–276. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2018. View Details
  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian. "Who Uses the Roth 401(k), and How Do They Use It?" Chap. 12 in Discoveries in the Economics of Aging, edited by David A. Wise. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2014. View Details
  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian. "The Availability and Utilization of 401(k) Loans." In Investigations in the Economics of Aging, edited by David A. Wise, 145–172. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2012. View Details
  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian. "How Does Simplified Disclosure Affect Individuals' Mutual Fund Choices?" In Explorations in the Economics of Aging, edited by David A. Wise, 75–96. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2011. View Details
  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian, and Brian Weller. "Public Policy and Saving for Retirement: The 'Autosave' Features of the Pension Protection Act of 2006." In Better Living through Economics, edited by John J. Siegfried, 274–290. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2010. View Details
  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian. "The Impact of Employer Matching on Savings Plan Participation under Automatic Enrollment." In Research Findings in the Economics of Aging, edited by David A. Wise, 311–327. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010. View Details
  • Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian. "The Importance of Default Options for Retirement Saving Outcomes: Evidence from the United States." In Lessons from Pension Reform in the Americas, edited by Stephen J. Kay and Tapen Sinha, 59–87. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. View Details
Cases and Teaching Materials
  • Beshears, John. "Behavioral Economics and Choice Architecture." Harvard Business School Module Note 922-029, February 2022. View Details
  • Beshears, John, and Ashley Whillans. "A Behavioral Science Perspective on Motivation and Incentives." Harvard Business School Module Note 922-033, March 2022. View Details
  • Whillans, Ashley, and John Beshears. "Social Salary Setting at Spiber." Harvard Business School Case 920-050, June 2020. (Revised March 2020.) View Details
  • Whillans, Ashley, and John Beshears. "Social Salary Setting at Spiber." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 921-014, November 2020. (Revised March 2022.) View Details
  • Exley, Christine, John Beshears, Manuela Collis, and Davis Heniford. "Negotiating for Equal Pay: The U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (A)." Harvard Business School Case 920-029, December 2019. (Revised December 2021.) View Details
  • Exley, Christine, John Beshears, Manuela Collis, and Davis Heniford. "Negotiating for Equal Pay: The U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 920-030, December 2019. (Revised December 2021.) View Details
  • Beshears, John, and Christine Exley. "Negotiating for Equal Pay: The U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team (A) and (B)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 922-032, January 2022. View Details
  • Beshears, John, Alpana Thapar, and Boris Tsimerinov. "Magrabi: Fulfilling the Vision for the Future." Harvard Business School Case 920-009, August 2019. (Revised August 2020.) View Details
  • Beshears, John. "Magrabi: Fulfilling the Vision for the Future." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 922-034, February 2022. View Details
  • Beshears, John. "Stoy Foods: Role Information for Danijela Stoyanovic." Harvard Business School Exercise 918-044, April 2018. View Details
  • Beshears, John. "Stoy Foods: Role Information for Katrina Stoyanovic." Harvard Business School Exercise 918-045, April 2018. View Details
  • Beshears, John. "Stoy Foods: Role Information for Milan Stoyanovic." Harvard Business School Exercise 918-046, April 2018. View Details
  • Beshears, John. "Stoy Foods: Role Information for Petja Stoyanovic." Harvard Business School Exercise 918-047, April 2018. View Details
  • Beshears, John. "Stoy Foods." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 922-035, February 2022. View Details
  • Brooks, Alison Wood, Francesca Gino, Julia J. Lee, Bradley R. Staats, Andrew Wasynczuk, and John Beshears. "Advika Consulting Services: Challenges and Opportunities in Managing Human Capital." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 918-038, February 2018. View Details
  • Beshears, John, Joshua Schwartzstein, Tiffany Y. Chang, and Brian J. Hall. "GiveDirectly." Harvard Business School Case 918-036, March 2018. View Details
  • Beshears, John, and Joshua Schwartzstein. "GiveDirectly." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 918-040, March 2018. (Revised March 2022.) View Details
  • Beshears, John, Michael Luca, Alister Martin, and Simin Gharib Lee. "Nudging Hand Hygiene Compliance at the Brigham and Women's Hospital." Harvard Business School Case 918-035, March 2018. View Details
  • Exley, Christine L., John Beshears, and Alison Wood Brooks. "La Ceiba: Navigating Microfinance and Relationships in Honduras (A)." Harvard Business School Case 918-014, December 2017. View Details
  • Exley, Christine L., John Beshears, and Alison Wood Brooks. "La Ceiba: Navigating Microfinance and Relationships in Honduras (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 918-015, December 2017. View Details
  • Exley, Christine L., John Beshears, and Alison Wood Brooks. "La Ceiba: Navigating Microfinance and Relationships in Honduras (A) and (B)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 918-016, December 2017. (Revised March 2022.) View Details
  • Beshears, John, Iris Bohnet, and Jenny Sanford. "Increasing Gender Diversity in the Boardroom: The United Kingdom in 2011 (A)." Harvard Business School Case 918-006, October 2017. (Revised July 2019.) View Details
  • Beshears, John, Iris Bohnet, and Jenny Sanford. "Increasing Gender Diversity in the Boardroom: The United Kingdom in 2011 (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 918-007, October 2017. (Revised July 2019.) View Details
  • Beshears, John, Iris Bohnet, and Siri Chilazi. "Increasing Gender Diversity in the Boardroom: The United Kingdom in 2011 (A) and (B)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 920-006, July 2019. (Revised March 2022.) View Details
  • Beshears, John. "Evive Health and Workplace Influenza Vaccinations." Harvard Business School Case 916-044, March 2016. View Details
  • Beshears, John. "Evive Health and Workplace Influenza Vaccinations." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 916-049, March 2016. (Revised March 2022.) View Details
  • Beshears, John, Francesca Gino, Jonathan Lee, and Sean (Yixiang) Wang. "T-Mobile in 2013: The Un-Carrier." Harvard Business School Case 916-043, February 2016. (Revised September 2020.) View Details
  • Beshears, John, and Francesca Gino. "T-Mobile in 2013: The Un-Carrier." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 916-048, March 2016. (Revised November 2021.) View Details
  • Beshears, John, Patrick Rooney, and Jenny Sanford. "Express Scripts: Promoting Prescription Drug Home Delivery (A)." Harvard Business School Case 916-026, February 2016. View Details
  • Beshears, John, Patrick Rooney, and Jenny Sanford. "Express Scripts: Promoting Prescription Drug Home Delivery (B)." Harvard Business School Case 916-040, February 2016. (Revised March 2022.) View Details
  • Beshears, John. "Express Scripts: Promoting Prescription Drug Home Delivery (A) and (B)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 916-047, March 2016. (Revised March 2022.) View Details
Research Summary
Overview
Using a combination of research methods, Professor Beshears applies behavioral economics to understand how households and businesses make decisions, and how those decisions affect market outcomes. He documents the types of mistakes that individuals and firms make, and then seeks to describe the barriers to sound decision making. The resulting insights can help improve institutional design—how, for example, an employer or service provider can lower the barriers people face in making decisions that will benefit them. Professor Beshears works in two primary research areas, as described below.
Keywords: Behavioral Economics; Consumer Finance; Household Finance; Health Care; Organizational Economics; Decision Making; Economics; Negotiation; Behavioral Finance
Household Financial Decision Making

Individuals make many well-documented mistakes with their finances, such as not saving enough for retirement, paying too much in fees, and running up credit card debt. Recognizing that complexity is a significant barrier to financial decision making, Professor Beshears has explored how simplification can help. Looking at the retirement savings problem, he has studied a mechanism that allows employees to enroll in their employer’s retirement savings plan at an asset allocation and contribution rate pre-selected by their employer and found that enrollment increased by 10 to 20 percentage points above a standard opt-in plan. Further, the effectiveness of this mechanism increases substantially when employees are offered repeated opportunities to use it. A similar mechanism is effective in motivating employees to increase the percentage of salary that they contribute to their savings plan. These innovations work because they give people simple, understandable choices, yet without eliminating the full range of options previously available. The results suggest applications in enrolling in health insurance plans and creating advance medical directives.

 

Personal Health-care Decision Making
Using the same conceptual framework, Professor Beshears has investigated a public health puzzle: why flu shots, which are enormously beneficial to both individuals and the health-care system, are underutilized, even when offered by employers free of change at on-site clinics. In this case, the barrier is the failure of employees to focus on and prioritize getting a flu shot. Professor Beshears tested the effectiveness of a prompt designed to help people remember to get a flu shot and overcome logistical hurdles. A mailing that asked employees to write down a date and a time for getting their shots increased the vaccination rate by 4.2 percentage points above the rate of the unprompted control group.
Additional Information
  • Curriculum Vitae
  • Outside Activities
Areas of Interest
  • behavioral finance
  • consumer finance
  • decision-making
  • economics
  • healthcare management
  • Additional Topics
  • negotiation
In The News

In The News

    • Kiplinger

    To Roth 401(k) or not to Roth 401(k)?

    • 19 Jul 2017
    • HBS Working Knowledge

    Why Government 'Nudges' Motivate Good Citizen Behavior

    • 12 Jun 2017
    • Wall Street Journal

    Roth vs. Traditional 401(k): Study Finds a Clear Winner

    • 08 Jun 2017
    • Harvard Business School

    Behavioral ‘Nudges’ Offer a Cost-Effective Policy Tool

    • 15 Mar 2017
    • Harvard Business School

    What's Your Favorite Case to Teach?

→More News for John Beshears

John Beshears In the News

Media Citations


Kiplinger
To Roth 401(k) or not to Roth 401(k)?

19 Jul 2017
HBS Working Knowledge
Why Government 'Nudges' Motivate Good Citizen Behavior

12 Jun 2017
Wall Street Journal
Roth vs. Traditional 401(k): Study Finds a Clear Winner

08 Jun 2017
Harvard Business School
Behavioral ‘Nudges’ Offer a Cost-Effective Policy Tool

15 Mar 2017
Harvard Business School
What's Your Favorite Case to Teach?

13 Feb 2017
Wall Street Journal
People Trying to Save Prefer Accounts That Are Hard to Tap

07 Dec 2016
Harvard Business School
A Sense of Wonder with John Beshears

11 Sep 2016
Wall Street Journal
How to Get More Pleasure Out of Retirement Spending

26 Jul 2016
Time
The Science Behind Why You Don’t Save (And What To Do About It)

09 Feb 2016
Harvard Business School
How and Why Businesses Should Teach Retirement

01 Sep 2015
Washington Post
How your lack of self-control might actually boost your savings

Additional Information
Curriculum Vitae
Outside Activities

Outside Activities

  • Advisor to and equity holder in Nutmeg Saving and Investment, 2011-2021
  • Member of 401k4USA Advisory Board (unpaid position), 2017-2019
  • Member of Morningstar Behavioral Science Advisory Board (unpaid position), 2015-2017
  • Member of HelloWallet Academic Advisory Board (unpaid position), 2011-2015

Areas of Interest

behavioral finance
consumer finance
decision-making
economics
healthcare management
 More

Additional Topics

negotiation
 Less

In The News

    • Kiplinger

    To Roth 401(k) or not to Roth 401(k)?

    • 19 Jul 2017
    • HBS Working Knowledge

    Why Government 'Nudges' Motivate Good Citizen Behavior

    • 12 Jun 2017
    • Wall Street Journal

    Roth vs. Traditional 401(k): Study Finds a Clear Winner

    • 08 Jun 2017
    • Harvard Business School

    Behavioral ‘Nudges’ Offer a Cost-Effective Policy Tool

    • 15 Mar 2017
    • Harvard Business School

    What's Your Favorite Case to Teach?

→More News for John Beshears

John Beshears In the News

Media Citations


Kiplinger
To Roth 401(k) or not to Roth 401(k)?

19 Jul 2017
HBS Working Knowledge
Why Government 'Nudges' Motivate Good Citizen Behavior

12 Jun 2017
Wall Street Journal
Roth vs. Traditional 401(k): Study Finds a Clear Winner

08 Jun 2017
Harvard Business School
Behavioral ‘Nudges’ Offer a Cost-Effective Policy Tool

15 Mar 2017
Harvard Business School
What's Your Favorite Case to Teach?

13 Feb 2017
Wall Street Journal
People Trying to Save Prefer Accounts That Are Hard to Tap

07 Dec 2016
Harvard Business School
A Sense of Wonder with John Beshears

11 Sep 2016
Wall Street Journal
How to Get More Pleasure Out of Retirement Spending

26 Jul 2016
Time
The Science Behind Why You Don’t Save (And What To Do About It)

09 Feb 2016
Harvard Business School
How and Why Businesses Should Teach Retirement

01 Sep 2015
Washington Post
How your lack of self-control might actually boost your savings

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