How Changing a Form Can Change People’s Lives

Oct. 8 (Bloomberg) -- In this period of politicaldysfunction, we could use some good news. Fortunately, there issome. Small reforms, costing little, can have a major effect onpeople’s lives.

Consider the area of education. Low-income students areless likely to apply to selective colleges than their high-income peers. That’s a big problem, because students who attendselective colleges can obtain significant economic returns, andthose returns are especially large for low-income students. Whatmight be done to encourage them to apply? Research by HarvardUniversity economist Amanda Pallais provides some intriguinganswers.